My Christmas Puppy.

Before all the presents went under the tree I snapped a picture of Sadiemae. I thought about putting reindeer antlers on her but I didn't think they would stay on long enough for me to take her picture. I'm surprised she sat patiently enough for this photo.

I've written a few blogs about Sadiemae so most of you know she is a rescue puppy. She's come a long way since the day we adopted her. I have her trained in many areas but of course there are a few things she still needs to learn. Presently, I am teaching her not to eat things that don't belong to her. To teach her this principle, I put a biscuit on the coffee table and tell her to leave it. She whimpers and whines about it but she doesn't eat it. Why am I teaching her this, you may wonder. Ask no more, here is the unabridged answer. I participate in an ornament exchange each year. This year one of the ornaments I received was a salt dough ornament. When I opened the ornament my daughter in law commented on how wonderful it smelled; "Smells like a cookie" she said, sniffing the ornament deeply. One whiff of it confirmed her analysis. I hung it proudly in a perfect spot on the tree. The next day I noticed Sadiemae standing by the tree sniffing. Taking a closer look, I noticed she was sniffing that particular ornament. I stood and watched her for a minute or so and then continued with whatever I was doing. A little later I noticed her sniffing the ornament again but this time she decided to take a quick lick. Another few sniffs and another lick followed; another lick, a sniff and another lick; apparently she had resisted the temptation as long as she could; I watched as she opened her mouth and started to pull at the ornament. My alarmed yell brought her out of her "cookie crazed" stupor. I quickly moved the ornament higher out of her reach. She searched for that ornament for several days. A few days later I was in the basement loading up the woodstove when I heard a crash I thought had come from upstairs. I just knew Sadie had knocked the tree over to find that ornament. After I finally had everything taken care of with the stove, I rushed back upstairs to see the damage. I stormed up the stairs and with great haste and energy entered the family room. Instead of seeing a tree turned over and raked apart by big ol dog paws, I saw a dog standing in sheer shock at her mistress who is usally calm, cool and collected. If looks could say anything, her's would have said "what in the world....? Well, she might not have been guilty this time but believe me she manages to wrangle herself into plenty of trouble. I really do love that dog.