Dear Santa (from the dog)
By Janine Allen CPDT


Dear Santa,

I know times are hard so I am not asking for anything this Christmas. Instead I am asking you to help someone else.

Santa, would you please give my friend at the shelter a wonderful human just like mine? One who needs a cuddly, devoted companion? A human who will let him get on the sofa, laugh at his snoring and take him for rides in the car? A human just like mine who will be his best friend forever?

If that’s asking too much could you at least give him a yard to run around in or a park to visit? I know he’d love that.

Santa, could you give my friend at the shelter a soft bed to sleep on? The concrete looks so hard and I think of him every time I curl up on the fluffy cushion that my family has given me.

And could you please, oh please, give him one of those red rubber things that repeatedly gets stuffed with cheese and dog treats? That thing is awesome!

Oh Santa, just for Christmas, could you at least let him have a few more walks outside and maybe some play time with the other dogs? Could you please send some humans by his cage to tell him that he is worthy and that it isn’t his fault that he is in the shelter?
 
The more I think of him the more I realize how blessed I am.

Santa, if you can’t give him these things I will understand. But please, if his time is up, could you just give him a little love before he goes?

Thank you and Merry Christmas!

The Adopted Dog

 

 

I like being in a small town after spending the winters in the city. The lack of traffic, stoplights and Starbucks is a daily reminder that one doesn’t need all that java juice to keep up with their fast cars. Besides, the locals all drive trucks and the maximum speed limit within the whole town is 30 mph, and oftentimes only 20. Fast food means wait 30 minutes for your food then eat it real fast.

 

The purse dogs and status dogs are missing here. Dust-covered cattle dogs and retrievers are transported in the back of pickups or flatbeds with no restraint system. They are left for hours in vehicles while their owners share ranch stories over cold beer at the local bar at day’s end. Behind dirty, nose-smudged windows, they occasionally bark at passersby. After herding sheep and cattle all day they still find enough energy to stay alert and protect their owner’s property.

 

My city dogs wouldn’t know what to do without their three hour mid-day nap. If they so much as step wrong on a rock or have a burr stuck to their belly, they await my rescue. If I leave them in the car for a quick stop to the grocery store they would use the opportunity for an additional nap. Afterall, the alarm system will protect the car.

 

Just what makes our city dogs and our small town dogs happy? Would that small town border collie like to sleep on my couch, get a weekly bath, and ride seat-belted on leather seats in an air-conditioned car with windows rolled up? Would my tender-footed, thick-bodied Labs enjoy hours of running under the hot sun, over rocky soil and through prickly sagebrush dodging angry bovine hooves?

 

I always enjoy seeing the different lifestyles that dogs have and how, through their adaptive abilities and selective breed-types, they enrich the lives of their owners. It’s easy to assume that a dog might not be getting enough exercise, lives in a house that is too small, or isn’t receiving enough training. When I observe the bond between a dog and owner, living by any large or small town standards, eating bargain bag dog food or filet mignon, sporting an unkempt coat or fresh coiffure, I see what they are providing for each other – a respectful friendship with life-enhancing qualities beyond our physical existence. Janine Allen