A Dog's Christmas

I am Topsy. I am 9 years old and I used to be an only dog, back in the good old days. About 9 months ago Master and Mistress brought home another dog, Lucy, who is a Real Pest. I have to let Master and Mistress pet her. She belongs to Mistress, and that is Okay, but why do I have to let Master pet her too? I can't have anything to myself anymore. They let her go on walks with us and she is always showing off how fast she can run. She gets to lie in my bed when they go away, and she gets to eat at the same time as me. They don't seem to understand that as younger dog she should be getting my leftovers only.

Christmas is fun. Master and Mistress always put up a tree in the living room. It has lot's of stuff hanging on it, and underneath are boxes and parcels wrapped in colored paper and string, and there is always one parcel hidden among the others with a yummy pigs ear inside. This year there were two. I went straight to the pile and picked one out, but they took it away and put it back. Said I had to wait. Well, I parked myself in front of the tree. I was at least going to make sure Lucy didn't get one of those pig-ear parcels. Later on in the evening they let us each have one. Lucy took hers and hid behind Master's chair with it. It's too bad she's so sneaky 'cause I would have taken it away from her otherwise. It's fun tearing up the paper before getting to the pigs ear. Pigs ears are my favorite goodie!



Believe it or not, next morning they put these delicious smelling kibbles in gravy out in bowls. Why they put them on a counter where only the cats could get at them I can't understand. I tried to stand on my hind leggs to eat from the bowls but Mistress wouldn't let me. Imagine wasting such yummy food on cats!

The cats tried to palm a mouse off on me. I didn't want the mouse, I wanted the catfood in gravy! Of course the mouse might have been meant for Lucy. She plays with the cats a lot. Thinks she's very brave making feignts at them snarling and showing her teeth, all the while trying to avvoid those sharp claws. Cats play dirty, so I don't even bother anymore. Anyway, Lucy had only just started chewing on the mouse when Master saw her and took it away. I guess the cats felt sorry for her cause they brought her a new mouse later on and she managed to chew it up and swallow it before Master was able to get hold of it.



I try to teach Lucy manners whenever possible. But she always starts crying and then Master and Mistress come running and make me stop and comfort her. It's sickening. Still I let her know whose boss as often as I can and give her a thrashing whenever I can get away with it.