There is a lot of hustle and bustle going on around the house as Doc and I get ready for the holiday. Elmer the Elf, is still hanging around and I have to say he is starting to grow on me. I was even surprised when I found myself asking Doc if he could live with us forever. Although she told me no, because he needs to leave with Santa on Christmas Eve, I realized I learned a valuable lesson about giving others a chance before judging them.

Not having preconceived ideas about someone can be hard. Doc told me that a study from Harvard showed that we judge a person within a few seconds after meeting them. After Doc told me that, I complained loudly, ” Well that doesn’t seem very fair!” But I quickly realized that I had done that very thing with poor Elmer, and I had been wrong.

This morning as I was reflecting on what the holiday means to me and how Elmer has affected my life, I have decided to move forward and try not to judge people so quickly, and getting to know them and their story before I form an opinion. After all, I would hope others would give me more than a couple seconds before they judged me.

Sadly, Christmas Eve is only a few days away and Elmer will be leaving. I have already promised I will stay up late with him to wait to see Santa, a visit I look forward to every year.

Whatever you may be doing over the holiday, Doc, Elmer and I wish you peace and joy.

To say that I was startled to wake up this morning and find a stranger asleep in my bed is an understatement. To open your eyes and the first thing you see is a little short being in a red suite huddled up next to you, is a terrifying thing to encounter at 5am. So I did what any normal dog in my predicament would do, I growled and barked at the thing until Doc came running into the room to see what all the ruckus was about.

Thinking Doc would be afraid too, I certainly was surprised when she so nonchalantly said to me ” Oh I guess I forgot to tell you that we will have a visitor until Christmas. This is Elmer, and he is an Elf on the Shelf in training. Grover, since I am so busy, I need you to keep an eye on Elmer and keep him out of trouble.” ” Really? I responded, it would have been nice if you would have asked me first, but ok, I will do it.” After all, How much trouble could an Elf less that a foot tall be? I was soon to find out.

The first thing I had to learn about Elmer is, for a little guy, he gets himself into a lot of trouble. He’s quiet and quick, a bad combination. We were only at work for about 30 minutes when he had his first encounter with trouble. I had only gone down the hall for a few minutes in search of snack and when I came back to the office he was trying to hack into our blog and change the story about him saying he didn’t like how he was being presented to the public. I had to tell him to step back from the computer and howled for Doc to take care of that one.

What have I gotten myself into agreeing to watch Elmer? I promised Doc I would help, and I will hold up my end of the bargain, but this is going to be a challenge as Christmas is still 11 days away and I don’t know how I will survive. So stayed tuned to see if I survive.

When you can still bounce back from the aches and pains of aging, that is something to cheer about. Helping Doc every day at work gives me something to look forward to, makes me feel needed and motivated me to get better. So, I was so happy to hear what the veterinarian said when we went to visit her for a re-check on Monday, but I did have a bone to pick with her during the appointment about something she had Doc buy for my rehabilitation.

Even though I don’t like all the prodding and probing, I still like my veterinarian. She is kind and caring and had good news for me today. After examining my neck, she was happy to report that the muscles were no longer tight, I had good range of motion and Doc told her my pain was gone All good news, but I did want to question her about this stupid harness she told Doc to make me wear. It’s embarrassing. I know, I know, it’s suppose to take the pressure off my neck so I don’t hurt it again, but it just looks and feels stupid. This is the kind of apparatus they put puppies in to teach them how to walk and not pull on the lead, not for a distinguished, grown therapy dogs with perfect behavior! In exasperation I said to Doc, ” Why don’t you just put me in a wheel chair and push me around? ” She just told me I was being dramatic and that I would get use to it after a while. With both Doc and my veterinarian teaming up against me, I knew I would not win, but I still felt I needed to make a stand.

Life can be challenging at times. Learning to accept changes in your life, letting go of your ego so you can do what is best for yourself and realizing that the choices you make don’t just affect you, but also affect everyone that cares about you.

So. I will be compliant for now, but as time goes on and I am back to my old self again, I will renegotiate with Doc about this harness, and if that doesn’t work, I will go over her head. Yes, this old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve. Our medical director Dr. Agra, really likes me and I bet he would have a word with Doc on my behalf. So until next week, everyone take care of yourself I am on my way over to have a talk with Dr. Agra, give him a few extra doggy kisses and tail wags to see if he can help me out.