
My humans have been preparing for Christmas. They had spent most of the month unpacking and settling into the new house, so they rushed to get some Christmas decorations up before Christmas day arrived. They wanted to make sure that Santa could find us. I liked to sit and watch the lights twinkle all over the tree. It looked like a tree, but it did not smell like one. It smelled like plastic.
My smaller human was home for Christmas break. I enjoyed having her home with me. I could tell she was excited, and this made me excited. We both visited the tree often and looked at the presents that sat beneath it. I sniffed at the boxes, but I didn’t smell any food and nothing else seemed to attract my attention.
Being tired and restless, I made my way back to my kennel. Where I slid through the opening in the hanging sheets. Ohhh, I yawned before settling down to get comfortable for a nap. Just a quick one, I thought, and before I knew it, I was sound asleep.
Every day, my human mom wraps and put new presents under the tree. By the time Christmas day had arrived, there were tons of presents! On Christmas morning, my small human found all the gifts that Santa had left in our stockings. She started pulling items out one by one from her stocking. She was all smiles. I snuggled on my human dad’s lap while I watched her. Before I knew it, she brought mine and Kitty’s stocking over and helped us pull out all the treats and toys that Santa had left for us.
The house was filled with excitement, and it smelt delicious too. I wandered around, hoping to find a morsel that had been dropped on the floor. Bark, Bark, Rfff, Bark, Bark. I shot to the front door as I heard a car pull into the driveway. The small human’s Omi and Papa were here.
She came running through the house, hollering excitedly. Good, I thought to myself, she’s been taking notes. Now I just need to teach her to bark at cars when they pull into the driveway. My train of thought was broken when the door opened. I dashed over, OOooOOoo, Rrrr, OOooOOoo, Ahh, Rrrr I voiced excitedly. I could smell Frankie and some of the other dogs on their clothes, but they didn’t come with them today.
Everyone was talking, cooking, snacking, and having a good time. While the food was baking, they let the little human open more presents and the adults even had some to open too. When I had had enough of the chaos, I went to my kennel for a little privacy. It was a long but very fun day. The next couple of days, my humans relaxed and enjoyed their Christmas gifts and Christmas dinner leftovers. I snuggled some but found myself wanting to be in my kennel for the most part. It gave me the feeling of a cave or den. It was comforting.
Ouch, I spun my head around quickly to look at my side. That hurt, I shifted my position. I tried to find some relief. The little pains had started late in the night and continued through the morning. I whimpered, and my human mom came to check on me. She petted my head and told me everything was going to be just fine. She sat with me for a while talking to me and petting me. The pains started coming again and again. Getting closer and stronger and lasting longer.
Then the air filled with a sweet smell. What is that? I lay there trying to recuperate and understand what had just happened. My human mom gently handed me something as she pulled a wet sack from its face. It started crying. My ears immediately perked up at the noise.
A puppy, my puppy! I started l*****g my baby to clean it up and dry it off. I did not like the taste. The pain started again, another puppy! They were coming pretty fast, and I was so tired. I was grateful to my human mom. She helped me make sure their airways were clear, so they could breathe and to dry and clean them all, so they wouldn’t catch a cold.
I heard my human mom making a phone call. We have nine puppies! Mom and babies are all doing well. There are seven girls and two boys. Wow, good job Daisy, I could hear my human dad say through the phone. I was too tired to answer. Mom had changed all my bedding again, so it was fresh and dry.
I dozed in and out of sleep the rest of the night. My puppies were quite noisy and were constantly moving and squirming about. I had to clean up after each of them, and it seemed to never end. The next morning, I felt like I hadn’t slept at all. I was so tired. My human mom made me a delicious soft protein meal, to encourage me to eat.
She let me eat it in my bed. I didn’t want to leave my babies. She also offered me fresh water in bed, which I gladly accepted. I hadn’t wanted anything earlier, but I sure did now. After eating and drinking my fill, she coaxed me outside. I didn’t want to leave my puppies. She walked off the porch with me, I ran down, peed, and then bolted back up the steps.
I could hear my puppies’ squeaky little voices. OOooOOoo, Ahh, Rrrr, OOooOOoo, I said to her while putting my paw on the door.She helped...

