Canine Scrooge

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Our 3-year-old chihuahua, Cranberry is the equivalent of a canine Scrooge! Last Christmas when the annual Christmas family reunion was held at our house, Cranberry came short of not letting the guests come in. She was in the front door growling at poor Uncle George who was in a wheelchair. The kids were not spared as well. The terror of seeing a 2-foot monster dog (" a rat!" my niece said) was enough to send them running in tears to my sisters arms. We ended up putting Cranberry in her carrier the rest of the evening, spending a miserable Christmas, I'm sure.
Well this years party is at Uncle Georges' house and he was kind enough to say that it's okay to bring Cranberry along. (" I don't want the poor devil to be all by herself on Christmas day!") We don't know yet whether well take Uncle George's offer. The rest of the family I'm sure will not miss her if she doesn't come!
This is an odd thing because on regular days, Cranberry is a darling. We have guests come into the house and she is the picture of a perfect host! So what is it about Christmas that transforms her? Our veterinarian said that it is normal for pets to feel stressed during the holidays because they can sense their owners are stressed too. He went as far as suggesting that maybe I didn't really wanted to host the Christmas family reunion and Cranberry was just delivering the message to our guests! Hmm..that could be true but of course I told him that he is out of his mind and that is theory is so far from reality!
So maybe well go with Cranberry to Uncle George's house or maybe we'll just have a pet sitter stay with her. Or maybe, we can just stay home, order pizza and have a peaceful, stress free Christmas day! The latter sounds great!