Christmas Puppy Surprise! | We Surprised My Mom With A Puppy For Christmas!

My mom has always been a dog mom. Before I talk about the Christmas puppy surprise, I wanted to give a brief history of our previous dogs. Skip to the bottom if you just want to read about the surprise :D

Jake

My brother Ben and I outside of my grandparent’s house , with our dog Jake

When I was three years old, she got me a puppy, and I named him Jake after that country song “Feed Jake”. Jake was a mixed breed, and he was one of the best dogs ever. He loved running through the woods with us at nan and pup’s house in Boiestown, and walking with the kids to school once we moved to Woodstock. One day when he was walking with the neighbour’s kids to school, Jake got hit by a car. It was a hit and run, and Jake walked himself home and waited on the porch for mom. She was only 26 or 27 at the time, and ran into the vet’s office with him crying. Jake ended up surviving, and passed away in her arms at the age of 12 in October 2005. We burried him at Nan and Pup’s house in Boiestown, and Nan put a new flower arrangement at his grave every season.

Chloe

In the Summer of 2004, I was at the farmers market with my friends, when we saw a man with 2 puppies. It was a hot day, and he had been pouring water over their heads to keep them cool. We were only 14 years old, but he told us to take them, so we did, for fear of what might happen to them if we didn’t. When my mom picked me up, I was holding this little rolly polly puppy and she asked who it belonged to- I said it was mine. She accepted that this was now our puppy, and we named her Chloe. Chloe lived to old age as well, and passed at home with mom, just like Jake had.

Bella

In 2009, my little brother was jealous that I had Chloe and he had no pets, so mom went to the local animal shelter and got him a puppy that we named Bella. Bella was a black lab mix, and she grew into a HUGE dog. She also had a run in with a vehicle once, in 2012 she got hit by a van right outside of our house. She ended up with a scrape on her face, but no other injuries. Bella was a gentle giant, always thinking she was a lap dog. Bella also lived until old age and passed away at home in 2018.

jake II

In 2014, mom was swimming at the local rock quarry when she witnessed a man abusing his dog. This angered her, and she convinced the man to give her his dog right then and there. His name was Jake, and she kept it, so he became Jake the second. Jake was a good dog, who enjoyed time outside, and snuggling with mom. He had several stuffed animals that he carried around the house, that mom called his babies, and he would greet us with a baby at the door every time we went to visit. When we brought our dog Jasper to visit, Jasper would always try to steal Jake’s babies, but Jake was a good sport about it.

Jake began to exhibit signs of being sick a couple months ago. He wasn’t eating as much as usual, and was losing weight. When mom took him to the vet, they did bloodwork and said that he was anemic, which may point to cancer, or internal bleeding. Mom scheduled an ultrasound, but when the vet re-did the bloodwork before the ultrasound, she said somehow it was back to normal. Mom continued to try and get Jake to eat, and he was showing signs of improving, but then he began to decline again. She took him in for the ultrasound, and it showed that he had blood in his abdomen and a tumor. The vet suggested he be put down immediately. Mom asked if she could have one more night with him, but the vet advised against it. Mom took him a blanket and one of his babies, and stayed with him until the end.

Right after she left the vet’s office, mom had to go back to work. She is a manager at Superstore, and they were preparing for Black Friday. She did not have the option to go home and grieve.

She came home at the end of her work shift, expecting to see Jake greeting her at the door with his babies, but the house was empty.

When Jake the first died, we had Chloe to help us through it. When Chloe died, we had Bella, and when Bella died, she had Jake the second. This time, there were no other fur babies at home to comfort her.

The surprise

I talk to my mom on the phone usually 1-2 times a day, every day. She kept mentioning how lonely she was, and how she missed the pitter patter of puppy feet across the floor. She began to have a recurring dream at night of a black and white border collie puppy named Daisy that she was meant to have. She told me that she knew the universe would bring her Daisy when she was meant to have her. As the days went on, she told me that she was going to look for a puppy after the New Year.

I would never usually suggest getting someone a puppy for Christmas without their knowledge, but I know my mom, and I knew she needed this.

I started to research border collie breeders in my area and found a wonderful local farm that had 4 border puppy girls available. I created a group chat on Facebook with friends and family to see if they wanted to contribute towards making this dream become a reality. Several of these wonderful people donated towards the cause, and Kris and I covered the rest. Along with the puppy, we wanted to make sure she had everything she needed for taking care of Daisy.

Kris and I went to visit the puppies, and met the sweet and gentle puppy mama while we were there. We immediately put a deposit on one of the puppies, and started picking up all the necessary supplies we would need. Daisy would be staying at our house for 9 days before we took her to Woodstock for the surprise, so we also needed to clean and puppy proof our house, and prepare to take care of her during that time.

We picked Daisy up on a Thursday and kept her at our house until Christmas Eve. She was a little over 6 weeks old when we picked her up, and SO sweet. We began crate training her, which included many sleepless nights, but we quickly established a routine. We loved having her at our home, and our 2 cats and dog did really well with her here.

On Christmas Eve, we packed up the car and headed to mom’s house for the Daisy surprise!

I posted the video to TikTok, which got quite a bit of views (because who doesn’t love puppies and Christmas?)- and you can also view it in my Instagram highlights.

Mom LOVES her, and she’s such a wonderful addition to the family.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever given or received for Christmas?

D