The Christmas Crazies

I'm not even sure where to begin...hmm, how about almost four weeks ago? We packed up our car, filled every nook and cranny with Christmas presents and dog toys, and hit the highways of the South. My family is spread out everywhere and we had made a schedule which allowed us to see them all for the holidays. We headed to Chattanooga first. Rainy, nasty days awaited us but Jake can always find someone to play with in a household of small children, a Border Collie and my dad (aka The Man Who Will Never Grow Up). Jake always enjoys sleeping at the foot of our bed, part of a special treat for going out of town. And, of course, Jake's taken to sneaking up on anyone's sofa, as long as it looks like a comfy spot for a nap.

Jake found himself privileged to be allowed on the couch even more when he proved his usefulness in making my 5-month-old baby sister laugh. She's a tough little cookie to make giggle and Jake had the trick down pat. He would nose bonk her little hands and then when that got old he'd lick her ears. And just when it seemed that she had had enough, Jake would roll over upside down and let her slide her little hands over his belly. She kept her hands flat open on his fur and reveled in the softness (can't blame her since I don't it often myself). Even when she grabbed onto his jowls and tugged, Jake just enjoyed the attention. He looks like he's suffering from lack of attention, doesn't he?

As much as Jake likes to shred my tissue paper and steal tape while I wrap presents, I was sure that Christmas morning was going to be spent prying Santa paper, bows and gift bags from Jake's jaws. I was wrong, actually. Jake and his buddy Ian just watched from the outskirts of the present frenzy. Every once in a while Jake would get up to sniff some interesting present, only to be told, "No, Jake, no" by my three-year-old baby brother. Jake would go flop back on the wooden floors with a theatrical sigh. The only toy that seemed to bother him was a robotic dinosaur that was slowly making its way across the floor. Jake put himself between the toy and the babies and made sure it got nowhere near them.

And what more could a good cattle dog ask for but cows for Christmas? We headed next to Brevard where Jake got to spend two weeks staring intently at his cows. There were new ones to meet and his old favorite to lick. In my attempts at keeping Jake busy on the pouring rain days that hit us, I discovered just how awful smelling bullysticks are (for those of you who don't know what these are, you're better off not knowing) and just what a mess Jake could make with a rawhide wrapped in chicken jerky. I definitely had to pull out the vacuum before my mother saw that mess!

Jake did his usual job of rounding up everyone's socks for them, whether we wanted them rounded up or not. No one took me seriously when I said that Jake was a sock thief. Eight unmatched socks later, my parents started looking for their missing socks wherever Jake looked the guiltiest. Not to be outmanuevered, Jake took to sneaking work gloves just as easily. Jake only got caught because my mother noticed him laying on her WHITE couch.

And, just to make sure the holidays weren't dull, a pretty Golden Retriever found her way to my grandparents house and we took the wet, friendly dog in (she'd discovered the cow pasture stream). We called everywhere we could think of to leave messages about finding the dog. She obviously was loved, didn't have a matte in her flowing fur, and was as sweet as they come. Jake and his new friend played for hours in the basement. They rolled around, did some chest banging, and turned rag towels into new tug toys. About the time Jake was actually worn out, the owner called the house and came to get her girl, Gracie. Jake sure missed Gracie for the next two days before we headed home. Jake kept going to the garage door and pawing at it for me to let him in so he could find Gracie. Gracie's mommy even sent Jake some fabulous doggy biscuits, which made the best crumbs (have I mentioned what a messy eater Jake is?). Jake and I were glad to finally get home. The cats were happy to see their mommy, too, but not so thrilled to see that I still had the dog in tow.