This Family's Dog Chewed Up Their Elf on the Shelf, and This Mom Made the Most of It

After Jenn Thelan woke up to her 7-year-old daughter, Aubrie, screaming, she immediately saw a gory site: the family's 2-year-old German Shepherd, Zoey, had gone to town on the family's Elf on the Shelf named Sam after snagging him off a low-hanging wreath. Jenn, who works as a nurse at Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital in Orlando, FL, acted fast to save the magic of Christmas. Her solution? To get their little Christmas friend into surgery — and quick!

Jenn told POPSUGAR that panic never crossed her mind after seeing Sam's mangled little body. "I told Aubrie not to worry because Arnold Palmer Hospital has the best medical team and 'special doctors' who could fix Sam's injuries and put him back together in no time," she said.

Without further ado, Jenn tucked Sam into her bag and took him to work the following morning. As expected, doctors took extraspecial care of Sam. They got to work patching him up using "magic gloves" and even sprinkled a bit of magic on him just to be safe. Scroll through to see Sam's speedy recovery from start to finish.