‘Twas the night before Dog-mas, when all through Your Pet Space,
Not a doggy was stirring, not one cute squishy face;
Their stockings were hung by the doorway, you see,
In hopes Santa Paws would fill them with treats.
The pups were all cuddled all snug on the couch,
With Uncle Dave in the middle, on that I can vouch.
And London in her ‘kerchief, and Boots in his boots,
They had all settled down, awaiting their loot!
When up on the roof, there came a great noise;
The barking was much! Dave about lost his poise!
He leapt from the couch to see what he could do,
But right in that moment, he stepped in some poo!
The moon on the breast of the new fallen dust,
Gave the luster of summer to stuff, you can trust.
When what to Dave’s wondering eyes should come forth,
But a miniature sleigh, led by “rein-dogs”, of course!
With a fat little driver who was breaking some laws,
Dave knew in a moment it must be Santa Paws!
More quickly than greyhounds, these “rein-dogs” they flew,
And he whistled, he called out, to his four-legged crew:
“Now Lucy, now Lou-bug,
now Turk and George/Bailey,
On Bogey, on Chloe,
On Gordon and Gracie!
To the top of the roof!
We can’t stop just yet!
These pups deserve presents;
We’ve got the best, you can bet!”
As dry doggy pools before the wild winter lay…
They each looked at “The Paws,” then jumped into the fray!
So up to the rooftop these “rein-dogs,” they flew
With the sleigh full of treats, but not a bit of poo-poo.
And then in a blink, Dave heard overhead,
The tapping and toeing of each doggy’s tread.
As he drew in a breath and was calming his friends,
Through the roof, “The Paws” came! It was such a big wind!
He was certainly furry, of that we are sure,
And his collar was covered in blinged-out grandeur!
A sack full of goodies, he barely could hold,
As he struggled a bit with his “treat-bag of gold.”
His eyes – how they shined!
His whiskers: how “whisky!”
His cheeks wanted kisses,
But no time to be frisky;
His long snout was topped off with a bow,
And the drool from his chin, it hung pretty low.
He smoked a cigar, he took quite a long toke…
Just kidding, my friends! Now that was a joke!
He had a fat face, and a kind of big tummy;
It was sure! He thought treats were a LITTLE too yummy!
He was gleeful, and fun!
A joyous dog elf!
And Dave chuckled and giggled, in spite of himself.
A wag of his tail and a wink of his eye,
Told Dave all he needed about this great guy!
He barked not a once, but went on to decide…
Which stockings to fill?
How much?
And how high?
Then filling them all to the brim, he was spent.
And calling his team, through the ceiling they went.
He jumped in his sleigh, and gave them all treats
And away they all flew…
They had more dogs to meet!
But Dave heard him call out, on their way to the sky,
“Happy Dog-mas to all, and to all a ‘dog’ night!”
Doug White, Associate Editor, has worked in customer service for over 24 years, with 13 years of that experience being at Chuck E. Cheese’s. (And, yes, he wore the mouse costume throughout that adventure). He has four little four-legged munchkins in his family named Peeta, Clyde, Oreo, and Peggy Sue. After adopting Clyde from Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary in 2013, he began volunteering for the organization. This experience ignited a passion for learning about different dog breeds and individual dogs’ varying personalities. Doug is a huge country music fan, an avid reader of sci-fi/fantasy/horror, and a (very) amateur gardener and hiker.