Juniper Friday! All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Juniper, a dog, is fully relaxed as she watches an off-screen television, surrounded by Christmas decorations.

Dogs, as I like to remind people, have a keen sense of what time it is, but no idea what day it is. Recurring milestones like “Friday” are not something that can set their expectations around, and they rely on us to give them clues about how one day might differ from the next. For most dogs, the ideal is for each day to precisely resemble the next - routine is king, because this makes it easy to anticipate what comes next.

With this in mind, I have to assume that big holiday celebrations are universally disorienting for dogs, even if they’re fans of all the excitement. Juniper, being a homebody with a dash of castle doctrine, would really rather not, to the point of being totally overwhelmed. So, this year, her enjoyed a particularly becalmed Christmas, thanks to an elective, but substantial, dose of trazodone. 💊🐶💤