The polyvinyl chloride branches on the tree had been molded into shape. The multi-coloured lights blinked brightly casting shadows of red, green, blue and yellow on the sparkling silver garland. The boys had done a great job hanging the Disney ornaments, cherry flavoured candy canes, homemade beaded candy canes, and salt dough ornaments on the tree that year.

Unfortunately, that was the year of ornament destruction. The damage was not the result of the 3 or 6 year old that actively decorated the tree, but from someone equipped with four paws, a stubby tail, floppy ears, and a dopey expression. For the first year, in ten years, our boxer wouldn’t leave the Christmas tree alone. I took this as a sure sign of his senility because coupled with constantly finding him rooting in the tree branches we would find him eating the non-eatable items from the tree. He was not interested in the least in the delicious cherry flavoured candy canes. He consumed a salt dough ornament and he was frequently interrupted munching on the homemade beaded candy canes. The beads seemed to be a delicatessen once artfully removed from the pipe cleaner by his crafty jaws. The pipe cleaner he carefully discarded at the base of the tree.

It was far too amusing for me to be mad, although the loss of ornaments was frustrating. There was also some concern about what his snacking was doing to his stomach. However, I was quickly relieved of worry because one glanced over at him revealed him settled on his pillow with his head resting on his paws looking thoughtful and calculating.

The tree and the dog survived that years Christmas season, but I had to remove the bulk of ornaments from the tree to eliminate temptation.

By Shari Marshall – 2017