Dogs love the Holidays too!!
Growing up, I didn’t have many pets. I think it was because my mom had allergies to everything (as do I) but regardless, if we had a pet it was usually an outside pet.
When my dad married my stepmom, she had 4 dogs and they moved in, literally!! I knew I liked cats, but I never considered myself a “dog person” until they bought their first puppy together. Missy was this tiny little terrier puppy who was hyper and cute…and loved me!! I loved her back and had so much fun with her and quickly became a dog lover.
Although I had discovered loving dogs, when I got my first pets, they were two cats. I had those to cats for several years before I met my husband and when we found out we were pregnant, we decided to get a puppy together for our son to grow up with. Little Pepper was our first baby and we miss her so much!!
Since Pepper we have had several dogs that just didn’t fit with our family and now we have Molly and Abby…the new loves in our life!!
Meet Molly (AKA Mon-dog) and Abby (AKA Abby Dabby)
Molly is a Boxer/German Shephard mix and Abby is a Pug!!
We got them both around Christmas last year so this was their second Christmas with us. Throughout the year, they have grown so much and have destroyed SO MUCH in our house. They love to find the boy’s smaller toys and chew them up. I can’t tell you how many action figures we have that have no arms and legs!!
So this Christmas, we had to be strategic about our gifts, where they were kept, and our Christmas decorations. Basically what this meant was we didn’t put up our Christmas tree until the last week before Christmas. It never had presents under it. We kept the presents on our dining room table next to the tree. 
When it was time for the boy to open presents from us, we put the dogs outside so he could open them. One of the presents he got from us was a large cardboard Mater truck/clubhouse (you know what I’m talking about..?) so we put it all together and just prayed the dogs didn’t go nuts over it. So far, they haven’t done much more than accidentally bump into it while playing. Well…and the boy took one of the side mirrors off of it, I didn’t notice he left it on the couch, and they ate it!!
Every night when we get ready for bed, we have to make sure that all small toys are off the floor and out of reach so the dogs don’t find it and eat it. So, our dining room table is a mountain of new Christmas toys…ugh!!
Last year, Santa brought our boy a train table and wooden train set…yeah, we lost over half of the train track to our lovely dogs…
But, you know what, those dogs are worth it!! They have no manners, no restraint, but they love and protect our boy and our family every day. The Boy will pull their tails and their ears, sit on them, poke at their eyes, yell at them if they knock him over, and all the do is wag their tails and lick him more!!
New Year’s Eve is coming and there will be fireworks and loud noises around and that always freaks the dogs out so we’re going to keep them inside and safe. Maybe Hubby will bring home a few really big bones from the meat market for them.
Do you do special things for your pets during the Holidays?
What about during New Years? How do you keep them safe and not frightened?
I am sharing holiday joy for dogs in tandem with DogFenceDIY the invisible fence alternative. DogFenceDIY is thrilled to provide a safe environment for your furbabies.
We have a dog named Jessie. This was her second Christmas with us. Last year, I bought her her own stocking and got her some gifts to put in it. This year, I hung our stocking with the rest of the families and she got gifts again. Funny, we have had 2 cats our entire relationship as well as gone through three dogs prior to Jessie and I never gave them a gift… Jessie is just special to me so I spoil her when I can! =0)
That’s great!! We bought our dogs some presents, but got too excited and didn’t wait until Christmas.