Holidays with A.J. have always been an adventure. His first Christmas with us resulted in a trip to the emergency vet after he managed to eat an entire loaf of raw bread dough. (And this was shortly after he’d eaten his breakfast plus three whole sausages my step-son snuck to him without my knowledge.) We also had to put a fence around the Christmas tree on the rare occasions over the holidays that we left A.J. alone.

Year two we thought we made it through without any incidents. Then, two days after Christmas, we went out to dinner. We came home to find candy dishes knocked off a counter that I was sure was way too high for A.J. to reach. But it turned out not to be too high, and A.J. had eaten all my Christmas candy. A quick call to the vet reassured us that nothing he’d eaten was toxic to him, he’d just be on a nice sugar high for a while (like we’d notice that with A.J.).

 

It’s now December 31, the last day of 2015 and the final day of the holiday season. The Christmas tree is still standing, without ever having a fence around it. (Okay, there was a small incident having to do with chasing a new toy around the living room that almost sent the tree toppling, but it managed to stay upright.) Every bit of Christmas candy was immediately put into the pantry. A.J. hasn’t figured out how to open doors, so the candy was safe. No uncooked (or cooked) food was left on the floor anywhere in the house for a dog to sneak in and find. This was the quietest, most uneventful holiday season we’ve had since A.J. joined our family.

 

My little boy is all grown up. And maybe, just maybe, I’m a little bit smarter about living with a crazy dog.