Same Old Dog, but This Time With a New Trick

First, a comment about the "old dog" reference:  When I took Hogan to the groomer last week, she asked me his age (almost 9) and then checked the box for "elderly dog" on his paperwork.  I haven't told him this yet.  Let's keep it our little secret.

We always thought it was cute in years past when we'd give Hogan a wrapped Christmas present (almost always a stuffed toy) and he'd rip into it.

But this year, he was on to the whole "Santa coming down the chimney" trick...  On Christmas Eve, all of the presents were wrapped and arranged under the tree.  Most of us were out in the kitchen, getting ready for dinner.  Then we heard a little rustling in the family room and look up to see Mr. Hogan picking through the presents under the tree.  Wouldn't you know, he found one of his own gifts!!  But here's the better part, when Todd "gently reprimanded" him, he looked up -- all cute and innocent of course -- and had a small bit of wrapping paper stuck to his lip!!! Ha! Ha!  We didn't get a picture of that, too bad.  After that, Todd removed the package to the counter to eliminate the possibility of any further indiscretions.

Fast forward a few hours.  Now we're unwrapping presents and Hogan is actually ALLOWED to have at it this time.   I captured a couple of them on video.  Watch how methodically he goes at each one!  Hil-arious!!!  ...and then the sheer joy when he discovers it's not merely a stuffed toy, but a Bully Stick, too!!