Our adopted greyhounds adapted quickly to life off the track – including holidays!
I think Boo’s favorite part of the holiday is the fruit and cheese trays on days when we’re baking rather than cooking formal meals. We discovered Boo liked grapes about the time we remembered grapes and raisins are poisoneous to dogs. Boo survived (thank heaven) and likes to make a point of it now, every time we’re washing grapes, that she’s immune (we don’t give in however) and she settles for smidges of cheese or a bite of cracker.
My daughter’s confessed to letting Brody lick her fingers after she’s rolled cookie dough and so he pays careful attention to the kitchen whenever she’s home. (baking is something she does to relax and the dogs love to show their support for her hobby). Now that he’s older, he makes sure he’s going to get the treat before he actually makes the effort to wander into the kitchen.
Then there’s Bandit. This will only be our second Christmas with him, and he’s just turned two. But all of us have fond memories of last year when, as a foster greyhound, he ever-so-quietly stole bits of discarded wrapping paper and carried them up to our bedroom. Being mere humans, (and excited about Santa’s deliveries) it took us awhile to catch on to his pattern: Tiptoe through the chaos, nose around for a particularly colorful ball of paper, and disappear for several minutes.
Sure we knew he liked to tear up paper when he got the chance (almost as much as he likes to unstuff dog toys). So eventually, I snuck up the back stairs and into the bedroom to discover…Christmas joy ala Bandit. Our bed was covered with wrapping paper confetti. It was festive, and Bandit was happy – once he was sure we weren’t mad at him.
Oh, it was a huge mess, but so very funny at the same time. And as messes go with pets, this one was easy to clean up, though we let him keep his paper party (on his bed) for a few more days.
Live the greyhound adventure!
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Our dogs love tearing paper too, so I always wrap their presents in lots of tissue paper. 😉
Happy Holidays!
xx,
E.J.
From the Shadows