Chew on This

Hello, friends!

Well, it looks (and sounds) like the holiday season is upon us. I can tell by all the ads on TV. (I must say, I like the ones with the dogs and cats.)

Another way I can tell is that Mom brought up some Christmas things — not too much, mind you, but (sigh) she is cleaning up her camera and I saw the “doggie” reindeer antlers poking out of the box. This means family photo time is around the corner. You may have seen the lovely photo of me wearing them in our earlier communications. Yeah, here we go!

I have received a couple of inquiries regarding holiday photos (how very timely):

Dear Chunk,

My folks insist I wear a “Santa suit” for photographs, to be placed on cards. I feel silly, but I do like the treats they hand out in order to get me to pose. I can’t chew this costume up because it is heavily guarded. Do you have any advice?

Thanks so much,

Deefer Dog

Livonia, N.Y.

Dear Deefer Dog,

Oh boy, I just figured that out — your folks are comedians, too? — “D” for “dog.”

Anyway, yeah, around the Christmas outfits, I totally get it, man. My folks pull out pretend antlers and we have to wear them for family Christmas cards.

It’s great that you are getting treats. We get treats, too. Hint: Drop some of them when your mom is adjusting her camera — very important to time this. If you can slide it out of sight, but not out of reach, great; otherwise just keep your paw on it. Your mom will think she missed a few and you could score a few more for your troubles.

I know that my family loves me and is proud of me and my sister, Boo, and this is their way of showing us off.

Hang in, “D,” unless you have to dress for all the holidays (no bunny ears here). I guess just putting up with it is the best thing.

Peace,

Chunk

 

And this inquiry from Etta:

Dear Chunk,

I am a very small girl, maybe five pounds. My mom is trying to find a holiday sweater for me and is actually looking at ferret sweaters. I am cute, but a ferret sweater? What do I do? Please help.

Etta

Bristol, Maine

 

Dear Etta,

Wow, a ferret sweater. Let me think. OK, I am usually not speechless, but this is one of those moments. As you may know, I am a fan of treats and hopefully there will be treats involved here. Are you good at making “sad eyes?” This could help. My cat sibling, Bowie, can get pretty dramatic when things don’t go his way. He does this flopping-over thing when he wants to go out.

You have enough time to practice; take a few steps when they bring out the sweater, then throw yourself on the floor. Desperate times call for desperate measures, my friend. Hang tough — you’ve got this!

Peace,

Chunk

 

My most awesome vet, Dr. Tichy, was talking with my mom about the dangers of leaving medications, both human and critter, within our reach. Sometimes we get bored and look for things to chew, so please keep these things away. This also goes for some holiday decorations and some of the food. We can’t distinguish the difference and count on you to watch out for us.

When I was training to be a therapy dog, one of the most important things (and most difficult) was to not eat anything off the floors in the nursing homes I visit because there could be pills that may have been dropped.

Happy November to all!!

Peace and love,

Chunk

(Chunk is a therapy dog who lives with his mom and dad, Linda and Ed, another dog, and two cats in Bristol.)