Last Christmas we decided to make it special for our two dogs Cody and Grizz. They were good all year and we wanted to let them know that Santa would not forget them.



Grizz is a black and white Collie-Mix. He's about 6 old and was born with half a tail. Well, sort of... He was one of 10 puppies and the first born. When his mother had him she didn't know what to do so she kind of chewed half of his tail off. Now his tail is his trademark.

Cody is a 7-year-old female pitbull. My neighbor found Cody while driving on a highway in Staten Island. My neighbor knew a stray dog would not survive for long on the highway, so she took her in, and tried to find her a good home. My husband and I ended up taking her. Cody is little mommy dog. When she senses that you're in a bad mood, she jumps on your lap and licks your face until you begin to smile and let her know that you feel better. What a wise dog she is!

Cody was a little over a year old when we got Grizz. When she saw him, she began to take care of him right away, as if he were her puppy. Whenever he cried, she'd jump up and see if he was ok. And as soon as he saw her, he'd stop crying. Then she'd lie down next to him, lick his face, nudge him with her nose and wait until he fell asleep again. And she also taught him how to play with chew toys.

Now both of them are grown up, and they're the sweetest dogs you could ever imagine. Since they're part of our family, we decided they should get presents for Christmas, too. We bought bones, squeaky toys, and balls. Then we wrapped them up and made a little pile of doggy presents under the Christmas tree.



Since their presents were all wrapped up, we figured Cody and Grizz wouldn't know that those presents were for them. We were wrong. They knew that something was in the air. Cody started to snoop around, and soon Grizz joined her.



After sniffing the presents for a little while, Cody gently tucked on one she really seemed to like and started picking on the wrapping paper with her little front teeth. She carefully ripped the paper off to get to the goody inside.

When Grizz saw Cody had picked a present, of course he wanted one, too. He does everything that Cody does... But only after Cody checks things out first, and makes sure it's safe.



Grizz was still amazed. It was as if he was thinking "Look at all the pretty colors!" He couldn't make up his mind which present he wanted to open first.



Cody started ripping off the wrapping paper from a whole bunch of presents and began munching on some doggy treats and playing with her new toys.



Finally Grizz found a present he liked and jumped back in his favorite spot on the couch, where he slowly opened his present, cherishing every second of it.




"I love you Santa. I was a good dog this year, too!"