The problem is, it was not for her.

Claire is going to be 12 in a few months and she is a wonderful part of our family.

Every year at Christmas, she gets excited when she is given packages to open. We wrap all kinds of new and some old toys for her to open. She is like a kid and it brings a smile to our faces.

We set up our tree a couple of weeks ago and placed some wrapped presents under the tree.

A couple of days ago, we came home from dinner and found an opened package near the tree. The packaging was ripped to pieces, but the sweater that was in there was untouched.

Apparently Claire decided she could not wait until Christmas morning and opened a present. Well, she was very careful not to damage the contents, when she realized it was not for her.

My wife was furious with her. I could do nothing but smile.

How she was able to shred the package and not damage the sweater is beyond me.

I am sorry I did not take any pics.

Does your Dog open presents?

don't have any pets right now but that is a cute story.

I don't do gifts to open at Christmas for my dogs, but a friend of mine does. Veronica is about the same age as your Claire and my friend says ...

Probably over the past 6 months or actually a little longer; Veronica has lost interest in her toys. I chalked it up to her getting older. I changed her BarkBox over to all treats because she wasn't playing with the toys, they weren't getting destroyed, her toy box was filling up and was never touched. I was concerned about Christmas because I usually buy her a ton of toys and wrap them and put them under her tree the day after thanksgiving and she knows she can't touch them until she has permission, but gets all excited trying to sniff and poke them.

I really thought this year she wouldn't be all that interested in opening gifts. I bought her a couple of food puzzles (which aren't fun to unwrap) just so we would have something new to play with and a few toys that she could open and I put them under the tree much later than usual. Of course I had all these conversations about my concerns and plans in front of Veronica....

Last week....guess who starts playing with her toys? I put her gifts under the tree last Saturday and "Miss I'm well behaved and never touch my gifts" OPENS one of her gifts within minutes of it going under the tree without us even knowing. Since last weekend my living room is again strewn with toys and somebody wants to play again. Not as much as she used to, but she already destroyed the new toy she opened so...apparently I have to buy her more gifts!

This made my smile

Rylee sniffs out the dog treats under the tree but has never tried to open one. Now cheese logs are a different story. Cheese logs must be kept in a dog proof container. If you put a cheese log under the tree, there will be no stopping her.

Claire needs a treat! Good girl!

Merry Christmas!

Had a Rottie a few years ago that was great at it, but thankfully, only when she was told it was OK.

When you essentially you train dog that she gets rewarded for destroying packages, don't be surprised when she takes the initiative and destroys packages

I'm glad the sweater wasn't ripped up. Maybe it wasn't her color?

I have 6 indoor cats and I've no doubts that they would "open" wrapped gifts under the tree. I solve that problem by never having any such. I'm single, live alone, and have no family nearby. I typically exchange gifts only with my Best Friend and they are often not even wrapped. (He came by today for a couple of hours to take me to lunch--I turned 81 today.)

flashguy

Happy Birthday, flashguy!

Ours has never bothered presents under the tree in her 8 other Christmases. This year she picked a cardboard box in the middle and shredded it. It had her new Kong toys in it. We have no idea how she knew since she hasn't had them before. She had no shame in it either.

Happy Birthday flashguy;

years ago our sweet & well behaved Dobie was left for about 4 minutes in 'her back seat'. I ran inside for something & came back out to find 'my front seat' bag of groceries askew. No real mess, other than the styrofoam tray somehow chewed to quarter sized while the 3# round steak totally missing....and a sheepish 'wasn't me' look....

We never got around to actually wrapping her toys etc.

Happy birthday fladhguy and many more ahead. Steve, after 12 years she probably has learned how to open them by watching her family. Thats really funny.

Ha, ha. That is so cute. Yes years ago we had a pair. A Aussie and a Healer. Both loved Christmas. The Healer was most adept at opening his presents. Brings back great memories and boy I really miss them. Both fantastic guys.

"I miss you boys"

Thanks P220 for the trip down memory lane.

I hope your girl gets lots of presents. Sounds like she might be a bit spoiled?

That’s a cute story. My dog is so small that most packages are bigger than she is.

Yes. My German shepherd Hannibal occasionally opens a present or two. He much prefers to destroy my Christmas tree and my wooden Christmas tree ornaments.

Great story! Pets are a treat from god. Merry Christmas to you and your gang!

I stopped at a house to deliver a package and saw their dog tearing into a plastic-wrapped package some other delivery service had left behind. I admonished the dog in a friendly voice and it actually stopped gnawing on the box. It also got the attention of the dog's owner who was mildly concerned with her dog's intake of plastic.

If I see a dog running around in a yard, I usually don't leave the package within its reach unless I know the dog will leave it alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Oz_Shadow:
Ours has never bothered presents under the tree in her 8 other Christmases. This year she picked a cardboard box in the middle and shredded it. It had her new Kong toys in it. We have no idea how she knew since she hasn't had them before. She had no shame in it either.

Kong toys have distinctive aromas. My blind one can sniff out his Kong balls very fast after coming in from outside. Or getting up in the morning. He can tell the difference between the red one and the black one. Sometimes he wants one, sometimes the other, but he knows which is which.

My dog loves to open presents too.

We give her the cardboard paper towel tubes and she goes nuts tearing them apart.