Ebenezer Scrooge (the pre-ghosts Scrooge that is) seemed oblivious, even obstinate regarding the Christmas spirit.  Lewis certainly qualifies as being oblivious and defines the concept of obstinate, so he could very well be Scrooge McDog.  Scrooge’s mean spirit, however, is not part of the big fella’s make-up.  I have to admit though, some of his results are the same.

Pet owners face a perennial problem with the arrival of the holiday season – how to protect the family Christmas tree from the family dog.  Some pet owners are more successful at that herculean task than others:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GAYLSKYIpY

We here at the Himalayan’s household have been worrying about this seasonal, seminal issue since October.  Actually, it started last Christmas when Lewis dutifully, and loudly, cornered a knee-high Santa we had placed in the foyer.  We rescued the man in red just before he became, well, the man dead!

But one thing we discovered about Lewis – he never bothered the Christmas tree (trees really, six of them, but that’s another story).   No confusing them with real trees, using them as his personal privy.  No fights to the death with the towering evergreen (ok, ever plastic) monsters.  His first Christmas with us last year proved Lewis to be the perfect gentleman.

Then the ghost of Christmas Present arrived this year.  Still no disasters, no tussles with trees, no incessant barking at the big guy, the other big guy, the one in red that is.  We have discovered, however, that his Scrooge streak surfaces in the same manner as he reacts to the television – he pays no attention to it, until he sees animals.  Such was the fate that met one of the ornaments on the tree this year.  Much to the ornament’s bad luck…it was an animal ornament, an owl to be specific (I’ll spare you all of the possible “hoo” puns).  Lewis discovered the owl, and suddenly the ornament became a ghost of Christmas Past.

It was a sad sight really, pieces of owl here, pieces of owl there.  Owl, owl everywhere.  The gentlemanly façade was broken, and the Scrooge emerged.  A few house rules have arisen as a result:

1. Keep a closer eye on Lewis!
2. No hanging of animal ornaments lower than “Lewis height.”
3. Keep a closer eye on Lewis!!

I offer the following before and after photos as evidence of the plight of the owl:

Not to be an indulgent parent, but Lewis was just being a dog after all.  Had he taken down the whole tree as in the video above, we would be having a different conversation. Lewis might have a little Scrooge in him, but I believe it is the post-ghost Scrooge.

You can look at that face and tell he has a merry soul, a heart that says, “Merry Christmas.”  So, if Scrooge were a dog, it wouldn’t be Lewis.