Callie Smith Grant - The Dog Who Came to Christmas: And Other True Stories of the Gifts Dogs Bring Us

C hristmas and dogs.

I love both, so what a pleasure for me to collect stories about that wonderful combination.

As I write this, theres a whole lot of stress going on in our world. With so many troubles afoot, I will admit I tend to get extra anxious. To cope, Im learning new skills to distract myself so that Im not constantly mired in disturbing news.

One of the new tools (new to me anyway) I use to distract myself is my local newspapers online comics page. I check the funnies every morning. This may not be the deepest way to deal with things, but I find starting my day with the smile this act provides is helpful and most likely healthy.

I begin with The Family Circus , where recently little Billy said, The softest warmest pillow in the whole world are dogs.

Isnt that the truth? What a gift dogs are.

In the same week, I happened upon a new research report that concluded children between the ages of two and five are less likely to have social-interaction issues if they are raised with a dog. How less likely? A whopping 40 percent.

Now theres a reason to put a puppy under the Christmas tree!

Of course, we dont need to be children to appreciate dogs (and lets remember that we should always be cautious with surprise pets for presents). In these pages youll meet people of all ages who had the privilege of interacting in beautiful, memorable ways with a dog or puppy, new or known, at Christmastime.

Youll meet some young families with not much money, but they receive a gifta lively, furry new family member who offers unconditional love to all. Youll meet one mom who hides a surprise Christmas puppy in a stablereminding her afresh of the earthiness of the place of the Christ childs birth. One writers extreme shyness about meeting her potential new in-laws at Christmas is eased by the actions of an extraordinary dog who pulls the whole new family together.

Some dogs are true friends to their humans for the dogs entire life. Some dogs are there only for a seasonmaybe only for the Christmas season. They all offer their unique gifts of love and support, of companionship, even of life to their loved ones. Or sometimes to strangers. Or even more remarkably, sometimes to other animals.

And yes, a couple of stories really do feature boxes with dogs in them under the tree on Christmas morning. But we also learn theres more than one way to get a dog for Christmas. Youll see!

A gentle warning: There is occasional heartbreak scattered throughout these pages. But let me assure youno hearts were broken permanently in the writing of this book. Why? Because of dogs. They can be the great healers of hearts.

Christmas thoughts seemed to remind some of the contributors of beloved dogs loved and lost. But so many of them tell how they went on to love another wonderful dog. As contributor Andi Lehmans father tells her, The greatest tribute you can pay an animal you loved and lost is to love another. Some stories feature new dogs redeeming loss.

Christmas and dogs. What a gift. As contributor Lisa Begin-Kruysman says in her story, The gift of dog is that they remind us there is no time like the present and no present like time.

I trust youll enjoy these stories as much as I have enjoyed them. Reading them has been another unexpected toola gift, reallyto get me through the stress of the times. Thank you for that, dear contributors.

Have a blessed Christmas, all.

Callie Smith Grant