[media-credit id=2 align=”alignleft” width=”300″]Tank with ball[/media-credit]

By Tank

What is it about you people, wanting to celebrate in ways that frighten dogs and even little children! First comes the 4th of July when terrifying noises are accompanied by shocking colors and bright lights, shooting at us from the sky. We ask ourselves, what did we do? Why are they after us?

Then comes Halloween, a holiday with no other apparent purpose than to scare dogs and little children. Small herds of strangers come to the door looking like creatures and creeps; even one giant chicken showed up; I bark and they cry. Are you kidding me? You call that celebrating? What’s wrong with playing a little fetch, passing out treats and giving lots of hugs to pets? Now that sounds like a celebration to me.

Then comes New Year’s Eve when the loud bangs and noises go on for hours, sending dogs under beds in homes throughout the country. I’ll never forget that scary New Year’s Eve when things out of hand, so scary that it accidentally made me run away from home. I got confused. I couldn’t see my dad anywhere. I could just hear terrible sounds coming at me from every direction.

I ran this way and then that. It made no sense as I ran for hours in terror. Why would anybody be after me? Then again last summer the Independence Day festivities got out of hand. This time for my neighbor, a Golden Retriever named Kita. She ran off when it was dark and the poor thing was gone all night. She must have gone a long way and got lost.

I knew better. This time I just ran under the bed and buried my head in Dad’s sweatshirt lying on the floor. Dad finally came in and stayed with me. We heard reports about Kita still being missing that night and the next morning. Finally they found her up by the horses.

Good endings, yes, but still another New Years’ Eve is on its way. Kita and I are nervous already! Maybe we could all celebrate differently this year; play a little fetch, give plenty of hugs to pets and pass out lots of treats!