"Barney thought he'd give some advice to Flickr doggies on how to cope with their humans during Christmas, and how to maximise their own enjoyment at this time of year! Hope it helps :)

1. Humans tend to overeat at Christmas, it's bad for them. Help them by eating overlooked food. Do NOT get caught, your good intentions won't be appreciated. Don't eat the turkey, they will notice... Missing food is to be blamed on the cat, or small child.

2. Prolonged TV watching equally detrimental to health (especially with the awful stuff on at Christmas). Try throwing a ball at them. If that fails, bring them their leash and attach it to their hand. Hiding the remote control may work. Don't eat it. Plastic's tasty but you'll spend Christmas at the vets.

3. Humans are silly at this time of year. They may dress you up in Santa outfits, put pretend reindeer antlers on your head, or wrap you in tinsel for "photos". You could protest at this treatment as an affront to your dignity, however, I find cooperating brings more biscuits!

4. Your humans may have lots of relatives visiting. The more flighty and nervous 2-legs can find this stressful and fights may occur. Split up arguments simply by looking cute, or by using the handy distraction technique of stealing shoes, purses or the remote control.

5. NEVER bite the 2-leg relatives! While your human might be snarling and barking at their relative, they won't appreciate you directly intervening. It won't make things better.

6. Small children are a dog's best friend. Sit by them at dinner - as their canine attendant, you'll get a tasty snack. You can also lick their hands and faces clean after a meal but be sneaky about that cause grown-ups think it's unpleasant for some reason.

7. Whatever you do, do NOT, ever, under any circumstances pee up the Christmas tree in your house - the humans really HATE that! The chocolate hung from the branches is fair game. Sneakiness is key. If caught, deny everything and blame the small child - you know they'd do the same to you if the situation was reversed!

8. Insist on your daily walk. It is your right. Even if it is snowing. You may need to encourage a reluctant 2-legged who has both overeaten and watched terrible TV 6 hours straight. Barking usually wakes them, as does bouncing up and down at them repeatedly.

9. Now is the time for to sit you human down and remind them how wonderfully well behaved you've been the last year... Toys, doggy biscuits and bones will be coming your way on 25th December! Don't bring up that bed you destroyed in March, the shoes you chewed up in June, or that time you ran off to go roll in the nice foxy perfume in the woods last month.

10. Finally, be nice to Father Christmas. He's a funny guy, coming down the chimney in the middle of the night. Normally you'd want to bark at someone like that, but he brings the human children presents. If you're lucky he might have something for you too!"