We love the holidays with our pets. One of our wonderful Petplace.com writers researched and created a list of holiday traditions that you can spend with your dog. Read the full article – go to: 12 Wonderful Holiday Traditions to Share with Your Dog.

We’ve also been getting emails from readers about some of their favorite traditions.

Here are some recent suggestions we have received.

I hope these suggestions encourage you to create some of your own traditions with your dogs.

• My husband left the planet this year and our dog Zoe holds me together. I’m putting a stocking together for her for a continuance of the tradition my man and I had of stockings on Christmas morning–what do you suppose she’ll get for me? A walk, another walk and I’ll make it through the day, grateful for her company and glad to have her to keep me company through grief of loss and joy of life.
• Give them a special breakfast.
• Every Christmas Eve I sit on the floor, gather my Dachshunds to me, and read the Christmas story from the Bible. Then I read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and finish up with “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Clause.” We also watch “White Christmas” as many times as it is on; I cry at the end, every time.
• My Jack Russell, Hugo, always goes with me to wherever i am spending Christmas day. usually my daughters ,so he gets to meet her dog Lola, and 2 cats Sid and Ceejay…well Ceejay? maybe not as he doesn’t like Hugo so goes and hides. but Sid doesn’t care.he is top cat having shown Hugo ,the first time they met that it is HIS,SIDs house and he is the boss, by jumping on Hugo and somehow laying him flat on his back/ happened so fast we were in wonderment for days afterwards. Hugo was a 2 year old rescue dog, now a bit of a wimp where Sid is concerned.they ignore each other now. i always ask for the heart, liver and kidneys from the turkey or chicken and cook them later for Hugo. Plus all the pets have their own Christmas dinners and presents. They are our family and get treated as such. happy Christmas Dee Ross.UK
• If there is snow around (as there often is in western Canada),my three dogs and I go out and make a snow pup. It’s small – their tummies are close to the ground and they hate wearing coats, so we are not out for long, but they are always very intrigued. After it is finished they inspect it, turn it yellow, and we go home. Every evening at bedtime we spend a few quiet minutes cuddling and sending good wishes to animals who are homeless or uncared for. On Christmas Eve we do this four times – once for each of my dogs (all rescues) and once for me, in gratitude for the joy they bring me. I get the feeling they know what we are doing, because they lie beside me on the bed and look up, and are almost reverent for a few minutes, and when we finish they are back to being their bouncy, playful selves.
• We always put a present wrapped up usually a bag of treats from Santa paws!!
• We have 4 dogs and one cat and Christmas morning opening gifts wouldn’t be near as much fun without them. They love tearing open their own gifts and playing in the pile of wrapping paper and bows. That’s what makes Christmas morning very special for us is seeing the amount of fun they’re having with us. I couldn’t imagine excluding them!
• We always have holiday gift bags under the tree filled with gifts for our three fur kids. They know these gift bags are for them, but have learned over the years they must wait to ‘open’ them on Christmas. So for several weeks the bags sit carefully watched but not touched, then with the word command ‘ok’ and me pointing at the bags they tear into them, and I do mean tear, pulling out each gift and then checking out what their brother’s and sister got, stealing their gifts….or maybe it is a bit of a ‘doggie gift exchange’….so much fun for both them and us !!! Happy Holidays Dr.Debra, and thanks for all your great advice and gifts for our fur babies !!!
• My dog Bella gets really excited when our tree goes up. Clearly she feels the holiday excitement. On Christmas Eve, she acts like a child refusing to sleep and picking at the tree. I have to wait until she goes to bed before I place gifts under the tree or she will open them. She also knows which presents are for her. She can tell the difference between treats/toys and gifts for the rest of the family. Honestly, it’s so funny to watch her open her gifts!