Dogs At Christmas

One of the things I was least keen to do was share Christmas with a couple of 'hyper' and 'barky' dogs.  I cannot have even a phone conversation with Jess without these two yapping away in the background sometimes and it drives me crazy.  I wish I could say I was a lover of dogs, especially as my hubby is but I am learning to be around them and that's maybe as good as it's gonna get.

My plan was to have everyone take them out for walks and wear them out.  Surprisingly this actually worked and they even took a lovely nap on one occasion.  The kids didn't mind the hot chocolate 'mountains' after the walk either - I knew they'd do the trick to warm them up and if settled down in front of a movie with one they quieted down surprisingly too LOL!

Thankfully I haven't passed my fear of dogs on to my children or grandchildren and it was lovely to see them being so affectionate with the dogs.  Maddy was kept well away from them just in case Harry snapped which sadly he can do as he's a nervous dog but she was still okay around them.  I even joined them on one trip despite being poorly and held Louie's lead for a while.  Believe me I am sooooo much better than I used to be but it's taken years to get this far.

Everyone enjoyed the snow outside and Kaleb had a chance to put his new hat to good use.  I think he looks super cute in this - it really suits him.

And so - I survived my Christmas with dogs although I cannot deny I am soooooo very grateful for baby stair gates.  I couldn't have done it without them.  If I'm honest I WOULDN'T have done it without them either - not with these two guys anyways.