Hello, my name is Bert. I'm a male rescue Airedale living in Arizona. I found my forever home only this past April through the efforts of the Arizona Airedale Rescue Foundation (AARF). So this is my first Christmas with my new family and I want to tell you all about it.

For the first 6 plus years of my life, I was an outdoor dog. I really didn't mind it too much since that was all that I ever knew. Now, I'm an indoor/outdoor dog. The doggie door lets me come and go as I please. It turns out that the "going" part is what had me a bit confused. You see, I wasn't housebroken when I came to live here. I didn't know "in" from "out" so anything above ground level was fair game as far as I was concerned. Mom and I had this ongoing game of hide and seek. I tried to hide my indiscretions and she was always looking about for them. I have to admit that she is really good at the game. I have suffered innumerable tongue-lashings over this subject. But I eventually got her message and have pretty much learned in from out. I take my cues from Gretchen, my Airedale companion. When she goes out, I follow. Simple.

Well, now along comes the Christmas season. What's this? A tree inside the house? Talk about screwing up a guy's head. It was one of the damnedest things I ever saw. All sorts of lights, and shiny ornaments, and tinsel were hanging from the branches. There was even a small Airedale hanging from a string. Mom put a whole bunch of stuff wrapped in pretty paper under the tree. It was quite a sight for me to behold. I was mesmerized by it. Unfortunately, so was my bladder. My primal instincts took control of my better judgement and I just had to find out if I could hit that third branch up from the bottom. The next morning, Mom was not a happy camper. I tried to convince her that Santa might have been the perpetrator, but she wouldn't have any of that. Oh well, busted again. That night, we all gathered around the tree and Mom started passing out the gifts. Sniff, sniff. Something about this one is all too familiar. Eeeeewwwww, I didn't know some of the gifts were for ME. Lesson learned. Oh, by the way Dad, sorry about those slightly dampened pajamas you got from Santa, heh, heh. I guess it could have turned out much worse than it did. The tree lights could have been plugged in.

Happy Holidays to all you Airedale fans out there.

Be good to your pets and be good to each other. We're all in this together.

Bert
December, 2003

Copyright Bert Krause. Article and photograph published with permission of the author. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the author is prohibited. If you would like to reprint any of the articles, please contact the who will put you in touch with Bert's agent.