{"id":589,"date":"2008-08-04T09:17:54","date_gmt":"2008-08-04T13:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T22:05:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T03:05:43","slug":"custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have to say, people have gotten pretty creative with their holiday cards and messages over the years but how many people have gotten creative with who delivers those holiday messages? I always look forward to the variety of custom holiday cards<\/a><\/strong> I receive as the holidays approach, with one favorite in particular.<\/p>\n

For over 10 years, I received a holiday card from Ben, one of my favorite creatures. You might be thinking \u201ccreature\u201d is an odd word to describe a close friend or relative but Ben was my cousin\u2019s dog and I always playfully referred to him as her first born, considering how much he was babied over the years. What can I say, I babied him too since I was the go-to person for dog-sitting Ben while I was in high school. We were all attached! Every year as I received holiday cards from friends and family, this unique holiday card would arrive with his info in the return address and a paw print signature. Enclosed in the holiday card would be a detailed newsletter describing the happenings of his favorite \u201cpets\u201d from the past year, my cousin Sheila and her husband Greg, and in later years his \u201ckid pets,\u201d Anna and Danny.<\/p>\n

Now you and I both know that Ben was not writing the letters but it made his greeting cards stand out amongst the other holiday cards<\/a><\/strong>. This tradition was something the entire family looked forward to every year. Ben\u2019s perspective had a spin to it that everyone enjoyed reading. However, 2007 was a very difficult year for my cousin\u2019s family and the unpleasant and emotional decision of putting their 13-year-old adored pet to sleep had to be made. It is not easy putting your pet\u2019s pain and suffering to an end knowing it is going to be the beginning of your own.<\/p>\n

It was difficult for the couple who had spoiled a dog for the nine years of marriage prior to the arrival of their first child. The kids had taken over the focus of attention for four years but Ben was always a beloved member of the family and his loss was deeply felt. The house was quieter, free of the black dog hair and the endless trail of chew toys and stuffed animals. Everyone felt something was missing. The most trying moment came when it was time to send out that year\u2019s holiday cards. Who was going to account the happenings of the family this Christmas? Ben was definitely missed.<\/p>\n

One day when I got home from doing some Christmas shopping, I casually rifled through the day\u2019s mail, which included some Christmas cards<\/a><\/strong>. I noticed a greeting card envelope with two small paw prints on the front. Curious, I opened the greeting card to see a great photo of our Ben and additional photos of my cousins\u2019 family (the kids were cute too!) Enclosed was a newsletter similar to what I had received for all those years but with a slightly different perspective. This holiday card was from Jackson and Sawyer, two lab puppies (one chocolate, one black) being given to the \u201ckid pets\u201d on Christmas Day. The letter ended simply: \u201cWith love from Jackson and Sawyer, in loving memory of Gentle Ben 1994-2007.\u201d I had a good cry after reading the letter. A new pet can never replace a pet that is no longer with you, but it can be a great way to honor their memory. Well, that and the tattoos but we\u2019ll save that story for another day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I have to say, people have gotten pretty creative with their holiday cards and messages over the years…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1292,1301,28],"tags":[41,50,106,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-occasions-and-celebrations","7":"category-holiday-traditions","8":"category-holiday-cards-and-tidbits","9":"tag-holiday-cards","10":"tag-christmas-cards","11":"tag-pets","12":"tag-custom-holiday-cards","13":"cs-entry"},"yoast_head":"\nCustom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have to say, people have gotten pretty creative with their holiday cards and messages over the years…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gallery Connection\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Henry L.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Henry L.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Henry L.\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b\"},\"headline\":\"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\"},\"wordCount\":602,\"commentCount\":4,\"keywords\":[\"holiday cards\",\"christmas cards\",\"pets\",\"custom holiday cards\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Occasions & Celebrations\",\"Holiday Traditions\",\"Holiday Cards and Tidbits\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\",\"name\":\"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Gallery Connection\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b\",\"name\":\"Henry L.\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d36563ef39f0e81ca59f4c1228c7d5472aa91c609af32dd9faf249a82d21dbce?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d36563ef39f0e81ca59f4c1228c7d5472aa91c609af32dd9faf249a82d21dbce?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Henry L.\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection","og_description":"I have to say, people have gotten pretty creative with their holiday cards and messages over the years…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/","og_site_name":"Gallery Connection","article_published_time":"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00","author":"Henry L.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Henry L.","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/"},"author":{"name":"Henry L.","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b"},"headline":"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand","datePublished":"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/"},"wordCount":602,"commentCount":4,"keywords":["holiday cards","christmas cards","pets","custom holiday cards"],"articleSection":["Occasions & Celebrations","Holiday Traditions","Holiday Cards and Tidbits"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/","name":"Custom Holiday Cards and Puppies Go Paw in Hand - Gallery Connection","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-08-04T13:17:54+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-27T03:05:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/holiday-cards-and-tidbits\/custom-holiday-cards-and-puppies-go-paw-in-hand\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/","name":"Gallery Connection","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/354a198a194eb6492cbacff6edb7440b","name":"Henry L.","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d36563ef39f0e81ca59f4c1228c7d5472aa91c609af32dd9faf249a82d21dbce?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d36563ef39f0e81ca59f4c1228c7d5472aa91c609af32dd9faf249a82d21dbce?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Henry L."}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=589"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13701,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/589\/revisions\/13701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gallerycollection.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}