DENVER -- December 18, 2009

We hustled out of the house this morning as usual, but when Marianne stopped the car we weren't at the station. We headed into a BIG store and Marianne settled me into a shopping cart.

I looked around curiously. "What is this place? And why aren't we at work?" I wondered.

"This is a store called Wal-Mart," Marianne explained. "Ordinarily I would not bring you to a busy place like this for another month or two, but today we're helping with a project for work."

"Hey, there's Deb and Robin and Anne and Mike and Lionel and Mike and Tanya and Christine and Mark and...." I paused for breath.

Marianne laughed. "Yes, your friends from 7News are here to shop for toys today."

I stood up and put my paws on the edge of the shopping cart, wagging my tail happily.

"WHOA," Marianne said in alarm. "Mars, please sit down. You can say hello to everyone in a second." We joined the group and I got lots of pats while Marianne got instructions on what to do. Soon we were headed toward an aisle filled with baby toys.

"I still don't understand why we're here," I complained as Marianne started filling the cart with a variety of toys.

"Toys for Tots is an organization that provides toys to needy children. This year is difficult for many people and there weren't as many toys donated as usual." Marianne paused to re-stack a teetering pile of pull toys. I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic. "Anyhow," she continued, "When our producer Deb Stanley heard about the shortage she contacted our parent company, McGraw-Hill and cleverly wrangled a $5,000 donation."

I ducked as a package of blocks fell behind me. "That's awesome!" I barked. "Deb is amazing. I love her hiking blog and Debbie's Deals. Remember the time she told you about the coupon for free Eukanuba dog food?" I reminisced dreamily.

"Stop drooling," Marianne chided me. "Here's more good news: Wal-Mart donated another $5,000 and Sam's Club donated $8,000."

"Yow, that's a lot of toys," I said. "We don't have to put them all in this cart, do we?"

Marianne laughed and turned the cart around. "No, we don't. Let's hand over this full cart get an empty one."

"OK, but I want to choose the toys this time," I whined.

Marianne shrugged and helped me out of the full cart and into an empty one. "Fine by me. What do you want to get?" she asked. I pointed toward a huge bin of lovely, soft stuffed animals. "I think kids need a furry friend to cuddle," I said. "Don't you?"

She smiled and started putting stuffed animals in the cart. "Why yes, I do!" she agreed.

Thanks to everyone who donated toys this year to Toys for Tots and other charities. Dog bless us everyone.

Chow for now!

Mars

Questions or comments for Mars? Send him an e-mail!

Would you like more information about Canine Companions for Independence or perhaps be a puppy raiser? Call 1-800-572-BARK or go to CCI for details.