Have you noticed that dog food isn’t just plain old brown crunchy tidbits anymore? Dog food used to be either canned brown sludge or hard, crunchy, brown, dusty nuggets. Some dog food required you to put water on it to make gravy, or hey, remember Gaines-Burgers — individually wrapped patties that were shaped like raw hamburger?

            Nowadays, it apparently takes a scientist to create dog food. It has vegetables in it, carries nutrition labeling and sometimes is even in the fresh-food section.

            We have become very particular about what we feed our dogs, haven’t we? And most people don’t give their dogs table scraps anymore because it just isn’t good for them.

The bothersome woman

            While we aren’t sure what the family pet ate back in Jesus’ time, we know there were no Gaines-Burger, Gravy Train or Science Diet products in sight. Household dogs ate food offered from the master’s table. But in scripture references, a dog is usually not mentioned as a faithful family pet, and today’s scripture is no exception. Most dogs back in that day roamed the streets, scavenging for food. For the most part, a dog’s life wasn’t easy.

            What’s more, “dog” was a term that Jews used for Gentiles. It wasn’t exactly a compliment.

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