Quinn and his first Christmas in the village – introduction

Once upon a time there was a little dog from Prague who, by a twist of fate, ended up living in a village. A village is a lovely place – people aren't in such a hurry, they're kinder and calmer, so it's fairly easy to make lots of friends, and that's exactly what he did.
Day after day went by and Christmas began to draw near – everyone knows it's the most wonderful time of the year, and there's nothing better than spreading joy.
So little Quinn decided he wanted his friends to find a little gift under the tree too, just to make them happy. He went to his human mum with the idea, gave her the classic sad puppy eyes that all puppies of any age and size are so good at, and that was that!
First they chose the most suitable things – the kind that warm the heart and set off the well-known joy meter: a frantically wagging tail. So together they bought lots of balls, because who doesn't love balls, and all that was left was to add some treats to the parcels.
Quinn, being a proud scout of the RawBark pack, knew straight away what the next step was. He wrote a message to the pack saying that, having watched Christmas films about elves, he was going to become a pup-elf. Unsurprisingly, they liked his idea – and, better still, they decided to support it. They put together and sent an amazing parcel full of treats and lovely accessories.
Luckily for him, RawBark orders are dispatched very quickly, so the little, eager pup-elf only had to wait impatiently by the door for one whole day before the courier pulled up at the house.
Once they had everything they needed, it was time to wrap the parcels. They split the work fairly: his human mum wrapped and labelled everything, while the head pup-elf sniffed and tested the quality. After a strict inspection, successfully confirmed by a happily wagging tail, came the best part – surprising the humans of the best dogs in the neighbourhood, and maybe having a little play while they were at it, because those who play don't get up to mischief. Everyone knows that!
At last the right moment had come: one day left until Christmas Eve, it was afternoon, so no more work – the adventurous expedition could begin!

The adventurous expedition – Quinn's view and thoughts

Quick, harness on so I look handsome, Mum grabs the bag and off we go – I can't wait, today will be just like every day: the best one ever!
We're finally heading out, and I need to think this through.
First we'll go across the road – there's a dog there who always barks happily behind the fence so we notice him. We get to the fence, but apparently we have to ring the bell so his humans know we're there too. I don't know them, but that doesn't matter – the more friends, the better! Out comes a man and, I think, his mum. They look surprised. Mum explains that I really like their dog and, like a proper pup-elf, I've arranged a little present for him through Santa RawBark, because he's a good boy. They come over to the fence and it's really lovely – the lady is touched and thanks us so much on behalf of Barney. Barney! Now we're officially friends! Great start! We spend a little more time with them, but sadly pup-elves still have lots of work to do, so I have to dash! See you again tomorrow.

We're on our way – apparently we need a photo first, but there's no time for that. Even though they don't know about me yet, everyone's waiting for me, so we hurry!
Luck is on our side – I can see the human mum of the Husky girls and of Little Rascal. First we catch the mum of my favourite girls. There are two of them: one is awfully chatty, but she doesn't bark, she just babbles away – it's great fun.

The other one is much more sensible, and since I like my peace and quiet, it's always great for me when we walk with them. Apparently she has trouble with her eyes and ears, so I sniff everything out for her and she doesn't tease me. Each of them is completely different, but I love them both the same! I'm thinking about how wonderful these neighbours are, and it dawns on me that they're not here – there's only their human mum outside! Mum understood what I was looking for and asks right away – the girls are apparently at home in the warm. So quick, let her take their presents, I nudge the bag. Great, Mum's already explaining that we've got a surprise for them, and the lady is thrilled – she says the girls have nothing left under the tree because they've already unwrapped their presents. This is my moment! I give their human mum a good pawing so the girls know straight away that I say hello, and she says I'm a very good boy.

So on we go, already looking forward to the girls telling us all about Christmas when we meet by the woods, like every day. My little chatterbox will certainly tell me everything, at the very least.

Next we head to Little Rascal. His name is Kevin, but he's such a little troublemaker who never listens, so we call him Rascal. He's already waiting for me at the fence, so we say hello and Mum tries to call his human mum. It takes about half an hour, but we don't give up! At last she notices us and we immediately hear all about their day. Today Rascal had the idea of playing hide-and-seek, so he hid under his kennel – such a brilliant idea that his human mum couldn't find him for half the day. I can hear her telling the story. It's strange – she doesn't seem very happy about it; she must have missed him. Shame I don't have a kennel outside, I'd give it a try too. Luckily she found him in the end, so she's calmer now. Here comes my moment again – I nudge Mum with my nose and she passes the bag over the fence straight away, how about that! The lady perks up, forgets the fright she had and looks happy! Then she gets a bit sad again because she has nothing for me – but that's not true: she's very patient, she knows I get scared, so whenever we meet her outside the fence she always has kind words for me to be brave! Brilliant, message delivered, the lady is smiling again, so we can carry on – I still have 5 stops to go!
And because luck is on our side again, we bump into the lady notary with her little girl dog. Apparently she's not too fond of people and dogs, but she loves us, so it's a great chance for a cuddle and a bit of mischief now that we're outside the fence. After a while we hand over the present, and the notary says she'd like to give me something too, but sadly she only has treats I'm not allowed. Mum explains that what matters most to us is that we have them here, and whenever we meet, they give us joy by letting us play. She doesn't look entirely satisfied, but in the end there's not much she can do about it – she just adds that I'm hopeless, being allergic to everything. Maybe so, but what can you do

Right across the road lives a little wild one who has learned to wriggle out of her harness like a worm, which is really funny – at least I think so. Whenever it's already dark, we go for a walk and her human mum lets her off so we can have a good run before bedtime – that's really great. We ring the bell and her human dad comes out to say they're poorly at home, so we just quickly hand over the present and wish them well!
The next part of the expedition takes us to the new part of the village, where they have really lovely gardens and where the sweetest Rottie lives. I'm actually quite scared of big dogs, but this one is my best friend. First we race along the fence, then his human dad, a businessman, joins us – and he's genuinely surprised. Two little humans come out after him too, so he explains to them that the Christmas express has arrived with a present for the dog. The kids are surprised it's for the dog and not for them.. Well, maybe they weren't that good, what do I know

After that we tried to visit a grumpy growler, who's probably the best guard dog around, and a new puppy who's going to grow up into a veeery good girl – but they weren't home. We were ready for that too, though, and they have big letterboxes, so hopefully they were happy as well!
I must say that, based on our expedition, I'd like to suggest it would be really lovely if Christmas came every month! I'll add it to my list of things I love – which is a really long list, but I'd say that's how it should be. What's more, I think people should also think more about what they love and what they enjoy, because life is beautiful and joy beats sorrow! All it takes is doing something nice and surprising!
And now it's time to go home and sleep – there'll be lovely dreams tonight. It was so amazing that even I'm surprised. I never expected to meet so many wonderful people today, although, like owner, like dog, as they say, so I suppose it was to be expected

Conclusion

I'd like to thank you very much on behalf of both of us – thanks to you, we were able to spread so much joy that it was truly incredible. I believe the dogs enjoyed their treats and were happy, and from my point of view the surprise, joy and emotion of all their humans was truly heart-warming. This Christmas was really wonderful!
Not everyone was included in our expedition: I had a private meeting with my friends Ondra (Diego's human) and Janča (Roňásek's human), to which we didn't bring the boys; we also had our next-door neighbour on the list, but his little girl dog lives with his mum, so we handed over the present but they celebrated there; and one more friend and her girl dog still have their present at our place, because they're seeing in the New Year much the way we are.

We plan to make it a tradition, because with most of them you could see we had touched their hearts – and that's the true magic of Christmas, which we really found this year together with you.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Monika and proud little scout Quinn