What do I do with our new puppy on the Sabbath?

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Jes_Car

Puritan Board Freshman
We brought home an 8 week old puppy yesterday and this is our first puppy/animal. We had plans to leave him in a crate outside at church ( we are in upstate SC and the weather tomorrow is supposed to be in the sixties with no rain) but we are worried he will whine and attract unwanted attention.

The best plan I think we have now is for my oldest daughter who is 15 to stay in our vehicle with the puppy ( it is her dog technically ) and watch the sermon online in the van.

Honest question, is it a sin to let her miss the sermons? Am I obligated to miss the worship and watch the puppy as the father? Does anyone have a better idea on what to do with the puppy?
 
You could rotate it between all family members every Lord’s Day, with different family members taking turns in the van morning and evening. I would caution against any one particular family member missing each corporate worship though, assuming this will have to happen for another month or so. One could argue that it’s an act of necessity I suppose. I’d also reinforce that watching online is not an adequate substitute as preaching and worship is to be incarnational, live fire as it were.
 
Hi Jesse,

It may be inconvenient for a while. We are now caring for a wonderful dog but on the other end of life. Dalas is 15 years old.

Proverbs 12:10​
A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: But the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.​
 
Well…. there is a cry room but he needs to go to the bathroom frequently and to get from the cry room to the outside would be through the congregation so it could be a huge distraction to the worship. I wouldn’t want to risk that.
 
Update, after a brother in love privately encouraged me to seek the counsel of my elders I reached out to my district elder and asked him the same questions. He also quoted proverbs 12:10 and said that he thought that was best but also suggested we rotate the responsibility. Thank you all for your great advice.
 
Sean,
I guess, and I am a new year here so please forgive my lack of knowledge, that he has to go to the bathroom every hour to hour and a half and we are a congregation that has worship for longer than that. He will be able to hold his bladder for longer after a few weeks but for now he cannot. To add to everything we live 45 minutes from church so that adds 1.5 hours already plus our service times go about 1.5 hours and we have lunch in between services which is approximately 1.5 hours so over all we have to be gone for at least 6 hours. We’ve been told he probably won’t be able to hold it that long until he is 6 months old.
 
Sorry I guess I am spoiled in that I have a house with a back yard. I had dogs most of my life and we always left them out in the yard, even when they were babies. I never had to take care of a dog while living in an apartment.
 
We have two labs that are about 2 now. When we got them we left them home alone in crates. They peed occasionally but figured it out within a few months. We are often at church for 6-8 hours. I don’t find it cruel to the pup. They’ll learn and it won’t cause them insurmountable trauma.
 
I know it can be very difficult to teach them theology. We took my mom's dog when she went into a home, and the li'l squirt simply will not take to supralapsarianism. He just stares at me.
 
Jes_Car said:
Sean,
I guess, and I am a new year here so please forgive my lack of knowledge, that he has to go to the bathroom every hour to hour and a half and we are a congregation that has worship for longer than that. He will be able to hold his bladder for longer after a few weeks but for now he cannot. To add to everything we live 45 minutes from church so that adds 1.5 hours already plus our service times go about 1.5 hours and we have lunch in between services which is approximately 1.5 hours so over all we have to be gone for at least 6 hours. We’ve been told he probably won’t be able to hold it that long until he is 6 months old.
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Have you considered putting him in a crate with puppy pads? They are bathroom training pads for puppies that absorb liquid : https://www.walmart.com/browse/pets/dog-training-pads/5440_202072_1416135_627259

A former colleague of mine bought a puppy during a stage in life where she was living by herself and working very long hours. During the day, she kept him in a crate with a puppy pad. I think she would run home quickly around lunch and then again in the early evening to check on him and maybe change the pad. He was just fine and is now a happy adult dog.
 
reformed grit said:
I know it can be very difficult to teach them theology. We took my mom's dog when she went into a home, and the li'l squirt simply will not take to supralapsarianism. He just stares at me.
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Whew. For a second I thought you were going to say he was Pentecostal and was rolling around like an animal.
 
Sounds like it worked out, but if not, put him under a table:

Mat 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
 
Alternate ideas:

Does your church have any form of yard? If they do, then you could buy a portable puppy fence and leave puppy on the church grounds as a possible alternative.

Also does a fellow church member, one living in your route to church, possibly have a yard that you could use to do the same (or they may already have a fence)?

This might help alleviate the proper “bad” feeling you have about missing public worship for the dog. Hope these ideas help.
 
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Smeagol said:
Alternate ideas:

Does your church have any form of yard? If they do, then you could buy a portable puppy fence and leave puppy on the church grounds as a possible alternative.

Also does a fellow church member, one living in your route to church, possibly have a yard that you could use to do the same (or they may already have a fence)?

This might help alleviate the proper “bad” feeling you have about missing public worship for the dog. Hope these ideas help.
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I thought you were going to say get a cat - it is the purrrfect alternative ;)
 
Um... buy a kennel/crate for your house that allows you to increase the size as it gets older. (As your dog gets older it will appreciate having its safe space.) Just accept that it will pop or pee in it, and they're super easy to clean. But dogs HATE soiling their area, so keeping the space small will help it learn to hold its bladder/bowels - yes it will. Way better to have an accident in the kennel than in your van.

My brother's mother-in-law never conditioned the dogs to hold their bladder/bowels, so now even though they're fully mature, they still need to go out every few hours - even at night. Shame on her. And shame on you if you follow that course.
 
I would use the time to train him to stay on the Church Property if it is a permanent facility. I always teach dogs their boundaries. I use to take Sonny to Church and he would stay in the van. When it is nice enough we will do it again. The kids love my dog and it grants me a way to remember whose kid is who's. lol.
 

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ZackF said:
Whew. For a second I thought you were going to say he was Pentecostal and was rolling around like an animal.
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Sounds like the OP has a plan, so I wouldn't want to derail too much; but no, Chico is at least a 4-POINT Calvinist. He doesn't socialise much, but someone somewhere put the notion in his head that "all dogs go to heaven". I blame mom - after dad passed she visited a Reformed Baptist Church down her street and may have picked up a stray doctrine nugget expanding particular atonement. More likely it comes from errant media in pop culture, though he also displays a persistent odd personal foot-washing / licking habit, & some weird glossolalia-like expression while in the dream state. He insists it isn't a theological concern. He also enjoys eating snot-covered tissue, but who doesn't?
 
Your dog does not need to be at church. Your dog doesn't need anyone watching it while you are at worship. Buy a crate/kennel to put them in while you are at church. They will do their business in there for a time but soon learn to hold it until you arrive back at home. Keep them in the kennel at night as well. This is how I've trained all our dogs through the years. And we're typically at church all day on Sunday.
 
:ditto:

Exactly. On Sunday while your family is at church, your family needs to be able to focus on worship... NOT on dealing with a dog.
 
I feel like you’re making this harder than what it needs to be. I’ve had puppies before and I’ve left them alone for long periods of time even before they were potty trained and they did just fine. Many people do this when they have to leave them alone and go to work. Don’t make your daughter or yourself or any of your other family members miss out on worshipping God for the sake of a dog. Not only is it a sin, it’s detrimental for you and your family.
 
OPC'n said:
I feel like you’re making this harder than what it needs to be. I’ve had puppies before and I’ve left them alone for long periods of time even before they were potty trained and they did just fine. Many people do this when they have to leave them alone and go to work. Don’t make your daughter or yourself or any of your other family members miss out on worshipping God for the sake of a dog. Not only is it a sin, it’s detrimental for you and your family.
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If God takes care of Oxen (1Cor 9:9) and a rightous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel (Prov 12:10), I dont see the problem of missing a service to take care of a puppy for a time till it be grown and trained. Its ok to miss a meeting for a work of nessessity and mercy even if its a dog. Nothing is lossed in such a process. These are not five yoke of oxen that need to be proved (Luke 14:19).
 
CovenantPatriot87 said:
If God takes care of Oxen (1Cor 9:9) and a rightous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel (Prov 12:10), I dont see the problem of missing a service to take care of a puppy for a time till it be grown and trained. Its ok to miss a meeting for a work of nessessity and mercy even if its a dog. Nothing is lossed in such a process. These are not five yoke of oxen that need to be proved (Luke 14:19).
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Actually, I believe you've utterly conflated these verses with the situation. A dog going pee or poop is not an emergency. Its a normal life function, and an utterly routine one at that. Calling family away from worship to keep occupied an animal that is perfectly fine, and which can be perfectly well cared for without missing worship, is to abuse the the Bible's teaching on "acts of mercy or necessity."

If the dog experiences bloat or breaks its leg on Sunday morning and you have to take it to the veterinary hospital - THAT kind of thing is what is in view as a legitimate act of mercy or necessity. NOT new puppy isn't potty trained and I don't want to kennel it for some reason.
 
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