A Puppy for Christmas (the Cold, Hard, Furry Truth)

The pleas for a puppy started one week after we said goodbye to our faithful and loving black lab Reagan. She lived a long, good life. While my husband and I were still grieving, my daughter’s and son’s hearts were open and ready to love again. The months passed and time seemed to heal our hearts. Meanwhile Madeline and Bennett continued to beg for a new dog. One day my husband asked, “What do you think about a puppy for Christmas?”  My immediate response was “No!” Having had a baby right before Christmas, I knew enough to know a puppy wouldn’t be much easier. But each time my children saw a dog their little faces lit up. I felt a tug on my heartstrings and knew it was time to introduce a puppy into our family. It wasn’t easy.

That’s why I’m here to tell you the cold, hard, furry truth about giving your kids a puppy for Christmas.

I was actually the one to find our new addition online. She lived with a family in the Chattanooga area. One cold day in November last year, my husband and Madeline made the drive to collect the weeks-old chocolate lab that would soon be known as “Bella Rose.”  Her bed, blankets and a big pile of puppy toys were already waiting for her. I had not experienced Reagan’s early puppyhood and never had a puppy growing up, so I was about to get a crash course. She was undeniably adorable. My children had no shortage of hugs and kisses for her. That was my first challenge. To keep the puppy from being literally loved to death. (A year later we still struggle with that one sometimes!) Madeline and Bennett would also try to pick up Bella Rose and end up dropping her on her head. Much like human babies, puppies are pretty resilient. (Thank goodness!) We had to establish a whole new set of rules about Bella, which weren’t easy for the children to follow or me to enforce.

Then came the chewing. Puppies are notorious chewers. Lab puppies are next level. In no particular order, here is the list of things Bella has chewed up: my Birkenstock sandals, the family room rug (it was already a disaster), the pristine and perfect dining room rug and countless children’s toys. All of these items were no match for laser-sharp puppy teeth. We had TONS of chew toys and bones for Bella, but a puppy is always a puppy.

It wasn’t all bad. One delightful benefit of having a dog in your home with small children is you no longer have to do snack cleanup. (That’s why Reagan had to be put on diet dog food in her later years!) There is never one crumb on the floor. Ever. I am, however, the one who feeds Bella in the morning and at night. Since I’m a stay-at-home mom, I’m also the primary person to let her in and out of the house to go to the bathroom. Madeline is now five and able to help with feeding Bella and opening the door for her. It took some time to get to that point, but not before the kids’ know-no-bounds Bella love led to a late-night trip to the emergency animal hospital. My husband and I knew the children were eager to help care for our new puppy, which is why we put the canister of dog food (with a locking lid, I might add) in our garage. The door to the garage is always locked, but it’s still just a few short steps from the laundry room where Bella’s food bowl is located. Unbeknownst to me, my children turned out to be midget Houdinis. They managed to outsmart ALL of our safeguards and overfeed poor Bella one day without my knowledge. If you didn’t know already, puppies lack the brain function that tells them to stop eating when they are full. Puppies could actually eat so much it kills them. Thankfully, Bella’s severely distended stomach alerted me something was terribly wrong. I raced Bella to the emergency animal hospital on a dark, cold rainy night. Hundreds of dollars later we got our diagnosis and treatment. I spent that night shivering and standing in our backyard waiting for Bella to go to the bathroom. A whole new set of rules for our children followed.

As Bella got older, her boundless energy and enthusiasm started to become problematic, especially when we had guests in our home. I didn’t want to terrify any more children during our play dates (yes, it already happened), so we sent her away to doggie boarding school. She came home with better behavior and a remote-controlled shock collar. I was supposed to zap her and chastise her for bad behavior. It seemed inhumane to me, but it really worked. We no longer need the collar, and Bella’s behavior is better (for the most part). But we still decided to put Bella in her crate for my son’s third birthday party so she didn’t overwhelm a house full of small children.

The crazy Bella stories don’t stop here; just ask my friends. But something else was happening in all the chaos of this past year. Bella became a part of our family. Each morning she comes upstairs with me to get the children out of bed. Bella (already quite large) could put her paws on the top rail of Bennett’s crib and peer down at him. Then she would hop down and give him kisses through the crib slats with her tail wagging wildly. Now that Bennett is in a big-boy bed the greeting hasn’t changed. Bella loves to jump up on Madeline’s bed smothering her with kisses as she giggles herself awake. During bath time, Bella sits beside me watching the children, ever eager to lick up any soap bubbles they might offer her. Bella never misses a story time, always sitting and listening to the book — sometimes even better than my human audience. Then there is the full-speed fun in our backyard. I’m never sure who’s chasing who, but the kids and Bella run laps around the backyard together laughing and playing happily wearing each other out.

I’m no grinch when it comes to giving a puppy at Christmas. My heart truly has grown three sizes since we brought Bella home. But I did want to share the cold, hard, furry (sometimes muddy and chaotic, but always loving) truth.

           Have you ever given or received a puppy or other pet at Christmas?