Polly's Christmas

Despite having her rug full of people, gifts and general clutter, Polly seems to have enjoyed her Christmas - goldies it seems, are at their happiest if they can wangle their way into wherever the action is happening!

We took Polly to my sister's house for a Christmas Eve party and started the celebrations with a dog walk and games at the local park ... Bugsy, Marley and Polly had a whale of a time chasing balls!  As there was quite a houseful for our traditional family get together in the evening, we settled the three dogs in a utility room when we returned.  They were relaxed after their earlier exercise and soon laid down to sleep together. Later in the evening the dogs were invited to join us in the living room but unfortunately Polly and Marley surprised us by having a brief altercation.  Both dogs visit regularly to play with their pal Bugsy  the German Shepherd, so I can only surmise they felt the need either to establish territorial rights for a moment, or perhaps the day's excitement simply bubbled over ... whatever caused the momentary flare, it was a timely reminder that Christmas parties and routine changes can be stressful, even for the best behaved of dogs.

On Christmas Day there were presents to be unwrapped, but that was no problem as Polly was delighted to help with unwrapping and of course, Santa had left a few special gifts for her under the tree!

Polly has loved having visitors over Christmas, not least of which is my daughter's new boyfriend.  Fay has serious competition for Neil's affections as Polly continues to make her best efforts to win him over - she really is proving to be an outrageous flirt!

And of course, because Christmas isn't Polly's fault, we made it clear to visitors they would need to arrive prepared with sensible walking boots, warm clothes and a spring in their step, because Polly would be having her walks each day, Christmas or not!

Polly was thrilled to have a pack of her favourite people to walk with and made the most of her festive freedom, racing around, leaping into muddy puddles, burrowing into long grass and generally turning herself into a swampy, stinky mudwump, with no respect for keeping a clean Christmas house, whatsoever!

And I must admit, seeing her having so much fun racing around out and about with my family, was a lovely Christmas gift for me!

My Grandson came to visit with his mummy and daddy on Boxing Day.  He is only three months old and Polly is fascinated by him ... she has already learned to sit by my side while I have a cuddle and that she shouldn't lick him.  On Boxing Day, Poll tried to sneak a crafty lick of his toes from time to time, but was very gentle and accepting of his place on my lap.  She even shared her rug with Toby graciously, settling herself quietly alongside him, while his mummy sat close by.

 Polly loves spending time with our other two grandchildren aged two and nine, so I have no doubt she and Toby will also become great friends in time.

With the exception of her momentary grump with older lab Marley on Christmas Eve, I am happy to say Polly has been a good girl throughout Christmas.

We included her in our celebrations as a member of our family and she coped well with the festive changes in her routine.  Over the holiday we made certain she had the guidance and attention she needed, space to take herself out of situations if she wanted to and most importantly of all, plenty of exercise to run off all the Christmas excitement!