Is a dog chained to a pole really a pet?

The dogs are chained to a pole, run in circles and they never stop barking.

Several of our neighbors have dogs that they claim as pets. I'm puzzled that they keep the dogs on chains tied to poles. One has a little rickety looking dog house and others have nothing. There is a trench in their yards where the dogs have run in circles, barking and pulling against their chains. I wonder if the dogs feel like pets? Their food is thrown to them on the ground, they are rarely walked, never experience a day without chains and even spend winters and rainy days outside.

Some tell me that they are dogs and being chained to a pole is not unusual or even cruel. I wondered about that. If I were a dog, would I consider myself a pet if I were kept chained to a pole?

It seems cruel to me because my idea of a pet is someone or something special. I thought pets get special favor and attention. If being a pet means being chained to a pole, you can have it.

Did you know that often God treats believers let pets? He doesn't keep us chained to a pole and ignore us. He doesn't keep us caged up and tied to a bunch of archaic rules either, but he favors us with enormous blessings on a daily basis; especially those who strive hard to please him.

In fact, God blesses us so much that the devil gets jealous. Once the devil saw how God favored a believer named Job and he said in Job 1:10, "Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can't lose!"

Now that's a pet.

I don't mind being God's pet anytime.

The dogs pull against the chains and bark all through the night. Somehow, I can't believe that they are barking because they are happy.