A Year Ago My Dog Was Not Ready For Halloween And Reality Hit Me Hard
A year ago my dog was not ready for Halloween and reality hit me hard. We have two cats and a dog. All my wife and I want to do is dress them up for Halloween and tell them how silly they look. The cats will tolerate an accessory for a few minutes and then scratch at it or try to chew it off. Zoe, however, well she is a different story, and here’s how a bad night in Duluth, GA began.
The Invite
My brother-in-law, who lives outside of Atlanta, invited us and Zoe to Howl On The Green in Duluth, GA last year. It’s family-friendly and pet friendly, it’s at their little amphitheater, it is near a cemetery, and they have restaurants around the festival area with plenty of outdoor seating. I was a little apprehensive about taking Zoe, but I looked past it. We loaded up the car for an overnight trip to my brother-in-law’s house and off we went. At this point, we’re excited.
Getting Ready
When we arrived at my brother-in-law’s house, we were able to chill for a bit before the festival began. Zoe sniffed the inside perimeter of his house the whole time before laying down and chilling out before we left. My wife was upstairs putting on an outfit that gave off witch vibes like something Florence Welch or Stevie Nicks would wear. I remember thinking, she’s going to look really cute taking a picture with Zoe at the festival. Once she was ready I took Zoe to potty and off we went to the event. Zoe was completely calm, but also excited she was going somewhere at this point.
How It Began
When we got close to the venue and started seeing areas to park and all the people, Zoe started to get a little anxious. Nothing major though. She just wanted to nose up on some people so they could pet her head. We parked the car, leashed her up, and started walking toward the amphitheater.
How It’s Going
Before we walked into the free festival, we walked through the spooky cemetery that you come to first. Zoe was a very good girl and wasn’t bothering anybody who was passing us with other dogs or anything. We were in there for a solid 20 minutes. She was an angel. It was the perfect warm-up before being around a lot more people. I was officially at ease and confident everything was going to be fine. Wow, I was so wrong.
How It Went
Let me start off by saying, I wasn’t able to get a single picture of this adventure. That’s how WELL it went. As soon as we got within the perimeter of the amphitheater Zoe went completely insane. She wanted to play with every single dog in that place. She wanted every single human’s attention. She whined, no she SHRIEKED, she lunged, she barked, and at one point I thought I was going to lose her. She weighs between 60 and 70 lbs and she almost made me trip a couple of times. Thankfully my brother-in-law, who trains and runs in Spartan Races for fun, controlled her until we were able to get out of the large crowd. That’s when I realized that my dog was not ready for Halloween and reality hit me hard.
What Happened Next?
Once we walked the entire perimeter of that amphitheater and over to the restaurants, we figured she would be better. There were way fewer people and we could get an outdoor table for dinner. Zoe calmed back down enough to where she would sit at my feet. While we were waiting on a table a much smaller dog started approaching the area we were standing in and Zoe started going off again. That did for me. It was time to leave.
How It Ended
We loaded back up in the car and drove back to my brother-in-law’s house. He lives in Lawrenceville and they have a really cute and modest downtown area. He knew there wouldn’t be a lot of people out at 8:00 PM so we figured Zoe would be fine. Once we got down there we parked, leashed her up, and started walking towards some restaurants. One bulldog was 70 feet from us and she started flipping out again. Again, I was done. We were done. We ended up getting a pizza and went back to the house. This entire experience happened in less than 90 minutes.
She Is A Sweet Girl Though
We probably hadn’t worked enough with Zoe before that event. She’s always gotten good reports at her kennel and if anything, she’s just a little curious when she crosses paths with dogs in our neighborhood. In no way has she ever acted like she did at Howl On The Green. I highly recommend making the trip to Duluth and checking that out. It really is a cool festival and one day we’re going to go back. Zoe will be ready for that one. A year ago my dog was not ready for Halloween and reality hit me hard.
This is how my wife and I want Zoe to be.
@bestboybenson I was not a fan of the last costume 🦄 #germanshepherd #germanshepherdsoftiktok #gsd #halloween #dogcostume
♬ original sound - Best Boy Benson
For now, this is the closest we’ll get to Zoe getting into a costume.
@fenwayonair Zoë’s ready for duty #pawpatrol #dogsoftiktok
♬ PAW Patrol Opening Theme - PAW Patrol
