Snowbird Dempsey

It is now the tenth day of Christmas, and miracle of miracles, the Christmas tree is still standing. Doreen added ribbon last week, and we've even added a couple of (fake) wrapped presents under the tree. Dempsey has been such a good boy, not touching any of it.

Last Saturday, we took him to the pet store to meet Santa Claus. Dempsey was very suspicious at first, refusing to go near Santa. A few well-timed treats bribed him to get closer, but he was still leery. I think Dempsey knew this wasn't the real Santa, because underneath the beard and hat, it was a woman. He is such a smart little boy! At one point, Dempsey reached up to tug off Santa's beard, exposing "Santa" as the fraudulent look-alike she was, but luckily a well-timed "sit" prevented him for ruining it for all the other little dogs. In the end, Dempsey and "Santa" became friends, with Dempsey doing a nice "rest your head" on Santa's lap.

Last week's blizzard wasn't nearly as bad as we'd feared it would be. Dempsey loves the snow, and he always volunteers to help with the shovelling, though his "help" consists mostly of knocking down the piles of snow I had worked so hard to shovel. This is cute for about the first 20 times, after which he gets to rest in the kennel while I shovel the snow all over again.



This morning, however, was a little too cold even for Dempsey. With the temperature at about two below, we played Frisbee fetch a couple of times in the snow after his potty break. Dempsey was still wagging his tail and having fun, but I noticed there were two little drool icicles forming by his mouth. Yikes! We went inside and played hide and seek instead.

Luckily for Dempsey, he gets to be a snowbird this year. Doreen, Dempsey, Bailey, and I will all be piling into the Jeep for a trip to Phoenix and L.A. to visit Dempsey's puppy grandparents. Dempsey will miss the snow, but I think he'll enjoy going on long walks again. It's only December, but Dempsey is already a little stir crazy.

Stay tuned for vacation pics!