A German Shepherd sits alertly in front of a glowing Christmas Tree.
Seasonal K9 moments

Seasonal K9 moments

The Artdog Images of Interest

It’s the end of the week, and for many of us it’s the start of a holiday break. I thought you might enjoy some seasonal K9 moments on a Friday-before-the-big-events! 

Home for the holidays

One inevitable problem every year is the struggle to travel. We Americans live in a far-flung nation, so we’re always going to grapple with travel woes. But it’s far from only an American problem. 

Crowding, bad weather, and security bottlenecks create chaos wherever we are (or are trying to go). How to cope? Working K9s will have many “seasonal moments.” They’ll be busy patrolling, screening packages at airports, and doing all they can to keep us safe.

This meme shows an alert German Shepherd sitting on an airline passenger's lap, surveying the other passengers as if they're suspects. The meme says, "Here's an idea: put a drug sniffing, bomb detecting, terrorist eating, bad ass German Shepherd on every plane. Problem solved."

But “home for the holidays” doesn’t only apply to humans. Learn more about American Humane’s Service Dogs for Veterans initiative. If you’re looking for a place to make a holiday or end-of-year donation and you believe every retired service dog deserves a good home, consider this program.

Encounters with Santa

Would the holidays have as much sparkle without the chance to give and receive? Certainly not. And there’s all sorts of potential for seasonal K9 moments with Santa, in the run-up to Christmas.

This meme shows an alert German shepherd in front of a glowing Christmas tree. The wording says, "When this 'Santa Claus' comes, I'll be waiting."
In this photo a person in a Santa Claus outfit leans away from a barking German Shepherd. The meme says, "You are not leaving until I get my Tennis Ball."

Holiday gift-giving

Silly memes aside, I’d also like to highlight some more serious thoughts about seasonal K9 moments. Specifically, some very special, life-saving holiday presents for working police K9s. 

Vested for Christmas - San Antonio K9 Rick, shown with human partner Acosta, received a protective vest from Vested Interest in K9s Inc.
“Vested in time for Christmas” – San Antonio K9 Rick (shown here with his human partner, Officer Robert Acosta of the VIA Transit Metro Police Department) received a bulletproof, stab-proof vest in mid-December 2018, from Vested Interest in K9s Inc. These vests are expensive, but through donations the organization provides them to working police dogs at no charge to the department.
Clinton Iowa K9 Roman (handler unidentified) also received a protective vest from Vested Interest in K9s Inc.
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc. was at it again this year, with (among other gifts) a bulletproof, stab-proof vest for K9 Roman (with unidentified sidekick) of the Clinton, Iowa Police Department, paid for entirely through donations.

I hope your holiday traditions include charitable giving. If they do, consider a gift (perhaps on Boxing Day, especially if you missed Giving Tuesday) to one of the K9 good causes I featured in this post:

IMAGE CREDITS

The “Here’s an Idea” image is courtesy of Imagur’s Service Dog Memes. Many thanks to the German Shepherd Dog Community (the GSDC) on Facebook via Sheryl Pessell’s Pinterest Board, for the “I’ll be Waiting” meme (she has other good ones on there, too!). And double thanks to CHEEZburger, via I Can Has CHEEZburger’s “17 of the Best Animal Christmas Memes” page, for both the “You Are Not Leaving” (via I Love my German Shepherd Dog and Add Text) and the “Bark at Santa” (via Bella German Shepherds) images.

Finally, thanks to My San Antonio, for the “Vested in Time for Christmas” photo of K9 Rick and Officer Acosta (with accompanying story). Thanks also to KWQC of Clinton IA for the photo and story about K9 Roman (unfortunately, his uniformed sidekick wasn’t identified). And thanks very much to Vested Interest in K9s Inc. for their work!

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