Christmas is my favourite time of year because of my dogs. My dogs are my kids and I absolutely love spoiling them at Christmas. If your family is like mine then there are probably more gifts under the tree for your dogs than for any humans and isn't that the fun of it? I love the excitement, I love the chaos and I love the overall energy that is created during the frenzy of revealing all of their gifts. I love watching them stealing each other's toys and gobbling up their treats like it is the last food they will ever see.
But it is about so much more than presents, it is about the quality time and special moments we create. Christmas is the most time I have away from work where I can just enjoy being with my dogs. They also look forward to having family over which means even more love and attention for them.
The holidays is a great time to reflect on our life with our dogs. This Christmas will be the first one without my Paige. She gave me so much joy and truly enjoyed the holidays; she will be missed deeply.This time of year reminds us to soak life in and appreciate quality time like the holidays, especially when life is so short and fragile as Paige has taught me. We need to always embrace what we have and who we share it with, so I will be doing a lot of thanking, hugging, and kissing of Milo, Lily and Winnie as well as my human family :)
When you have senior dogs it is very easy to become sad when they start showing signs of age as they face the challenges that come with this stage of life. Christmas reminds us to look at the positive, to find fun and humor where possible and to better understand this time in their lives as incredibly special, despite the changes. This is why when we make our videos we often try to make you laugh and smile because there is a lot of joy left to experience with them regardless of their age.
Our goal should always be to expand that warm and fuzzy feeling we experience during the holidays to the entire year, making every day special, every day a reflection on all the amazing gifts we have in our lives. I know we all try, but at times it's easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life which fortunately (after the frenzy subsides) seems to slow right down when sitting around the Christmas tree.
So my wish for everyone this Christmas is to take a deep breath and soak everything in and give those special four-legged and two-legged family your full attention, your appreciation and most of all your love. Enjoy this time together, laugh and cherish every moment because each moment gives you one more special memory that will stay with you forever.
Merry Christmas everyone, from all of us here at Dog Quality!
Ann-Marie Fleming is the Founder & CEO of Dog Quality, a provider of products focused on improving the quality of life for older dogs.
