Ari and Wilma were bemoaning the fact they are not being allowed out to trick or treat this evening and I started my response being the grumpy old man I\u2019ve become, pointing out all ills of the tradition and saying you wouldn\u2019t find me doing something like that. Then our Mistress intervened and reminded me of when I was a puppy and I didn\u2019t want to be left out so I had a \u2018glow-band\u2019 around my neck which cast a great and scary shadow of my head, as long as the lights were off, and she let me answer the door to any children that called. Oh those were the days! Anyway, Ari and Wilma are still not being allowed out to scare anyone, but if any of the children are brave enough to call at our house tonight they just might find themselves confronted by some very scary hounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a bonfire on Saturday locally for bonfire night. For those of you not in the UK, that\u2019s a very weird English tradition where we celebrate a terrorist from the 1600s who tried to blow up the Government. Now call me picky, but I think that\u2019s probably double standards, but no matter. What happens is they have fireworks here and do at least burn images of the man who was trying to do it on bonfires. To be quite honest, it\u2019s just an excuse for a bit of a fun on a cold autumn evening. Anyway, back to the point I was making, our Master said we could all go to it, although I think he was only really talking about the humans. Our Mistress said she wouldn\u2019t be free as she was already planning to sit by our big picture window with Aristotle and watch the fireworks she could see from here. The rest of us aren\u2019t that fussed, but Ari has always enjoyed oooing and aaaring at a good firework display. We\u2019ll probably all join them, but it will be Ari who gets most excited and will watch carefully to make sure he doesn\u2019t miss any.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I do know there are dogs out there who don\u2019t like fireworks, and children come to that. If that\u2019s the case then make sure they are indoors and feel safe and secure. It\u2019s always best to stay home with them or try to make sure they are in an inner room where they won\u2019t hear too many loud bangs. Leave some music on for them to cover the sounds too, as they will help to soothe them\u2026 depending on your choice of music. If you don\u2019t make provisions for their comfort and reassurance and you simply go out and leave them to it, please don\u2019t be cross or surprised if they have been a little bit destructive while you\u2019re out. Just put yourself in their paws and think how you would feel if you were scared and alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tonight for the trick or treaters, make sure you have one or two dog biscuits on offer as well as the chocolates, just in case you have any dogs who call round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alfie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can find short stories to read at www.alfiedog.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alfie\u2019s Diary \u2013 the Book as well as our other books are available HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"