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Dear Santa

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Dear Santa,

I know I’m what’s considered “a handful.”  Lots of families didn’t want me and I was in a bunch of homes before I found my family -- and I was still only a puppy!  I don’t remember my mother or any brothers and sisters.  In fact, I don’t remember having anything good to do with other dogs.  I lived in a cage in a store and watched all the other puppies get picked up and hugged.  It was very frustrating.           

I still have trouble with being frustrated.  Can’t help it.  I know I just react.  I’m always sorry afterward, really, really sorry.  But sometimes I snap.  I mean, I really snap.  Never at people because they help me.

I was 5 months old when I came home and now I’m 6 years old.  I’ve learned a lot.  I’ve discovered I can figure things out.  For instance, my little brother Dusty would roll his tennis ball off the deck where we couldn’t reach it and I figured if I went around to the back of the house, I could commando-crawl under the stairs, under the deck, around the side of my house and reach through the front to get it for him.  Mostly he’d just roll it back again, and I did lose all the hair on my chest and stomach, but I didn’t care.  It was fun.

Having fun is the best.  I’m really quick so sometimes I do things before I think about them.  Like the time I jumped in the horses’ therapy pool and realized I didn’t know how to swim.  Or into the waves at the ocean when there was this rip tide.  It’s good I can figure things out.  I ran away because I thought that would be fun, but no one chased me so I came home and sat outside my gate.  The last time I ran away no one noticed and a nice cop picked me up and let me ride in the back of his car all around town for a couple of hours until they came to get me.

They tell me they get worried when I do those things.  I love when they hug me and talk to me so seriously.  When I was little and really naughty we would talk every night and I would hear all the good things I did and all the naughty ones, too.  Some days there were a lot of naughty things.  Some people who knew me then and know me now say how much I’ve changed and maybe I have.  Or maybe I’ve found more ways to have fun.  I don’t have to compete for things at home.  I trust myself to do good things a little more.  For instance, I don’t push out the screen when someone walks past the house anymore.  Or at least, I don’t push it out as far.  I take my turn with treats because I know there will be something for me.  I love walking right next to a person, but I can walk next to my brother, too.  I have trouble sharing toys, but we have lots of toys so it’s ok most of the time.  Ok, the truth is I have trouble sharing anything.

But I’m better.  I’m not a stupid dog, and I’m not a nasty dog.  I sometimes get frustrated and react.  Could happen to anyone, right?  I am a very loving dog, a great snuggler, and an excellent listener.  If you want to throw a tennis ball for me your arm will get tired before I will.  I am a work in progress, but so far, it’s mostly fun.  And, just to set the record straight, I finally did pass my obedience class.  Mostly.  So please…bring me some toys for Christmas.  If you put coal in my stocking I’d probably get in trouble for eating it!

Love,

Kelly

Here’s the real truth, Santa…

by Jenny, writing for everyone else

Kelly has always been full of herself.  When she first arrived she figured she would be in charge and that made a lot of problems, especially for our sister Maggie who fancies herself a sort of school principal.  We are used to it and don’t mind, but she and Kelly tangled over the rules more than once.  Tanner is the oldest of us and very polite, but even he gets fed up with Kelly’s attitude.  When that happens, we all take Tanner’s side, especially Maggie.  Dusty and I are more accommodating, but Kelly has mouthed off to us a number of times as well.

Kelly can be lots of fun.  She is always ready to play and so am I even though I am 11, but she is a ball hog.  No one else is supposed to retrieve the tennis balls, and when she is running after them she will just knock you right down.  She’s gotten better, but she pretty much ended Tanner’s retrieving career.  The only place she isn’t the fastest or the boldest is in the water.  She really can’t swim well and even Maggie (who is 10) and I are able to beat her to the water toys, but our brother Dusty is the fastest.  It drives her crazy.

She has some commands that are different from ours, too.  She is told sometimes to Settle.  That means she has to find a quiet place and lie down there pretty darn quick or else.  If she is snarky taking treats she has to sit or lie down. And there is the No Woof command. 

When Kelly isn’t around things are more peaceful and Tanner gets to play with toys more.  But she does have a way of making things interesting and keeping us on our toes.

Tanner’s P.S.

 That Kelly is a spoiled brat!  She hogs all the toys and she’d eat all our food if she could.

Dusty’s Two Cents

Awww, she’s not so bad.  You just have to stay out of her way when she gets the meanies.  She’s got loads of energy and has lots of fun ideas, and she’s terrific at leaping over the furniture.  And she knows all the best sniffing places around town.

Maggie Got Censored

That little %&#$(

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