Earlier today I was reminiscing about when I was a kid and we had a delightful little Collie Terrier by the name of Natasha. Specifically I started thinking about the year I got it into my head that my dog needed to believe in Santa Claus.
I bought her a stocking and hung it up in her room. Late Christmas Eve, long after she had been sent to bed, I put on one of my dad’s gloves and I slipped downstairs to fill Tasha’s stocking with her favourite treats. In my head the glove detail was a stroke of genius that would convince my dog that she had indeed been ‘nice’.
The reality was that my dog was at the door before I made it down the stairs. In fact as soon as I cracked the door open, she poked her nose out as if to say, ‘what cha doin?’ Operation Santa Claus was a bust.
Do you remember when P!nk shared a holiday picture on social media of her dog? The dog was on the sofa in a diaper and he had the saddest expression on his face. The caption read: “No one pees on mommy’s Christmas”. It did not take much to figure out what happened.
P!nk and Carey Hart bought a real tree that year. I can only assume that when it came into the house the dog’s sole thought was, “Finally! We get indoor plumbing too”. I can’t begin to imagine the confusion that went through that poor dog’s mind. Was he confused the next time he went outside and faced a tree? “What do I do? What do I do?”
Much like it doesn’t matter how you choose to observe this holiday season. Nor does it matter how you incorporate your fur babies into your holiday plans. All I ask is that everyone make this the happiest and safest holiday season possible.
I am adding a few more images from the PARS event because everybody loves canine steel and everybody loves Santa:
