Presents

Ash

Last night I heard mom and dad talking about Christmas. This will be my fourth Christmas. I like Christmas day. In the morning everybody gets special hugs and kisses and extra treats. Later in the day our friends come over and they always bring me a present.

Last Christmas Tess was already at Asherpark so this is number two for her. She’s been asking me what I’m gonna give her. Give her? She takes my toys if she wants them. Why should I give her anything?

This is Jack’s first Christmas with us. He says being part of our pack is all the Christmas present he needs. I don’t think that’s all he’s gonna get.

Mom knows that Jack’s old bones ache in the cold wet weather. She sees that he has a harder time getting up and down. When mom put Jack to bed last night she noticed his bed was getting pretty thin. She laid down on it with him, which looked pretty silly, and decided there wasn’t enough stuffing.

Mom mentioned the thin bed to dad. He got all excited. “Let’s get Jack a new bed for Christmas,” dad said. “We can get him one like a couch with a back on it and put a heating pad in it.”

That got mom to thinking about the history of the dog beds in our house. Jack sleeps in a hand me down bed from our friend Frieda. Their cat kept peeing on it so it had to go to a new house. Tess sleeps on Codie’s old bed from LL Bean. That bed was bought new for Codie in 1993 and she used it until she died. Maybe we should tell the Beans how long it lasted. They might want it back to study it.

Anyway, mom got to wondering if Jack ever had a new bed of his own. She told me that’s gonna be his special present this year. A new dog bed all his own from the bean store. I hope Jack doesn’t pee on it. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time….. Anyway, gotta run!