Seussian aardvark. Ah…well….. I guess that is Merry Christmas Canine American Style. Jake with his hedgehog Our pack is busily preparing for the holiday season, and things have been hectic for the human members, which means the Canine Americans have had rather too much time to find new ways to amuse themselves. The results have been quite humorous and perplexing.

Stopping to smell the flowers

We have a huge Confederate Rose bush that grows at the head of the driveway. It is as tall as our house and quite bushy. This time of year the entire bush is covered with fragrant pink flowers. Jake has learned to make time for the finer things in life, and each time he goes out to do his dogglies he stops at the rosebush and sniffs the flowers.

Sometimes, he is content with those within easy reach at the bottom of the bush and others he stands on tip toe and extends his neck to sniff the sweeter flowers just out of reach. It is really quite comical to watch this hulking red dog sniffing those delicate pink blossoms.

The Home Wrecker

The other morning as I set Jake on the den sofa, kissed him on his fuzzy little head, and admonished him to “Be good and guard the house,” I could tell from the look on his face that he clearly had other intentions. Sometimes I think he reconnoiters the house each night to target items to chew and investigate the next day when the humans are gone. In any case, it was no surprise when we arrived home that evening to find the living room totally demolished. All of the sofa cushions were off the sofa, strewn around the room. Mom’s good black dress shoes had been dragged into the room and one strap expertly removed by pearly white teeth. A tissue box, a phone book, and a box of Sociable crackers had been shredded and deposited around the room. The puppy sat in the midst of the mayhem smiling as if to say, “Aren’t you proud of me? I’ve been busy today.” Let me just say that the humans did not take the same joy in his labor of love as we cleaned up the resulting mess.

The window washer

If you gross out easily, you may want to skip this one. Most of you have probably seen those screen savers available on the internet or your cell phone where the screen is patiently licked clean by some cute and cuddly canine. We have our own real time version. Jake is fond of pressing his bulky bum up against the center sofa cushion to hold it in place and then placing his front legs (up to the elbow) on the first cushion and laying his head upon his paws to keep watch out the big picture window. The thing is, this puppy cannot abide a view obscured by a dirty windowpane so each time he starts watch he painstakingly licks each windowpane until it sparkles. Now I ask you….who needs Windex?

Ho Ho Ho I don’t think so!

On a lark Mom bought Elf hats and reindeer antlers hoping to get the Canine Americans into the Christmas spirit and maybe snap a cute picture or two. Well… things did not work out quite the way she intended. The Chi rejected the idea outright with extreme prejudice and retreated under the sofa. Jake accepted the gift happily but refused to don hat or antlers for even one picture. Instead, the costumes disappeared for a while, and while we never saw the antlers again, several days later Jake came trotting into the living room with his muzzle shoved into his red and white elf hat looking for all the world like some kind of

I hope you have enjoyed this month’s visit with the Canine Americans and that you will enjoy a safe and happy holiday season with your family and friends (human and canine). The Canine Americans will be back in January with more encounters of the doggy kind.