Don't Get Buried Under Your Paperwork.....A Goldendoodle's First Christmas

[Donna P.]

 

Having an overly energetic puppy can bring a lot of extra stress around the holidays when you are introducing a lot of new and enticing objects to the dog’s already over stimulating environment. I can imagine the puppy saying, “Wow, you’re bringing me a tree! I can climb on it, chew and tug on the branches, lift my leg on it, scratch my back on the lower limbs. And you’re hanging toys all over it!  What fun!  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.”

And then, if you are the sort that likes to tempt fate and throw caution to the winds, you will put gifts under the tree. Wrapped in PAPER… The greatest puppy attractant in the world. Lured by the temptation to dig his teeth into the wrapping and hear the sound of rending paper, the pup gets close enough to sniff the boxes.

Nostrils flare, tongue lolls… brain registers the delectable scents of candy, nuts, cheese and crackers, and DOG TREATS!  A dog’s Nirvana right there under his very own tree.

These were my imaginings… my fears. I wrote a Christmas poem, “The Spirit  of Christmas” which I posted here a couple of weeks ago, detailing the scenario that kept playing in my brain.

But all these worries were unwarranted.  Bayley totally ignored the tree, the ornaments, and the presents that we placed underneath….Until Christmas morning and we started passing out the gifts.

“Let the games begin”

The sound of ripping paper was unbearably alluring. Bayley wanted to assist in unveiling the contents of the boxes, but her teeth didn’t stop at the paper. Cardboard and plastic were fair game as well.

In the interest of self preservation, we starting tossing the sheets of wrapping paper into the middle of the floor, where Bayley immediately set forth to reduce it to confetti.  She occupied herself in this fashion all morning.

Even her Christmas gifts of chewies and stuffies were not as much fun as the Great Pile of Paper.

I had to overcome my natural OCD tendencies to keep the room neat and tidy…. to put each piece of paper as it comes off a gift into a trash bag, to gather all saveable bows into a box, to collapse all gift boxes into a pile for use next year. And you know what, I had a blast. One of my best gifts of all was watching my pup having the time of her life on her first Christmas.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I used to do this with the dogs too--and then one year, i got really tired of the clean up and went back to the scenario you described--with the trashbag and the bows and the boxes--my dogs are all older now and don't really miss it or never knew it so they were happy with their toys--glad your cutie had fun!

[Ronna, Murphy & Wilson]

What fun!