On a festive morning in a suburban New Jersey home, Dr. Adam Christman, chief veterinary officer at dvm360, stages a holiday ritual that has become as anticipated as the presents themselves. Christman and his four Dachshunds turn gift-opening into a communal event: paper rustles, toys squeak, and the dogs converge in a burst of scent-driven activity that he calls “competitive unwrapping.”

“In my house, present-opening is a competitive sport,” Christman said in an account published by Kinship. “The sound, the smell, the texture… it’s a full-on sensory event.” Those elements—noise, scent and texture—combine to trigger behaviors observers readily recognize as play, exploration and foraging. How do dogs’ natural instincts influence their behavior during play and exploration.

Christman describes four real-life Dachshunds who each approach the task slightly differently: some pounce and tug, others nose and excavate under paper, and all race to the prize once a toy or treat is exposed. He said watching them unfold the moment is a pleasure. “Honestly, watching them unwrap gifts is better than anything under the tree for me,” he added.

Behavioral experts note the pattern in Christman’s living room is a wider reflection of dogs’ instincts. “Dogs’ natural instincts drive their play through predatory behaviors like chasing, grabbing, and retrieving, which stem from ancestral hunting drives and are amplified in breeds via selective breeding,” said Dr. Elizabeth Goedeke, medical director at VCA French Creek Animal Hospital. “They’re also excited if we’re excited,” she added, underscoring how human cues amplify the dogs’ responses.

The Kinship piece places the Christman household in a broader cultural context: according to Kinship reporting, engaging in holiday traditions that involve gifts for pets is now firmly embedded in many American homes. Surveys show a significant percentage of American dog owners plan to buy their dog a Christmas gift, highlighting that including animals in holiday traditions is common and expected by many families.

The visual trappings of the season frame the ritual as communal and celebratory. Christman’s house is decked for the holidays, with a living room lined in decorations and a sprawling front lawn that features four inflatable giant Dachshunds. Those details, he and others say, transform unwrapping from a solitary behavior into a shared family activity that engages both people and pets.

Experts contributing to the Kinship coverage, including Dr. Jamie Richardson, chief medical officer at Small Door Veterinary, situate unwrapping within a menu of enrichment activities owners use during the holidays. What are effective ways to engage dogs in play and mental stimulation during the holidays include food puzzles with dog-safe treats, snuffle mats for scent foraging, hide-and-seek games with hidden treats or toys, and festive scent walks or indoor obstacle courses built from household items. Such activities mirror the same search-and-reward sequence that tearing paper and uncovering gifts provide.

For the Christman household, the emphasis is less on the object revealed than on the act of revealing itself. The tearing of paper, the unrolling of bows, and the sudden exposure of a squeaky toy all satisfy a dog’s impulse to dig and uncover, an instinct rooted in foraging and exploration. Combined with the social excitement of family members celebrating, the scene becomes a ritualized, seasonal enrichment opportunity.

Kinship’s account uses these moments to illustrate how owners can make holidays engaging for companion animals without changing routines dramatically. In Christman’s home, the result is predictable joy: four Dachshunds, a pile of shredded wrapping, and a living room full of laughter. “It’s the shared activity that matters,” Christman said, echoing the article’s central observation that inclusion—rather than the contents of a package—makes the holiday moment meaningful for both people and their dogs.

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Original reporting: view the original article.