Gunner’s Holiday Shepherd Shenanigans

Gunner Gilbert was 100 pounds of pure puppy delight. Less than a year old, Gunner was big even by German Shepherd standards and his large paws were always ready to assist in whatever the Gilbert family activities were.

This being his first Christmas, Gunner had no idea what to expect. He knew his family was always waving their arms or jumping around when they spoke about this Christmas holiday.

He sure did like Thanksgiving this year and hoped it would be just like that again.

He had gotten his own special place setting at the table with the rest of the family. Even old Gus seemed to be in good spirits that day. (The old Black Labrador Retriever) who could be a bit touchy when it came to playtime.

Gus who had hips that always seemed to hurt him and make him grumpy was in a great mood that day and even played with Gunner outside for awhile while they ran and tried to catch the football that was being thrown around to everyone.

Gunner made a touchdown and everyone petted and cheered for him. Even Gus! He got a special treat after the game of beef jerky, his favorite.

Today we are supposed to be going to grandpa’s old farm and cutting down one of many pine trees that grandpa sells through different vendors to the whole town during the holidays every year.

Lately, though the whole family comes over to help grandpa. After he broke his hip last year he hasn’t been able to work very much bending and sawing quite like he used to.

So the whole family will meet there today and cut down what needs cutting and as his thanks, grandpa is giving us a tree of our choosing.

It snowed last night and the ground is covered in a white sparkling blanket. It’s so pretty and shiny.

Gunner’s eyes start to hurt when the sun peaks over the horizon and lights everything up super bright. Gunner runs to the front door as Dad walks out rubbing his eyes and heading for the coffee pot in his PJs and slippers.

“Okay boy, here you go,” dad says opening the door for him. The first thing Gunner noticed was the icy cold blast of air that went straight through his fur.

Shaking it off as the hypnotic smells lured him off the porch and into the great outdoors to explore and discover.

His first step into the snow stunned him. “This white stuff is so cold,” he said to no one in particular.

“Yes, it is” came a reply from Gus showing up beside him. “This is your first time with snow, huh kid?”

“Sure is. I didn’t know it would be this cold.” Gus started to laugh…

“I still remember my first time. I was a lot smaller than you and got excited coming outside not knowing about ice yet and went skidding off the porch to land face first in the stuff.

I was stuck upside down like that with nothing but my tail waving like a flag in the air. Gunner laughed with him. ” What happened next?”

“They had to pull me out… You’re lucky this is only a few inches.”

Gunner laughed even harder trying to imagine Gus as a puppy and getting stuck like that.

“Well, what are you waiting for young’un, go have fun.”

That’s exactly what Gunner did too. running and playing until he couldn’t feel his feet anymore.

Later that day they left for grandpa’s and Gunner got to help Gus pull the sled filled with Christmas trees. It was fun!

Not as fun as licking the batter off of the spoon when Mom made sugar cookies later after dinner. Yum!

After that laying in front of the fire next to Gus, Gunner asked him to tell him all about Christmas.

Gus was happy to oblige. He didn’t have too much energy anymore and he had missed being able to talk to other dogs for a long time.

Now that he was used to the pup’s incredible energy. He felt he owed it to him to explain things.

“Christmas is a time of joy and miracles for people around here. They sing songs and give presents to each other and to us.

You’ll love it, they get me a giant bone shaped like a candy cane every year, and instead of turkey, they have ham… We eat great!”

Young Gunner liked the sound of that. Gifts and food? This was going to be great! He didn’t want to have to wait until the day after tomorrow but Gus said to be patient and it would be here before he knew it.

The next day, out for his morning walk Gunner saw his favorite squirrel to chase and began chasing it like he always did.

Only this time the squirrel didn’t run up his usual tree, instead, he ran straight into the woods, and with all of the fallen leaves and snow on the ground, everything looked different.

He had no idea how far he had gone and had become lost. For hours he tried to sniff his way but the wind blew strong and carried mixed smells with it.

He thought he could find home just using his nose to sniff his scent back the way he came but it didn’t work and he became even more lost. Starting to get desperate, Gunner began to howl and yip to see if old Gus could guide him home by sound.

Arooooooooow! Aroooooow! He bellowed. A strange dog answered him back with a warning bark that meant he was trespassing.

Gunner was frightened now, all he could see were trees everywhere. He began to run. He ran following his paw prints as much as possible.

When the sun started setting Gunner slowed down. He was cold and tired and hungry. He wanted his nice warm house and to chew on his bone laying next to old Gus listening to him snore.

Gunner Called out one last time on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion and the cold. One last effort he thought.

I’ve got that in me. Arooooow. He barely huffed out, a long billowing cloud of what was left of his warm breath came out with the call. He waited.

Nothing.

Exhausted the poor pup laid down on the cold ground no longer able to stand with all the scratches and cuts on his feet.

As he laid there he thought of Christmas and what Gus had said about it. Gunner just knew that he was going to miss it and began to cry and whimper from the heartbreak and unfairness of it all.

Gus was going to be so mad at him. He wondered if they would even come to look for him in this weather. He watched as a snowflake fell down right on top of his nose.

He laid his head down ready to give up when he heard Gus’s faint howl somewhere off in the distance.

Gunner cried and whined louder, unable to howl back. he was so tired.

Before he closed his eyes, he remembered seeing his owner carrying a flashlight and a warm blanket and Gus leading the way at a full run.

Hours later, Gunner awoke next to his nice cozy fire with his paws bandaged up, and Gus’s warm body snuggled up next to him.

“You’re awake finally. I thought you were going to sleep through Christmas.”

Gunner looked around. There were presents everywhere. It was the best day ever.

Everyone was happy to see him and nobody was mad at him. He was the guest of honor and was treated like royalty.

Even by Gus, who pushed his food bowl closer to him on the floor with his nose since he wasn’t able to sit or walk just yet with his paws hurt.

He had to be carried outside and then picked back up gently and placed on the rug by the fire.

There were so many treats and toys! What an amazing holiday this was. Gunner was glad he didn’t have to miss it.

“How did you find me?” he asked Gus before he went to sleep.

“It wasn’t easy, there were a whole lot of tracks but it was your cries that lead me to you. You did good kid.”

Thank you for finding me Gunner said after a yawn. “Sure that’s what friends are for,” Gus replied.

Gunner smiled. He had a real friend. He went to sleep content and never chased a squirrel into the woods again.

Written by: Sgilibertwriter WV, United States