Treats and a few little tricks!

Fireworks going off - are we bothered, NO!

Hugo lying in wait for trick-or-treaters

It's that time of year again when fireworks are constantly going off at random times of day and night. Our old boy, Sid, used to be petrified and would sit and drool and even try and get on your lap (at 11 stone, not an easy task). It was almost a blessing when he went hard of hearing and was no longer bothered. Fortunately, Hugo and Pip take not the slightest bit of notice, even when the annual local display was at its highest peak only a mile away they did not even lift their heads up off the floor.

Pip in a blanket!

Another annual event went on last night with the endless procession of trick-or-treaters knocking on the door. I am always prepared with a big bowl of sweets ready for the local kids and Hugo was aware that something was happening. Normally Pip is the guard dog and barks loudly at the first sound of anyone coming to the door even if she knows it is only Daniel or Toby and she makes us leap a mile high as she manages to wake up and bark loudly all in one breath. Last night though, Hugo stationed himself behind the front door and would bark in his best, deepest, scariest voice as the children came up to the door. I would stand behind Hugo and let him go first to see who was there. As they shouted 'trick or treat' Hugo would strain forward and put his head in their bags of goodies as if to say 'yes, treat please, what have you got?". When nothing was forthcoming he would give another woof, making the children jump and then laugh, because he had tricked them - they all loved him and he got lots of fuss from them, their parents even coming up the path to say hello too. He wasn't quite so keen though when he realised we were giving away the sweets out of our bowl - perhaps he thinks they should be giving us treats and not them. And what of Miss Pip whilst all this was going on. Not so brave when scary, small creatures keep coming to the door - she hid behind the living room door peeping out and would only give out a small 'woof' when the front door had closed behind them!

Hugo made us laugh this week when we realised what he was carrying around  in his mouth. I had made a steak and kidney pie and had thrown a small piece of uncooked pastry away in the bin. (OK, OK I know I should have used it to make a few doggy treats but on this occasion I didn't!) As the bin was not quite closed Hugo managed to extract it and it became his priced possession for a few hours. We could tell he had something in his mouth although we couldn't see anything but when Toby lifted his lip up you could see this oozing soggy mass through his teeth. Everywhere he went he took that bit of pastry, making no attempt to eat it whatsoever, putting it down periodically where it could add to its mass with bits of grass, hair and dirt. He obviously knew he shouldn't have it and he didn't really like it because he kept wrinkling his nose up in disdain every time he picked the soggy, hairy, grassy, dirty lump up but he had to keep it in his mouth in case SHE (Miss Pip) got hold of it! If only he had realised she wasn't the slightest bit interested, she has far more taste then that!