I hate holidays

Holidays are a pain in the ass. I've got 14 or so dogs to deal with, most by boarding. Aside from the cost, it means spending the day before we leave hauling dogs around to 2 or 3 different locations. Another day is lost on the other end of the trip getting them back. Plus there are meds and special foods to deal with, personality clashes dictating who can go where, instructions to give to various caregivers, all for a 4 or 5 day trip, most of which is spent on the road.


Anyone who thinks dogs love holidays is crazy. They either get boarded, left home alone, or at best, have their normal routines upset while strange humans invade their home and gorge themselves on food, little of which is shared. Household dogs get shoved outside, or to the basement, because some crazy relative is scared of dogs or is allergic. Holidays are hell on shelter dogs too. Many shelters euthanize everything possible to make it easy on their staff who must still come in to feed and clean. What a way to celebrate the apocryphal story about a fundamentalist christian cult who came to America and shared a meal with the indigenous populace before beginning their systematic genocide of those people.


And don't get me started on christmas. As the duck, Ferdinand, said in the movie "Babe": "Christmas means carnage." More dogs are euthanized for the xmas season than at any other time of year. I've even gotten calls about people wanting to dump their dogs because they don't want to board them when going out of town. I once spent a christmas home alone with the dogs. We went for a hike in a state forest. They ate dog food. I ate at 7-11. I'm sure it was the best christmas they ever had.