Why do dogs love to stick their heads out of car windows?
I’ve never met a dog who passed up the opportunity to stick its head out of a car window during a drive. Ears flapping. Tongue wagging. Nose in the air, wet and shiny and happily sniffing all the smells.
There’s a reason for this. A dog pokes its head out of the window to experience a party for its sight and smell senses.
Humans have 6 million sensory receptors in our noses. Dogs have more than 100 million! So all those scents wafting in the air come barreling into the dog’s sniffing senses. It can detect so many of them with delight!
Additionally, dogs detect moving objects better than stationary ones. Their ability for motion perception is 10-20 times better than humans. So a dog takes in all of the sights and scenes and the objects in them whizzing by in a blur. This sharp detection is like high def quality.
That makes for a super happy dog!
Just be careful not to swerve or break too abruptly. Dogs with their paws on the open window, extending ¼ of their body into the open air, might just catapult overboard.
Other possible dangers include flying objects hitting them in the face during the drive. Or allergies. Or what if Rover accidentally presses the “Window Up” button without pulling his head back into the car?
Maybe the party of the senses comes with too much risk for some furry friends? Experts suggest strapping in your dog, opening the window just a bit, and giving it a partial party that is much safer.
Humans like a sensory party, too. We have instincts and desires begging to be stimulated. But that’s dangerous. Without care and caution, our human senses can corrupt us. Spiritual overboard!
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
Better than uninhibited sensory stimulation, Christians learn to identify senses and desires that lead us away from God and his righteousness. We put them away and replace them with spiritual desires.
Where do these spiritual desires come from? The “new self, created to be like God.” New senses are created in you, by the grace of God. You’re not the original you, the old you, but a new you.
God straps you to his salvation and your identity in Christ, keeping you safe from spiritual overboard, and allowing your new senses to take in more than you could ever imagine.
PRAYER: Dear God, my senses and desires can deceive me into sinning that seeks my own pleasure more than pleasing you, my Creator and Savior. I praise you for creating a new me, and giving me an identity that desires what is better, what is true and holy. Help me live as that new self today. Amen.
FURTHER READING: Read Ephesians 4:17-32. How do these words help you better manage your desires?
