Christmas Puppies

Don't you just want one?!

For over thirty years, our family raised Old English Sheepdogs.

Smart, dependable, protective, gentle and very hairy.

In our opinion, the best breed in the world.

In that time, we placed little balls of fur into many, many homes.

Some stories . . . . stick out in our memories . . .

Our very good friends, a wonderful family of four, were fellow OES aficionados.

They, in particular the father of the family, had unselfishly come to our aid on many occasions.

And we wanted to do something nice for him/them.

Knowing his/their love for ‘sheepies’, I consulted with his sweet wife about the possibility of surprising him with one of our puppies as a Christmas present.   

She was totally on board.

Christmas approached.

The puppies grew.

Finally, they reached the golden age of eight weeks.

It was time.

We loaded our family – and puppy – into the van and headed into the city.

Now, the actual formula . . .

We would present ourselves as a group to the front door of the home and proceed to ‘carol’ them.

Someone in back would hide the puppy until the climactic moment.

You know how, in movies, puppies are given and things turn out perfectly?

Well, sometimes it happens in real life.

We assembled.

Rang the doorbell.

And, when it opened, launched into our specially-adapted version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas:

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

We wish you a Merry Christmaaaaas!

And here’s your sheepdog!

The puppy was produced on cue.

Smiles and tears.

Lots of hugs.

And our family faded into the soft, Christmas night.

It was a beautiful, perfect experience.

Sometimes, you have those . . .

The puppy, Alonzo, served and loved his family for a great many years.

But there is one more thing to add.

I’ve been asking my children about their favourite Christmas memories.

And this one tops the list.

Christmas and children and puppies.

They just go together.