Our Favorite Holiday Traditions With Our Pets
The holidays just wouldn’t be the same without our family and friends, including those of the four-legged variety. From decorating the house, to singing with loved ones, animals make holiday festivities all the more special. Here are our favorite holiday traditions with our pets!
I adopted Dennis almost two years ago but weirdly enough, it doesn’t feel like I’ve ever experienced a Christmas without him. For the past two years, the first weekend of December, we put on Dennis’ Christmas sweater and take him to the Christmas tree lot to find a tree. We let him sniff each tree, until he finds the smelliest, prettiest one of the bunch. Afterwards, while we set up the tree, he typically sleeps with his Christmas bun-bun (pictured with him) and occasionally confuses the Christmas ornaments with tennis balls. Christmastime is my favorite time of year and Dennis just makes it that much more special. I can’t wait to create more memories with that crazy pup!
-Emilee
We have started the tradition of celebrating the eight nights of Hanukkah by giving Sasha a gift every night. The first night we do a big feast, and also do a home-cooked meal for her as well. We make her “unwrap” her gift, which we find delightful, but she is totally indifferent to!
-Sam
This is a new tradition, but a new tradition is still a tradition. I live in Los Angeles, while the rest of my family is in Boston. The distance and expensive airfare keep us apart so I only see my family once a year at Christmas. Every holiday, I fly to the east coast, with my dog in tow, and my family picks us up at the airport. Keep in mind that Logan Airport at Christmas time is incredibly busy, so when I’m picked up at the terminal it’s extremely difficult to find my family. How do we eventually connect? They look for the dog in the Christmas tree sweater, complete with a glowing star on the hood. It makes it easy to find us in a crowd!
-Shannon
Every holiday, I make a donation to the rescue that I adopted Stella from. Her birthday is December 24 so we have double the reason to celebrate. It’s my way of expressing gratitude to the people who cared for her before she came into my life.
-Diane
My “holiday tradition” with my cats is wrapping presents with them every year. About a week before Christmas every year, my three cats and I love to join together in the living room and wrap presents for friends and family. I turn on a fun Christmas movie and break out the wrapping paper and bows. As soon as they see the shiny Christmas ribbon, they all pile into my lap in hopes to snag a bow to play with. Most of the time, the wrapping takes way longer than usual with all of their “help” — batting at the boxes, throwing ribbon in the air and running around with pieces of wrapping paper. Although it is nothing extravagant, it is something that we all look forward to every year and we enjoy every bit of it!
-Victoria
