I love/am obsessed with Halloween. The movies, the decorations, the fall season. All of it. In this house it is a full on holiday and we celebrate it the entire month of October. As anyone with pets knows decorations can be problematic. I don’t know how or why, but Tango has never disturbed a single holiday decoration his entire life thus far. I’ve never had to chase him down to wrestle away a plush elf or a singing Santa Claus. I’ve never had to yell “leave it!” as he’s walked by the Christmas tree. The shiny ornaments and wrapped presents are of no interest to him. Maybe the holidays awaken some warm fuzzy feeling in his heart and he takes a break from his regular shenanigans. Maybe he believes in Santa and wants to ensure he’ll get newly fresh toys to destroy. Those are as plausible reasons as any others I can come up with. Then came Cash. If he could see it and find a way to it, it was in his mouth. I lost count after the 4th emergency vet visit to induce vomiting. It had been so long since there was a puppy in this house I nearly forgot all the things they get into, destroy, swallow….it’s never ending. Cash was still very much a puppy for his first Halloween. He was too small to reach any of the countertops but still managed to snag a knitted pumpkin off an end table. He hated our Ghostbusters theme blaring and dancing ghost so it stayed in the guest bath behind a closed door where it could not taunt him. When he became visibly upset at the sight of our 2 1/2 foot tall Frankie I promptly moved him to the back porch (the monster, not the dog). He was more afraid than curious of most of the decor. Year 2 comes up and I know he will fair far better than before. After all, a year with Tango would toughen up the most delicate daisy. I bring out all the decor that he was not afraid of the first time around and then gradually add new decor. So far so good. Then I trot out Frankie. At first Cash sits stiffly in a corner next to the front door-I assume as a means to escape- as he suspiciously eyeballs the green monster. I call Cash away and he dashes around Frankie in a Scooby-doo run crashing into everything around him. It’s looking like another year outside. But the next morning I hear thuds and rumbling noises coming from the hallway outside our bedroom. I stand still for a minute, ears perked, head tilted, eyes squinted and think what the hell is that? There in entry way is Cash wiggling away and trying his very very best to make best friends with Frankie. I guess he figured if he could make grumpy goose Tango love him, he can make it work with Frankenstein’s monster too. That’s our fearless wiggle butt.