This is a personal anecdote that I experienced this morning, but thought I would share because of what it put into perspective for me.

The past couple of days we have been watching my wife’s parents’ dog. This morning he soiled himself in his kennel and then proceeded to lay in his own excrement as if nothing was wrong. He’s not the most intelligent dog. I was frustrated, cussed when I had to remove him and hose him off (because I am weak and imperfect), and proceeded to clean the kennel. My Angel reminding me to offer it up with a “Blessed be God.” 

Later on this morning, while praying my Rosary, I realized something about that instance: it was a true-life allegory of the soul of a sinner. Why I say this is because the sinner soils himself with his own self-love and perverse will through his sins. He causes that soul which was once clean to become filthy with the disgrace of its own sins, and then, if he is unrepentant or ignorant of his sin, he proceeds to carry on in his own filth nonchalantly. This is what God sees in the sinner, a poor, stupid creature which subsists in his own filth in his tiny cage of his vices living as if nothing were wrong. It was a remarkable, and also repugnant, means of showing me the state to which the soul is brought through sin. And it made me that much more ashamed of my own sins I had committed out of my anger during the incident, as well as the many times where I have required the Blood of Christ to “hose me off” in order to cleanse my soul of this filth. The repugnance I felt while having to clean this dumb beast is not unlike the same repugnance Our Lord has when He sees us in such a state and cleanses us through Confession and the Blessed Sacrament. But while the dog has no understanding of his state outside of physical discomfort, I am even worse than the dog because I can realize the consequences of my own sins and prevent it through conformity to God's Will.

It's always amazing how God can show you great truths through the most mundane, and unfortunate, circuмstances. 

The repugnance I felt while having to clean this dumb beast is not unlike the same repugnance Our Lord has when He sees us in such a state and cleanses us through Confession and the Blessed Sacrament.

That's not the case. If we repent and long for reconciliation, for being “hosed off”, Our Lord is joyful and there is a feast in heaven. Not the “hosing off”, rather the sin is the problem causing repugnance.

That's not the case. If we repent and long for reconciliation, for being “hosed off”, Our Lord is joyful and there is a feast in heaven. Not the “hosing off”, rather the sin is the problem causing repugnance.

Yeah, that's why I said "when He sees us in such a state", meaning sin (allegorically, the dog covered in excrement) not that He has repugnance at our repentance.
I didn't think I would need to elaborate on this. 

Yeah, that's why I said "when He sees us in such a state", meaning sin (allegorically, the dog covered in excrement) not that He has repugnance at our repentance.
I didn't think I would need to elaborate on this.  

You said "when He sees us in such a state and cleanses us through Confession and the Blessed Sacrament":

The repugnance I felt while having to clean this dumb beast is not unlike the same repugnance Our Lord has when He sees us in such a state and cleanses us through Confession and the Blessed Sacrament.

And you said that you felt it "while having to clean this dumb beast".

That's what you said. Not my fault.

You win: grab yourself a beer from the fridge! 

Great title; sure caught my eye!

And I thought the allegory was very apt.  Thanks for sharing!

The dogs I have had in my life, I had because I needed them to perform some function (guard dog, retriever) and not a pet or  "companion". That said, my dogs are like me, we run around free and live life outdoors, not inside a house sleeping all day and eating. Unless the dog you describe is seriously mentally handicapped, no dog poops in his cage without giving ample warning that he needs to go outside. Perhaps you left him home alone too long and he had to go?

The dog is an epileptic and was being boarded with us, which means he sits in a kennel until it is his time to come out. It's pretty common for companion dogs nowadays and teaches them to wind down when the owners are out of the house. As for this dog, he's pretty dumb and wouldn't do his business the times he was let outside that morning. So, it happened when I was putting my kids down for naps.

Anyway, this is my wife's line of work, not mine, I'm not much of a dog person and completely agree with your point that this notion of treating them as companions and pets goes way too far these days. I've had to learn to have patience with these animals due to her job as a trainer/boarder, so I thought this was a funny instance that taught me something of value.

Forgive me if I offended anyone with my relation of excrement to sin and the mention of Our Lord.

Always wondered,and still do, why God the Holy Ghost thought it important to mention the dog wagging its tail in the book of Tobias. Curious.