Christmas card messages from the dog (and cat)
Cards written from the pet are the ones that get read out loud. The voice is easy: loyal, slightly put-upon, deeply invested in snacks. The dog reports on the household — the baby who pulls ears, the cat who runs the upstairs, the humans who think the vacuum is a normal way to behave.
Two rules keep it charming. First, keep the dog kind: the dog loves everyone, even the mail carrier — especially the mail carrier. Second, let the dog tell one truth about the family: the treats in the junk drawer, the walk schedule nobody keeps. One truth per card; the dog is a gossip, not a leaker. If the year's most honest detail is a little embarrassing, that is exactly the one the dog should tell.
Sign it with a paw print if you have ink and patience, and add the humans' names smaller underneath, like the entourage. Cats write these too, of course — the voice just gets more contractual, and the staff jokes write themselves.
Lines to copy
We asked the dog to smile for this photo. This is as close as we got. He's actually a very good boy.
Warning: the family in this photo is louder in person. The dog harmonizes. The cat refuses to participate.
From our crew of six — which is seven if you count the dog, and we always count the dog.
We're what happens when two organized people have kids and a dog. Merry Christmas to braver households.
Santa runs a background check every year. We keep making the list. Barely. It's the dog's doing.
We got married, adopted a cat, and hung our first shared stocking. Adulting is going suspiciously well.
The nest is empty, the house is quiet, and we've started talking to the cat. He's a good listener.
Merry Christmas from the two of us and the dog who runs this household with quiet, adorable authority.
Our holiday photo assistant took seventeen treats in payment and still looked away at the crucial moment.
The cat reviewed this card and found it acceptable, which is the highest praise she offers.
Festive greetings from a home where the stockings include one with a paw print and zero apologies.
He ate an ornament, buried a candy cane, and still made the card. Christmas spirit: undefeated.
From our family of four — two humans, two golden retrievers, and enough fur on the sofa to knit a scarf.
This year the dog learned 'stay' just long enough for the photo. Treats were honored immediately.
Wishing you a season as joyful as a dog in fresh snow and as calm as a cat in a sunbeam.
Our kids have four legs and bark at the mail carrier. Merry Christmas from the whole menagerie.
The puppy's first Christmas cost us one strand of lights, two ornaments, and our remaining patience. So worth it.
Holiday greetings from the household the mail carrier fears and the squirrels monitor daily.
Take 41. The dog blinked. Everyone else was perfect.
She promised to behave. The cat made no such promise.
The dog was the only one ready. He always is.
The cat sat still. The children did not. The cat is hired.
New puppy week
6 · inches the puppy grew
1 · very good dog
Questions people ask
- How do you write a card from the dog's point of view?
- Pick two traits — hungry, loyal, sleepy — and report the household through them. First person, present tense, one complaint maximum. 'The humans mean well' is a complete voice.
- What should the pet sign?
- The pet's name alone for the bit, or the pet plus 'and the humans' for the reveal. A paw print signature lands every time if your pet will tolerate paint.
- Do cat cards work the same way?
- Better, arguably. Swap loyal for contractual: the cat permits the family, reviews the card, and supervises the holidays. The lines tagged for cats here already speak fluent cat.
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