Halloween Puppy Dog Blues

Halloween used to be a holiday that I enjoyed. I would sit down outside, weather permitting, and hand candy out to a slew of adorable kids shouting, “trick or treat”. But, for the last 7 years, I’ve had the Halloween puppy dog blues.

When I adopted my sweet little G, I knew she had a rough past life and was what I thought of as “shy”. Turns out all kinds of things terrify her. Not the normal things: vacuums, lawn mowers, or even my dad’s loud old pickup. Nope, she walks right up to those things. What G is frightened of includes other dogs, the ice maker, and Halloween decorations.

You heard that right – Halloween decorations. At first, I thought it was just the oddity of something new along her pathway. Not so.

We were walking along a street in the city and someone had placed a very great decoration complete with a witch, goblin, and cauldron. The decorations are life-size and many people had stopped to take pictures. When G and I walked past it, she tucked her tail, her head, and her spine and went as close to the street as she could, scuttling away from that house like a rat at the first break of daylight.

It’s new, tomorrow will be better, I though. Nope. The next day, she saw it again, and reacted. Only this time she ran directly into the street like her tail was on fire.

Cool, we won’t walk on this stretch of sidewalk until after October 31st, I decided. Nope. The next day we walked along a different street and walked past a decoration of hay bales, pumpkins, and scarecrows. No dice. Straight for the street.

What Halloween terror did this dog encounter? So for now, we avoid the festive decorations on the streets. And, there are none in my home. For those of you without a Halloween-fearful floofin, take a good look at the decorations and enjoy them on my behalf. In fact, you can share those photos on the Floofins & C0. Facebook page! Upload pictures of your holiday decorations and your floofins! We would love to see them.