kele in his red knitted christmas scarf, fur blown sideways by the wind, grinning on the deck of a ship

what to put in a dog's christmas stocking

the short answer: one new toy he's never seen. something he can get into the second it's out. too big to swallow. and you in the room while he plays with it. one good toy beats a stocking full of filler — the rest of this is why.

we don't hang a stocking

kele was a stray, so nobody knows his birthday. a vet looked him over and guessed june 2016. that means he gets all of june — a whole birthday month, a cake made just for him, and a lot of snacks and toys.

we don't hang a christmas stocking. around christmas he wears a christmas scarf, and there's a new toy. new toys turn up all year, to be fair. christmas is just a good excuse.

and giving kele a toy gets you about 200% back. the second it's in front of him he's on it — no sniffing around, no deciding whether he approves. he plays with it right there, as if he's making a point. it's the clearest "that was money well spent" anyone has ever given me, and it's the reason i keep buying him new ones.

it isn't the toy

kele doesn't rank his toys. expensive or cheap, big or small — he likes all of them exactly the same.

so it isn't the toy he's excited about. it's the moment you hand it over. he looks up, sees you smiling, and that's what sets him off. i think that's what he's playing with, every time.

so what goes in the stocking

  • one new thing. new is the present. an old favourite, washed, isn't the same moment.
  • something he can start on straight away. nothing he has to be taught, nothing you have to set up. the reaction is instant or it doesn't happen.
  • too big to swallow. the only size rule that matters.
  • you in the room. rope and woven grass can both be pulled apart into long strands, and a long strand swallowed is a vet problem, not a tummy ache. if you ever see string hanging out of either end of a dog, don't pull it — go to the vet. whatever the toy is, watch him play with it.
  • a treat pushed inside, if your dog is the type to lose interest. it buys the toy a second life. more on that here.

what we'd put in

if it's for dogs, kele tested it.

all three: with you there, not left alone.

the actual gift

whatever goes in the stocking, the part he's really unwrapping is your face when you give it to him.

so smile when you hand it over.

go play.

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