[Dailydrool] chocolate-christmas trees

[Ron Buries]

Loved reading the stories of our hounds love of chocolate. I remember Barney's first christmas. He was 5 months old. Da mom made up a large batch of chocolate chip cookies. As in the past she placed the  cooling racks on the  dining room table. As the cookies cooled she would remove them from the racks and place them in nice even rows on foil on the edge of the table. She would then place them into sealed containers for later enjoyment. I happened to walk by the kitchen and looked into the dining room and saw cookies laid out in nice rows near the edge of the table. I then walked into the den and mentioned to da mom that that may not be a good idea because of Barney. Her response was...he won't bother them...5 minutes later I noticed Barney was not in the den with us. I got up to check and to my wondering eyes Watched him as he slowly pulled the foil to the edge of the table so he could sample the next row of cookies!! Da mom was not impressed with his table cruising skills. Because of the drool I knew to call my vet. She said because it was hershey's chocolate there probably wouldn't be a problem, and there wasn't. The next event was at christmas when he wa 2 yrs. old. We had family christmas at our house and my grandson received a small box of see's candy with 8 chocolates. After everyone left we were picking up and sorting all the gifts and asked Martin where his candy was. We couldn't find it and figured another family member had accidentally placed it in their pile of gifts. The grandson didn't care because he didn't really like candy that much. Barney had a little hiding place in the living room where he would take all his absconded treasures. If we were missing something I would go his little hiding and see if he was the culprit. I just didn't think about  Barney stealing the candy. Two months after christmas I was reaching into his stash and found the see's candy box opened and empty !! All the candy rappers were still neatly in the box. Barney never showed any signs of illness. Barney's first christmas tree was an experience. He thought all the hanging toys were for him to play with. And play he did. Any soft ornaments on the lower branches got shredded. Think goodness the glass ornaments did not interest him. He is now my mushy senior and has no interest in the christmas tree. However no cookies or chocolates are allowed under the tree. Drooling and praying all our families have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving. Love and hold your houndies close this holiday season. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come. But we have this moment today to be with our houndies.


Ron & Barney