December 17, 2007 On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me, an 8 week old puppy.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 2 kinds of bowls for my 8 week old puppy.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 3 squeaky toys for my 8 week old puppy.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 4 kinds of treats for my 8 week old puppy.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 5 cute outfits for my 8 week old puppy.
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 6 paper towels to clean up after my 8 week old puppy
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 7 pick up bags for my now 9 week old puppy.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 8 pair of shoes to replace mine from my 9 week old puppy.
On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 9 rug doctor rentals for my 9 week old puppy.
On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 10 computer cords to replace mine from the 9 week old puppy.
On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 11 obedience lessons for my 9 week old puppy.
On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 12 apologies for getting me an 8 week old puppy.

Christmas is a wonderful time for giving, but think before you give someone a living creature to take care of for the rest of its life. Not everyone appreciates a baby animal that requires lots of attention, training, and care. You can give lots of things if you are a pet lover, you can give money or donations to your local animal shelter for the animals there at Christmas. You can give your time to volunteer at a shelter or rescue. You can give a donation to a shelter in your friends name as a gift.
You can adopt an older dog that is already past the puppy stage that may not get a new home. Everyone wants puppies. Who can resist them? But they grow up, and like children they go through stages of disobedience, and bad behavior and housetraining can be a real issue. Sadly, many of those same adorable puppies end up at the animal shelter due to their owner’s inability to deal with their issues.
If you can’t adopt a pet, donate some treats, or toys or food. Donate your time and take a dog for a walk and get him out of that kennel for a while. Make a shelter dogs Christmas merry and bright, even if just for one day.
You can give all year long and not just at Christmas. Rescues are always searching for foster homes to house homeless dogs until they can find an adoptive home. Call your local animal shelter or rescue, or look some up on the internet. Do what you can to help out the homeless animals in your area.
Give gifts of your time to your neighbors by walking their dog for them, checking on them to make sure they have food for themselves and their pets when the weather doesn’t permit them to get out.
Time costs nothing and is easy to give.
On that note, I just found a poem I’d like to share, author unknown.


My dear canine friends, I've a story for you.
I beg you to listen: what I say is all true.
Your Humans are human and can't help their behavior,
They get all confused 'bout the birth of their Savior.
See, it's that time of the year, when the humans are hopping.
"No time for our walk today, gotta go shopping.
And tomorrow we have to put up all the lights.
You understand, don't you? You'll be all right?
"No time for your Frisbee, no time to throw balls.
Got to wrap all the boxes and deck all the halls.
"I'm sorry," they say as you're back in your crate,
"Office party tonight, we won't get home til late.
"So you sit in your crate for a very long time.
You're warm and you're safe and they know you'll be fine.
But you're bored and you're worried and you don't understand
Why this time of the year things get all out of hand.
As if rushing around like a nut's not enough,
They keep filling the house up with all kinds of stuff.
There's holly and candles for all to see,
Then to prove they've gone starker's THEY BRING IN A TREE!!!
Yep, fellow dogs, they bring a pine tree right in
They put glass things on the branches and plug the lights in.
You think "Hey! Indoor plumbing!" But they say, "Get away!!"
"This is Our Special Tree for Our Special Day."
And don't think for a moment those tree balls are for you.
Though they bounce on the branches and call you, they do!
You haven't been chasing your own ball for weeks,
Or played tug o' war with your toy that goes "squeak."
As their Big Day approaches, their tempers grow short.
They're tired and stressed out and all out of sorts.
They've spent way too much money, whatever that is.
On gifts, decorations, and on something called "status."
See, they're only humans, and they always forget
It's not about presents or getting in debt.
The Birthday they're celebrating is all about Love
About gifts of the Spirit, sent from up above.
And that same great Father who sent them his Son
To teach all the humans to love every one,
Sends us to remind them, my good fellow hounds:
We exemplify love with positively no bounds.
So when their Big Day is ending, their presents unwrapped,
And they've eaten their feast and settled down for a nap,
That's the time when we dogs can show by example
That it's just about love, and can give them a sample.
They will feel something’s lacking, will see something's missing.
This is the time you can teach with your kissing.
They've ignored you for weeks with their rushing around,
Still you shower them with Love - the True Love of a Hound.
Whisper quiet, Dear Dogs, "It is not about Things!"
"It's not about buying new cars or rings."
The True Gift of Christmas is Love, sweet and pure.
And at Love, none can out do a dog, that’s for sure.