Vet made a real dog's dinner of his first attempt to put up festive decorations

Keith and Terralie Hardy and their dog love getting into the Christmas spirit each year. Photo / George Novak

Welcome Bay Vets owner John Drummond said it would be "well over 10 years" since he put up his first Christmas lights - lights that have now become a popular local Christmas fixture. But he is not overly fond of the memory of that first year.

"It was a bit of a mess," the veterinarian said.

"The first year I did it, I made this silhouette of a dog with string lights, because you didn't have rope lights back then."

Mr Drummond said he was not aware that string lights usually had individual lights poking out from both sides of the main string.

"I sort of made the whole thing and I tried these string lights and they poked out on all angles. I turned it on and it looked like a real mess. The big husky tail was going into the back and one of the legs looked like it was bent out on all angles. But the following year you could get rope lights and it made a big difference."

The clinic is now a regular feature in the Bay of Plenty Times Christmas Lights Trail and is overrun with festive lights of all shapes, sizes and cat and dog variations.

A dog cocking its leg to urinate was the most recent addition, Mr Drummond said.

"We used twinkly lights and yellow cellophane for the pee but now you can buy orange lights, and they work well.

"It takes a long time. I kind of dread the thought of it but if you're a little late people say, 'are you doing the lights this year, I'm bringing my grandkids in from out of town to see them'."

Terralie Hardy said her husband, Keith, hated putting up Christmas lights at their Sapphire Drive home each year. But once finished, he loved the satisfaction of a job well done.

The pair, who have two sons and four grandkids, have about five boxes full of lights, but Mrs Hardy often buys new ones. And not even their cavalier King Charles spaniel is immune to the Christmas fever.

The dog has a reindeer coat, complete with Christmas lights, and sits at the front of the house every evening, entertaining the local kids.

"I just love doing it for the kids and for my family," Mrs Hardy added.

This year, her favourites are the reindeer on the front lawn. She said a 3-year-old girl asked if Santa was inside their house.

"She said, 'I've been trying to call him, he must be in there because his reindeer are parked on the lawn'," Mrs Hardy said.

"She came back two or three times to have photos taken with the reindeer," Mrs Hardy said.

"I just love it. This is probably my best year, but I have plans for even bigger and better.

"We're still working on it. It's just a continuous thing but we've got to get it right.

"There's other people too. They say 'it might not be the brightest or the biggest, but it's the best'."