Puppies & Christmas Trees

Last week, I worked over a period of about two days putting up my Christmas tree (brand-new to me...thanks, Dad!) and getting it decorated just the way I wanted. Yesterday, in a period of about three hours, my two dogs completely destroyed all the hard work. I left them inside yesterday morning when we left for church because I knew it was going to rain, and I didn't really want to have to bathe them when I got home. Yes, I know, I should have known better.

I left church with my family to go eat, while Jeremy headed home to get ready for work...therefore, I didn't get the full effect of the destruction scene firsthand. But I can imagine. I thought for sure Jeremy was exaggerating when he said most of the ornaments from the bottom HALF of the tree were now crushed in the floor...he wasn't! How those two medium sized dogs managed to reach ornaments from 3-4 feet up the tree, I will never know. The bulk of our ornaments were glass balls, of course, so I was a little worried about how much glass they might have consumed. It doesn't seem to be bothering them so far, though.

Petey Grace gave me a glimpse of how much fun they must have had un-decorating my tree. I found two loose ornaments they had missed underneath the coffee table, so I laid them on top of the table until I got ready to repair the damage. Petey Grace took one look at me, grabbed the smallest ornament, and gleefully took off with it, apparently hoping someone would chase her. It was cute, infuriating as it was, and I could only picture the two of them spending the morning chasing each other around the room with colored Christmas balls in their little mouths. I had, up until that point, mostly blamed the damage on Chloe, as she is definitely the more mischevious one. However, Petey Grace clearly demonstrated she was a willing participant in the debacle. The final bit of damage I found was the frayed cord on the last strand of lights. They had completely chewed off the plug! At that point, I was just thankful they hadn't been electrocuted.

I redecorated the tree, pulling extra ornaments out of storage and moving some from the back to the front. I think I repaired it well enough for this season, but new ornaments will be in order for next year. I most definitely learned my lesson about leaving the dogs in the house unattended...they just aren't ready for all that freedom yet, apparently!