A happy place under our roof: how our dogs are getting in the festive spirit

While many dogs spend the holiday season with their forever families, our centre staff and volunteers are making sure the pooches in our care still have a happy place while they’re waiting. Because every dog deserves a happy place this Christmas. 

Every happy place journey begins somewhere. For some of our dogs, it’s with our committed teams at our Cumbrian transfer centre in Penrith.  

The team there work tirelessly to relocate stray dogs from Northern Ireland to one of our 22 rehoming centres or to a cosy foster home. 

As the festive season approaches in Penrith, each furball gets their own festive toys and blankets to snuggle down with as they begin their adoption journey. On their adoption day, staff will set out more toys and gifts for them to choose. They then take whatever they’ve chosen to their new forever home in their “big yellow bag”. 

One Penrith pooch who recently found his happy place was Jeff, a 6-month-old Lurcher cross. After shining as the “model puppy” during his time in foster, it was soon Jeff’s turn to go home to his forever.  

Jeff rode off into the sunset of forever with the crinkly, squeaky donkey he’d chosen for his adoption present. Just one of Cumbria’s many Christmas miracles. 

And it’s not just Cumbria embracing the festive spirit. Nestled in the Yorkshire countryside is our Leeds centre, which each holiday season transforms into a winter wonderland. Here, staff don goofy jumpers and the kennels are decorated head to tail with festive cheer. 

Leeds is one of our centres that hosts an annual Christmas fair, where local dog lovers visit the centre to raise pounds for our hounds. Supporters from far and wide flock to enjoy stalls, games, raffles, refreshments and even a special visit to Santa Paws’ grotto. Here, their own dogs can meet Santa and find out if they’re naughty or nice. Spoiler alert – they’re all nice, duh. 

For the centre’s four-legged residents, the festivities are just as special, with staff going all out to make sure every dog has their happy place. Santa Paws Day is a fan favourite. Staff fill the training barn with toys donated by local supporters. The dogs then visit one by one to choose their gift from Santa Paws’ sack. 

Christmas Day itself is business as usual. Kennels are cleaned, bellies are fed, and the dogs get out for some fresh air like any other day. But today, the staff have a few surprises up their festive jumper sleeves. 

Once the dogs are cleaned and fed, teams enjoy some breakfast butties and non-alcoholic Buck’s Fizz together. Then it’s time to get the dogs ready for a big, festive off-site walk together.  

“The group walk is always lots of fun for the dogs and staff alike”, notes Kevin from the Leeds team. 

Upon finishing their Christmas sniff-ari, the dogs tuck into a dog-friendly roast dinner (a tradition at every centre), before opening their own presents. 

And after that excitement, it’s time for the pups to snooze the evening away.

But how about Greyhound Nash on the Christmas-tree dash? 

Each year, the team at our Kenilworth centre choose their tree for reception. It’s always bursting with donations, gifts, and presents to be handed out to their furry residents on Christmas Day.  

This year, the team brought along Nash, a 7-year-old Greyhound, to choose the tree. Sweet Nash can find walks around the centre a little overwhelming and prefers to be out and about. So, he felt like the perfect tree-picking companion. Eagerly hopping in the car, Nash was ready for his festive adventure. 

And it soon became clear that Nash was taking his newfound responsibility very seriously. “Nash loved pottering around the Christmas tree farm”, recalls Scarlett from Kenilworth. “He made sure to check ALL of the trees out to make sure we had the best one”, she adds.  

Having Nash accompany the team to pick their tree also helped draw some interest from the public. The team could chat to people and tell them about our Christmas fair, while Nash bagged a few pats in the process. 

The team later deck the halls, ready for the public.  And all under a watchful eye… 

“Nash supervised decorating the big tree and a few other residents popped in to see how we were getting on”, says Scarlett. “He soon decided he was over being our helper and demanded to be taken back to bed for his afternoon snooze”, she adds.  

Lesson learned, being Santa’s little helper is a tiring job. Nash certainly deserved that snooze for all his hard work bringing the festive spirit to Kenilworth.  

Variety is the spice of life at our Darlington centre. And what’s Christmas without a little winter spice?  

Each December, the team plan a new Christmassy activity. In 2023, they displayed letters to Santa Paws, helping to promote our Underdogs. And last year saw our committed volunteers set up an advent calendar tree. Each day, a different dog would pick their own present to unwrap.  

This year, Darlington are holding a photo competition for the best Rudolph nose. Centre staff position a red nose in front of the dogs to try snap a Rudolph-esque portrait. Not only do the winning photographer and furry model go down in history – like Rudolph. They also win a prize each. It’s festive fun for everyone but can also be combined with training for the dogs. How to target an object, for example.  

But Darlington’s Christmas creativity doesn’t stop there. The team have also crafted a giant wreath for festive photoshoots with the dogs.  

“The dogs have been doing fab so far posing in the frame”, Bethany from the Darlington team tells us. “The results are just like a Christmas card cover”, she adds.  

It brought out a confidence in some of the dogs that the team didn’t expect. Some pooches even used it for agility exercises.  

And for the staff, they’re joined by volunteers for an afternoon of silly party games. “It really brings out people’s competitive side!” says Bethany. 

Our dedicated teams are working hard to give the pups in our care their favourite things this festive season. Could you help us spread even more Christmas cheer to the dogs in our centres?  

Merry Christmas from everyone here at Dogs Trust. And thank you for helping us give even more dogs their happy place.