Petey's Christmas - 2009

Petey made it to the morning without opening any gifts. He knew right away which stack of gifts was his, so he guarded them until he was able to open them.

He got a dog snuggi, to hopefully end the battle for the human one. We also wrapped up a few pouches of his dog food and some treats because he likes opening gifts so much.

The suggies came in small, medium and large. According to the package, Petey would need a medium. It was too big, but we put it on him anyway. He didn't like it at all. He got on his pillow and wouldn't open any more gifts until we took it off of him. I'll have to take it back, but I'm not sure if I will trade for a small or just get our money back. He might like a dog snuggi just fine if it fits, or he might not like it any better than the too big version. You never know with Petey. I got a few shots of him wearing/pouting the snuggi.


Once we got Petey out of the offending garment, he was ready to open gifts again, and definitely not ready to stop when the gifts were all opened. He dug through the paper and the gift bags again, just to make sure nothing had been over looked. He had tissue hanging out of his mouth, which was hilarious. I tried to get a shot of that, but this was the best I could do.
If you zoom in on the picture you can see it. This picture tells the story much better than I can.

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Christmas Eve!!!!

I don't know how Petey knows it is Christmas Eve, but he does. He is so excited, he doesn't know what to do with himself. He keeps galloping up and down the hall wanting something to happen. He's been in the wrapping paper rooting around like there is something important to be found there. And I've had to get him out from under the Christmas tree. He's had all he can take. I don't know if he'll last until tomorrow for the gift opening.

Gifts!!

The master bedroom in our house has become gift wrap central, and it may be competing with the laundry room as Petey's favorite room. I have a tote that stores wrapping paper, bows, ribbons, name tags, etc. It is zippered and when it is completely unzipped it opens flat. It is in the floor because I use the bed as the wrapping table. Petey is determined to lay in the wrapping paper tote. So far, I've allowed him to try because he can't quite get comfortable on the rolls of paper. He'll walk on to the tote and circle like he is going to lay down, but can't quite make it happen. He might have actually made it all the way into a laying position once, but it didn't last long. He just loves gifts so much he has to be right in the midst of it.

Then...this morning a couple of dear friends gave me gifts in gift bags. I opened them, but put them back in the bag for easy carrying. I put the gift bags in a chair in the bedroom. If you follow me on facebook, you know that I had to take a hot, hot bath to thaw from sitting out in the cold at the Titan's game. While I was steaming, I heard the distinct sound of paper rustling. Petey had got up in the chair and had his head down in one of the bags.

The good news is that Petey really doesn't care what is in the package. He obviously likes it when it is a bacon treat, but for the most part, all he really cares about is the opening!

Holiday Memories with Petey

One Thanksgiving several years ago, long before we had given thought to blogging about Petey, our family decided to go to the mountains for Thanksgiving. My mother, both my sisters & their families along with John, me & Pete, made the trek to the mountains in North Carolina. It was great. Except for getting there.

This was also before we began drugging Petey before a long car ride. We didn't know how bad it could get. It was a drizzly night on a dark and curvy mountain road, with which we were not familiar. There was a little tension in the car due to that. I don't know if Petey sensed that and decided to add to the level of tension or just realized on his own that this was not a good situation. Don't misunderstand, we were never in any sort of danger. We were just looking for an unknown place, on an unknown road, in less than ideal driving conditions. Petey decided the thing to do would be to pace back & forth around the car - back seat, my lap, paws on the dash, back set, my lap, back seat, look out the back windshield, and on and on and on. It did not help the situation.

As stated previously we all got there and had a nice visit. Most of us stayed through Sunday but John could not. We had planned all along that he would leave early and take Petey with him. Needless to say, John was less than enthused about being alone in the car for all those hours with Petey, even before the fiasco of getting there. He would be leaving in the daylight hours, and driving on more familiar roads after dark, but still Petey can be quite demanding.

So, John came up with the bright idea to feed Petey turkey scraps before they left, hoping that it would have the same sedating effect on dogs as it does humans. Petey gobbled the turkey right up. (Get it?) John fed him a little while before leaving so that he could get nice & sleepy before the trip began. He bagged up a few extras and took a paper plate to feed him again along the way is the need arose.

Let's just say that we'll never know if the turkey made Petey drowsy or not because of the distress it caused his digestive system. The biggest problem was gas. Get the full picture here - John is in the mountains of North Carolina on a late November weekend - it was cold, with a capital C-O-L-D. We hardly left the warm, cozy cabin. John was in the car with the heat on and a gassy dog - serious gas. Besides the SBD's there were belches. I don't think either one of us had realized that dogs burped. Petey does - really stinky burps too.

John had no choice. If he was going to continue to breathe, he had to let the window down. He started by cracking the back ones hoping that a little ventilation would help. It didn't. The emissions came in waves, like time bombs. Just when he thought it was safe to breathe again, Petey cut loose. Before the poor man got off the mountain, he had the driver's window down and his head stuck out gasping for fresh air. Petey didn't care. He continued to befoul the air without a bit of concern for John's olfactory system.

We checked with the vet about medication for future trips for Petey, not us. Although, now that I think of it a little Xanax wouldn't hurt me...hmmm...

Where is Petey?