A Sled Dog Christmas

Merry Christmas!
It's kinda boxing day now, but who gives?

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I woke up and sleepily peered at the clock. The red digits read 8:00am. I groaned and flopped back down onto my soft bed and pulled the covers over my head. It was a little cold for the start of summer and I wondered why. Usually Christmas in Australia is warm and perfect pool weather, but today I think I might need a hoodie.
I was almost asleep when I heard the floorboards creak outside my door.
"Getting up today?" My brother said playfully.
I loudly groaned and turned over.
"Come downstairs." Cam said. "I've got a surprise for you."
I was intrigued. I pushed myself to get up and I pulled my NWRK hoodie over my head. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I walked across the landing and down the polished wood stairs. Cam was Not a morning person and I wondered where Ivy and Darius were. They hadn't woken me up like they always do.
I stepped off the last step and looked around the lounge room. We had put the Christmas Tree up a week ago and Cam had put the fairy lights on. The little lights glow brightly as I walked onto the soft carpet and gazed around at the room. The plush couches had been rearranged and the tree was now in the center of the room.
Cam was sitting in front of the tree with a large cardboard box with big holes in the lid. It was plain brown and tied with red ribbon. It had a small card on the front reading: 'Merry Christmas'.
"Merry Christmas, Sis."
I smiled whole-heartedly and carefully took the box from him. It was quite heavy and the weight seemed to shift. I set it down on the floor and undid the thick red ribbon.
I lifted the lid and I looked down into the box. A smile crept across my face and my eyes widened.
"Awwwww!!" I exclaimed as I picked up a very small liver spotted Dalmatian puppy from inside the box. "OMG Cam I love him!"
"I thought you would." He smiled "And it's a she."
I was still stunned by her cuteness. She looked no more than 8 weeks old and her bi-eyes were wide with curiosity. She has liver ears with a big spot over her right eye. Her front right paw and the tip of her tail is coloured too. I put her down onto the carpet and she rolled over with her tail wagging a million miles a minute.
I heard the back door slide open and a scurry of paws filled the tiled hallway. The lounge room was suddenly filled with dogs as Leon, Ivy, Darius, Digger and Winchester barrelled in.
"Hey, Cam!" I heard someone call. "Is she up yet?"
"Yeah! She's in here." Cam called back.
I raised one eyebrow at Cam. He simply smiled.
I turned around and saw Stark enter the room with a massive bunch of native flowers. Wattle, bottle-brush, kangaroo paw and several others were all bunched together by a braided leather strap. All the colours of the Aussie bush were in full bloom from all the rain we were having and some still even had morning dew on their leaves.
"These, my lady, are for you." Stark bent down and kissed me on the forehead. I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Thank you, Stark." I said, taking them. "They smell lovely." I got up and went to find a vase.
We gave each other presents and even Ivy and Darius got a bag of treats each. Noel, that's what I decided to call her, ran around and sniffed at everything before settling down to nap amongst the festive wrapping paper.
I got up silently and went to the kitchen. I prepared breakfast and put three plates with bacon, scrambled eggs, a hash brown and a piece of toast on the table. I had just piled some egg onto my toast as the phone rang.
"That's probably Mum." Cam said, not looking up from chomping on some bacon.
I reluctantly left my breakfast to answer the phone's insistent jingle.
"Hello?"
"Izzy!" My mother said.
"Hi Mum, Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas."
"How have you been?"
My mother talked for about 3 minutes flat. I kept glancing back to my breakfast, the steam disappearing by the minute. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cam reach for my plate and gave him a death stare. He smiled deviously.
"And so how have you been?" Mum finally finished.
"I've been good actually." I answered, keeping my eye on Cam. "Cam got me a puppy."
"Aw! That was nice of him!" Mum exclaimed. "What breed?"
"Dalmatian."
"I love Dalmatians, so spotty."
"Yeah… Would you like to talk to Cam?"
"Yes! Put him on." I smiled as I shook my head. I passed the phone to Cam and he got up from the table. While his back was turned, I nicked one of his bits of bacon and popped it in my mouth before picking up my fork and started to eat.
Noel came scampering into the kitchen and sat down by my chair, looking up at me pleadingly. I smiled and picked up the pup and placed her down behind the threshold of the kitchen. The other dogs knew the rules and had lay down on the cool tiles in the hallway leading to the kitchen. She looked up at me again with her pretty bi-eyes and I slid some phonebooks across the doorway. She seemed to get the message and went and lay down next to Ivy.
I went back to the table and found a piece of bacon missing. I narrowed my eyes at Cam who had since finished his chat with mum, and had sat back down.
He saw me and said "Don't think I didn't see you steal my bit."
He was good.

After breakfast, I told the boys I had my own surprise. We all retreated up stairs to get dressed for the day. I emerged from my room in a sky blue t-shirt and three-quarter jeans with my NWRK hoodie tied around my waist. I also had my combat boots and my black Stetson on to keep the sun out of my face.
I slipped quietly from the house and started up the quad. I drove up to the dog yards and watered and feed all the dogs before starting to arrange my team.

About half an hour later my phone buzzed in my pocket. I picked it up and say it was Cam.
"Hello?"
"Where did you go?"
"I'm somewhere, just stay at the house, I'll be there soon."
I heard my brother sigh before replying "Fine."
I hung up and put the phone away before jumping into the front of the cart with Blue and calling "Hike!" to a team of 9 dogs.
The team thundered along in the cool morning air, their fur and tails buffeted by the breeze.
The cart that I sat in was made for this event. I had put some wooden slats on my four-wheeled cart to make a floor then bolted some plywood to the sides. I had painted Santa's sleigh on the sides of the plywood and had a big bag of lollies and treats in a sack in the back.
I turned the team towards the house and pulled them to a stop outside the house. I got out quickly and directed Ari around the left to face the way we came. Cam opened the front door with Noel in his arms. He had a red t-shirt on with khakis and on his feet were surplus combat boots like mine. Stark stepped out behind him in jeans and a blue plaid shirt. He had rolled his sleeves like he always does and had his dark Stetson on as well.
Cam's eyes widened at the master piece I had kept from the boys for a week.
"Do you like it?" I asked.
"It's amazing!" He exclaimed.
He rushed down the stairs and put Noel down inside the cart. She immediately attacked me with puppy kisses. Blue looked on, I could just see him rolling his eyes.
"If Noel is coming, than she needs a harness and leash." I said.
Cam nodded and headed back into the house.
"While you're in there, grab your kennel uniform!"
Cam emerged once again with a small pink harness with a long, thin leash. He had his NWRK hoodie around his waist and his kennel cap turned the wrong way on his head.
He tossed the harness my way and I lifted the pup so her small paws stepped into the harness. I did up the clip at her withers and Cam and Stark climbed into the back of the cart.
"So who have we got on the team?" Stark asked.
"Ari in lead, Blitz and Axel in swing, Gaia, Sonar, Zala, Powder in team, and Splash and Storm in wheel." I recited. "I figured they could be Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf."
Cam laughed. "Alright, well, where are we going?"
"Hike team!" I called out without answering him.
Ari pounded off as light as air and his team followed him. We headed down the driveway and out onto the dirt road.
It was about ten minutes before we hit town. The team ran carefully through the streets. There were little to no cars on the streets today, everyone was either celebrating the day with family or where we were going.
We pulled into a side street and saw a man in a Santa suit.
"Are you Fred?" I asked.
"Yep. Wow! That's quite impressive." He said walking up to Ari an patting him on the head.
I smiled and got out of the cart. I reached into the sack next to Cam and pulled out a smaller bag. It jingled as I crouched in front of the wheel dogs and attached a ribbon strung with small bells to their collars. I went up the line and attached the ribbons to all the dogs. I even gave Noel and Bluey a ribbon each.
"Cam, it'll get quite crowded in the cart, so I need you to run ahead to the field and tell the organiser that we're nearly there."
"You still haven’t told me what we're doing yet."
"We're bringing Santa in for the kids." I smiled. "Every year, the whole town comes to the town park and hosts a big Christmas celebration and it's also a chance to give charities gifts for kids in need."
"Oh, ok." Cam said before shrugging and walking off around the corner.
Stark bunched up close to me as Fred got onto the sled. The cart was quite big, and Stark didn't actually need to be this close, but I liked the nearness of him.

We waited for another 10 minutes and headed towards the field. The bells on the dog's collars jingled like sleigh bells.
Noel sat in my lap and Bluey sat behind me as I directed the team up onto the grass and across the field towards the crowd. I heard some screams and shouts of excitement as kids came running towards us and I hoped the dogs wouldn't freak out too much. The dogs were going faster than the kids and they soon were behind us. Fred rose to his knees and waved to the kids whilst calling "Ho, Ho, Ho!".
I called for Ari to stop in a shady spot by a tree. The team stopped completely and 'Santa' stepped out and greeted the kids with his big bag of lollies. He gave out a little bag to each child as I anchored the team with a rope around the nearest tree. As I finished, I saw Cam jog up.
"This is awesome." He said.
"I know." I said as I ruffled Ari's cheek fur.
I carried Noel in my arms and a group of small girls asked if they could pet her. I crouched down and put her on the ground as the girls awed at her cuteness. The little puppy bounded around on her long leash looking cute for everyone.
I sat down next to Stark who had his back against the sleigh as kids came up to pet the rein-dogs. Their parents kept a close eye on the little ones as did I. I cared about the welfare of my dogs as much as I cared about myself, so when I saw a 8 year old raise his hand to strike Axel, I bolted forward to stop it. I put my arm where his hand was about to land, stopping the blow.
"Please don't hit the dogs." I said semi-calmly, trying to bite back my frustration. The kid pouted and walked away.
I sighed. "Never want kids." I muttered. "Dogs are hard enough."
Stark laughed. "You might change your mind." He fluttered his eyelashes at me.
I smiled cockily. "You think a moonlight ride and a bunch of flowers is going to get you that far?"
"It might." He returned the cocky smile.
I scoffed and punched him in the arm.
"Ow!" he laughed.
I turned my gaze elsewhere and looked over to where 'Santa' was seated in a brightly decorated chair handing out small gifts to children that their parents had secretly given to the party planners.
I was quite surprised when the last present was called.
"NightWolf Racing Kennels."
I approached unsurely and collected the rather large gift wrapped in shiny green paper with a gold gift bow. It proved heavy as I dragged it back a few meters as Santa wrapped things up.
Cam heard the name and walked over to me, curious to see what it was. I pulled the card off and read it aloud.
"Please except this small gift from the town for doing us a big favour." I read.
Cam ripped some of the smooth paper. I took to it too and ripped off more. A giant bag of dog food.
"Aw, that was nice of them." I smiled. Anything like this was definitely welcomed around Christmas, especially when things were tight.

I collected the dog's water bowls and put them back in the duffle I had at the front of the wagon.
Santa climbed onto the back of the cart next to the dog food and Bluey. Noel resumed her spot in my lap and feel asleep. I called for the dogs to go and Ari turned us around. Santa called good byes to the kids and the toddlers all waved enthusiastically. I stopped outside the alley where we had picked Fred up and he jumped off the cart.
"Thanks again." He said before walking through a door further down the alley. Cam caught up and jumped into the cart.
"You're not leaving me behind again!" He laughed.
"Ok, I'll get you a harness and you can be a dog for a day." I smiled.
"Ha ha." He said sarcastically.
I called hike and the dogs set off at a fast pace towards home.

I just finished taking all the dog's harnesses off and giving all the dog runs fresh water. I had put all the dogs in their runs. The sled dogs I had just taken out were all laying down in their beds. Stark and I took all the dogs that didn't go and led them into the exercise area for a run-around. All dogs took off into the field in separate directions. Some heading for the pool despite the coolness of the day, some settling down in the shade and others chasing each other. Cam pulled up a lawn chair in the shade and sat down to relax.
Blue stayed by my side whilst I finished taking the rest of the dogs to the field. I collected the sled dogs and led them in. All of them retreating to the shade.
I had set Noel down next to a tying post, fast asleep. I caught Bluey taking glances towards her, making sure she hadn't wondered off. I smiled as I picked the tired puppy up and walked towards the field, Blue following. I opened the first gate and held it open for the young Cattle Dog as he waltzed through. I closed the gate and opened the second one. The three of us went through and I pulled another chair up next to Cam.
"So you like her then?" He smiled.
"Yes, I do." I kept quiet as to not wake the Dalmatian puppy up. She lay in my lap, snuggling against my warm belly. I had an idea and I carefully picked her up and put her in my big hoodie pocket. Her head stuck out and she opened her bright bi-coloured eyes and looked around. She closed them again and seemed to smile.
"Human kangaroo." Stark laughed.
I looked out into the field and found the newest additions to our kennel family. The two husky 'sisters' that arrived on the same day, Piper and Roxy, were bowling each other over; Chie the Shiba Inu seemed to find Comet quite interesting and was pawing at the older Min Pin. Comet snapped and trotted away, only to be followed by the pup. Gaz the Koolie was running around Ari and Zala who were laying down in the shade. Barking and bowing playfully. Gaz is a little more vocal than the average Koolie, but I think he might quiet down when he's older. Brook the Swedish Vallhund seemed to find running around a pull rope amusing. She would lunge at it and expect it to move before running away and circling again. Azazel, our only Canadian Eskimo dog, was laying in the shade avoiding the sun. Jinx the Siberian Husky found chasing Hector the Shiba and Ford the Akita amusing. Stubby the Cattle dog came and sat at my feet by Blue. We all saw her and laughed.
When Stubby first came to us, Jason and Amy from Seaview Kennels were over and we were all standing on the back deck watching the new pups play. The boys had beers and Amy and I just had lemonades because I'm not much into beer. The unnamed Cattle dog pup, now named Stubby, came running and bashed into Cam's leg. Cam swore and dropped his beer. It smashed on the ground, spraying all over the young Heeler. She was not discouraged by the big noise of breaking glass and started to lick the beer off the ground. I picked her up and laughed.
"We're calling you stubby!" I declared, laughing.

Out of the new additions, Noel was the youngest, but soon enough all the new puppies were curled up in the shade next to each other. Cam had brought all the new puppies up from the house when we got back. All of the pups were kept in the whelping/puppy room, where they could play and sleep in the safety of the house. All our kennel friends from all over the world sent us puppy gifts that we were very excited to receive. We had also shipped out several pups to the various kennels that we had befriended and adopted dogs from. All the new breeds that came to us just make our kennel more diverse.
It's gonna be a good Christmas.

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Oh that Stark

I'll upload Noel in a sec

Btw, a stubby is Aussie for a beer