I rarely pass along emails...But this is GOOD! Especially for Dog people

'Twas the Night Before Christmas
By Stacey Vincent

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With no thought of the dog filling their head.
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Knew he was cold, but didn't care about that.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Figuring the dog was free of his chain and into the trash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But Santa Clause - with eyes full of tears.

He unchained the dog, once so lively and quick,
Last years Christmas present, now painfully thin and sick..
More rapid than eagles he called the dogs name.
And the dog ran to him, despite all his pain;

"Now, DASHER! now, DANCER! now, PRANCER and VIXEN!
On, COMET! on CUPID! on, DONER and BLITZEN!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Let's find this dog a home where he'll be loved by all"

I knew in an instant there would be no gifts this year,
For Santa Clause had made one thing quite clear,
The gift of a dog is not just for the season,
We had gotten the pup for all the wrong reasons.

In our haste to think of the kids a gift
There was one important thing that we missed.
A dog should be family, and cared for the same
You don't give a gift, then put it on a chain.

And I heard him exclaim as he rode out of sight,
"You weren't giving a gift! You were giving a life!"

Damn, I'd like to give these out in front of every pet store this time of year...

My little dears have certainly never had to worry about winding up like that!

I passed it along to my doggie friends.

when Snookums has grown out of the cute puppy stage and gone into the adolescent chewing everything up stage. D'oh, should have trained the dog.

D'oh indeed.

When I teach obedience classes, I almost always prefer the puppy classes, because those people usually have the best attitude toward laying down a good foundation for the dog. In the classes for older dogs, people generally just want us to "fix" the dog and get them to stop doing whatever it is that they don't like.

I am on a lot of dog rescue lists at Yahoo Groups, and they post this every Xmas. But it still chokes me up, since I am a sucker for all dogs (all animals, for that matter).

spend $1,000 on a pet shop dog only to forget about it once the tree is taken down. Sadly, if one is serious, does their research, and waits for the right time....even a full bred quality dog is cheaper than what they charge the "impulse buyers". My baby Jessie was way less than that with a Am/Cn Ch. Mom and Dad.

To all dogs, may they have happy homes. :toast:

it is the height of cruelty to take an animal that needs a social life and stick it alone in doggie jail for most of its life. It makes me so sick to see it. I wouldn't give those bastids that do that to their dogs so much as a bag of sticks!

I beg anyone who's thinking of giving a pup or a kitten for a present to give it at another time of the year, when things aren't so frantic. In all the excitement, a living creature is too easily tossed aside like a new toy after the first day. Make it a more planned, special activity - a pet is a lifetime commitment, not a disposable bit of trash.