I've found that all things here in life isn't fun, exciting or interesting. There are plenty of horrible and scary things too.

I thought I'd tell you a little about things that I find scary and horrible, and I'm sure that some things I will get used to, and other things I will never get used to. At least that's what mum tells me, but I don't know. Although, as you will see, some things aren't that scary when you think about it, so maybe mum is right!

Fireworks and crackers

The absolutely scariest things I know are fireworks and crackers! That is one thing that I will never get used to! The first time I got really scared, at least the first time mum saw me getting really scared was when we were out for a walk. Suddenly there were flashes in the sky and banging noises, and it echoed all over the park we were walking in. Mum found out later that it was the ending of the speedway season, and to make it extra fun for the people who was there watching, they decided to have fireworks. Mum didn't know about this, so she got as surprised as I did, but she didn't start running around like a mad dog trying to hide somewhere safe. Mum says fireworks are nice to look at, because it's different colours in the sky, little stars and other stuff, but to me it's just a very bad noise, and I totally panicked. Mum just walked on as normal and didn't make a fuss over me, but I was so scared I didn't notice anything around me. According to mum I looked quite funny trying to find somewhere to hide, my long tail straight out and crouching legs.

So, the holiday around New Year isn't really my favourite time of year, I have a really bad time then. Every walk, no matter if it's daytime or night time, there are some idiots having fireworks. Even mum calls the people who have fireworks during the daytime for idiots, because she says the effect isn't there in daylight. I don't know about the effect, but the noise is there, and it's horrible!

Once when we were on our way home from work, we heard fireworks in the distance, and I got so scared I tried to crawl in under a car to hide there until summer. Before that I'd been jumping around playing in the snow, digging away and doing my kangaroo jumps, but when I heard the horrible noise, I stopped and totally changed. Since mum didn't let me hide under the car, I went for a huge pile of snow and decided to lie down there. I refused to walk no matter what mum did. Eventually she took me up in her arms and carried me, because it was very cold and she was freezing and she said we had to get home. I hadn't planned to move at all, my plan was to stay in that pile of snow even if it would mean I'd freeze to death. When mum felt I was a bit more calm, she put me down and asked me to walk again, because her arms were really tired after carrying me for quite a while, and I walked a few steps, and then there were new fireworks. Mum got totally mad - not at me of course - and said that she didn't understand why people felt the need of playing with fireworks when it wasn't even New Years Eve yet. In the end, she had to carry me all the way home because I refused to walk. When we got home, I ran into the bedroom and hid in my safe place under mum's bed, and I stayed there until I had calmed down.

New Years Eve isn't very fun for me at all, because then there are fireworks all the time. Let me tell you about my experiences: We started out in the morning to go for a long walk, it was sunny, not too cold, and the snow was glittering. Mum had decided we would go for a very long walk since she knew I wouldn't go out when there were fireworks. The only thing is that this place is filled with very strange people, so we'd only been out for about 15 minutes, and then we heard fireworks in the distance. Again mum got totally mad wondering what kind of idiots waste their fireworks before noon, when the sun is shining?! The walk mum had planned didn't turn out as long as she wanted, because I totally lost interest in going for a walk. During the rest of the day, mum put all her warm clothes on several times to take me out, but no walk lasted for longer than 5 minutes, because every time there were some weirdos sending up fireworks. One time mum took me out, we only got two steps from the door, and then I refused to walk any longer.

Later on, I didn't even go near mum when she had put all the warm clothes on, I stayed in the sofa and just wouldn't move, so mum took all the heavy clothes off again and sat down beside me and watched TV. Apparently it's around midnight that you are supposed to get your fireworks out, and mum tried to keep me calm by having the stereo on quite high volume, and she also had the TV on, but I could still hear the terrible noise. At this point mum was rather worried about me, and thought I'd explode since I hadn't been out since the early afternoon. She told me she wouldn't get mad even if I decided to pee inside the apartment, and she was also talking about taking me down to the garage and let me do my business there.

About 1 am I heard that things outside had calmed down a bit, and I was really in a big need to pee, so finally I did tell mum I was ready to go out. I must admit that was the best pee ever and mum said she was afraid that the street would get flooded.

I don't know what will happen next New Year, but mum is talking about getting me some medicine to calm me down, and if it tastes like biscuits, I don't mind! Mum also says it should be forbidden to use fireworks during the daytime, first of all no one can really see them, and secondly there should be some safe hours for dogs, other animals and even humans that are terrified of the noise. I've been told that there are some law in Sweden against crackers, but still, the noise from fireworks are the same as from crackers, so I really don't know the difference.

Children

You might find this a bit unusual, but I am scared of children. I am getting a little bit used to them now, but that's because I've got to know some. Still, I do find children scary. Mum has no idea why I'm scared of children, and I don't know either, I'm just scared of them. Sometimes I do surprise both myself and mum by wanting to go up and say hello to some kid we meet, but most of the time I keep very close to mum. Quite often we meet children and they ask if they can pet me, and mum always says it depends if I want to be petted. Sometimes I do, and other times I don't, and whatever way I decide, mum always keep an eye on both the children and me. She says that some children might not understand that I'm scared, or they have no idea how to behave around dogs, and she doesn't want any accidents to happen. She knows I wouldn't mean it if I snapped at some kid, but the kid probably wouldn't understand and the kids' parents would probably get mad at me.

Once when mum and I were out for a walk we met a cute little girl who was about 7 years old, at least that's what mum thought. The girls mother asked if the girl could say hello to me and pet me, and mum answered the way she always does: "It's OK if he wants it." The mother told mum that usually her daughter was very scared of dogs, and it was very seldom she even looked at dogs passing by, but she had looked at me. When I heard that, I decided to show myself from my best side, so I carefully walked up to the little girl, and her mother told her to hold her hand down so I could sniff it. I carefully sniffed the little girls' hand and decided that she wasn't scary, and I guess she didn't find me too scary either because she gently petted me. The girl seemed very happy and told me I was a very nice dog. Mum said I was a very nice dog, and she also said that the girl didn't need to be scared of dogs. She said that most dogs are very nice, but that you should always have respect for dogs and not just run up to them.

Another time mum got yelled at from some woman. Actually compared to mum that woman should probably be called a young woman, but mum didn't care. If you yell at my mum you can be sure to be called all sorts of things.

Anyway, the reason that woman was yelling at mum was because I was barking at her little boy. Mum and I was out for one of our regular walks, and suddenly this little boy - or hooligan as mum calls kids like that - came running towards us with a stick in his hand. The stick was taller than the boy was, and he was banging it in the ground. Mum figured the boy was about 4 years old, and as he was running with the stick, he was shouting something about dogs. Mum couldn't really make out what he was saying. So, since the boy came running like that, I had to bark to tell him I was there, and that he should take it easy, and I found it rather scary with him running and hitting the stick in the ground, I thought he might hit me too! Mum held my lead very short, but she didn't really need to since I was more or less glued to her leg. I figured if I kept behind her, she would protect me. The boy stopped just a little bit away from us, he kept hitting the stick on the ground and was shouting something about dogs. That's when the boy's mother decided to come running and yelling at mum. She told mum that people who couldn't control their dogs shouldn't be allowed to have dogs, especially not in public places like the park, because you never know what can happen. Did mum know that plenty of people had been attacked by dogs, and bitten by vicious dogs who had come running!!

My mum doesn't get angry very often, but when she does, you better keep away from her, and obviously this woman yelling at mum had no idea about this. Mum didn't yell or anything, she just told the woman in a very angry and firm voice what she thought about parents who couldn't control their own kids, or told their kids how to behave when they see a dog. She said that if you have a kid that runs around with sticks, and runs towards a dog on a lead might consider putting a lead on the kid, or at least try to keep some control over the kid. The woman tried to say something about her kid could have been attacked and bitten by me, and that wouldn't have been so good for mum, since she is responsible for whatever I do. That just shows what a silly woman that was, thinking that would make my mum shiver and apologise for me barking. Mum just asked the woman what the thing mum was holding in her right hand looked like, didn't it look exactly like a lead?? Most likely, if the little boy hadn't come running towards us, I wouldn't even have looked at him. At this point I was sitting quietly behind mums legs, mum had nothing more to say to the woman who's noisy kid was still hitting the stick on the ground, so mum told me we were leaving to continue our walk.

Sometimes mum tells me that the smaller the children are, the more scared I am. That might actually be true, because babies are about the strangest things I know! Mum says that it's probably because I can't really make out what they are. I find babies very strange, most of the time they just lie there, they smell funny and sometimes they sound weird too. But, I am getting used to babies and small children, because I realised they are mini-humans! How I've come to that conclusion is quite easy. First a friend of mum had a baby, and very carefully we were introduced to each other, and then mum's sister Camilla had a baby too, so I'm getting to know him as well. I did find those two babies a bit strange to start with, but once you get to know them they seem OK, but they also seem to go through different stages. They start to move around, and even walk, but that sure looks funny! They don't seem to be very steady on their feet! I've also heard that as babies grow older they become small children, and then two things happen. First since they are able to move around more, they get more curious, so it's best to watch them all the time so they don't get a hold of your ear or tail or something. Secondly, when they are really small they eat strange stuff, but when they get a bit older they start eating more human-like food, and I've realised that is very good. Especially if they are sitting on the floor eating something, because then there is always a possibility you can go and steal whatever they are eating. Also, if they are sitting at a normal table, they drop things on the floor!!

There is only one thing I really don't understand about babies: Where do they come from?? I think that maybe it's like when people decide to get a puppy, so they must go to a baby kennel and select which baby they like the best.

So, at least I'm getting used to small children and babies, but I only like the ones I know, if there are strange babies and small children around, I prefer to stay close to mum.

Noisy stuff

Mum says that sometimes I'm very sensitive to loud and strange noises. Some noises are scary, and mum has quite a few things with scary noises at home. The vacuum cleaner for instance is very scary! When I see mum taking it out from the press where it lives, I quickly disappear in under mum's bed. Mum can go around with that silly thing all over the place, but she has to give me time when she drags it in to the bedroom. I need time to get out from under the bed and run in to where the computer is and hide under a cabinet in here. I really don't see the point with the vacuum cleaner, but mum says it's necessary to use it to get hairs and dust and things away from the floors. But to me, that thing is just a noisy scary thing, and besides, it doesn't last long, the hairs and dust comes back again in no time! Also I've realised that the vacuum cleaner must eat biscuit crumbs! Sometimes when I eat biscuits I leave some crumbs for later, but as soon as mum has had that stupid machine out, the crumbs are gone!

I also find some things in the kitchen scary. Mum keeps horrible noisy things there, like a hand mixer which makes a very bad sound, and another mixer that is even worse! I don't see the point in having horrible machines like that, but mum says it's for baking and cooking. I don't know anything about any baking or cooking, because as soon as she brings those horrible machines out, I'm gone! I think she can stick to normal baking and cooking without using noisy machines. I don't get to taste anything either way, so I think mum could get rid of the machines.

There are a few things mum uses that don't scare me, like the toaster and the coffee machine. I also don't mind her using her electrical toothbrush. I think it's fun to sit beside her and watch the white foam around her mouth!

Another thing I find scary - and I'm happy to say mum doesn't own one - and that's a drilling machine. I've met guys at work who has used things like that, and I don't like them one bit! Very noisy and scary! I also didn't like when they used something called a saw, that wasn't a machine, but it was scary anyway.

When visiting mum's parents, they have something scary in the basement! Sometimes the most horrible sound can come from down there. They've told me it is someone called The Boiler, but I never met him, and I can't understand why he has to live in mum's parents' house and make noise! That is actually pretty stupid, and I think Boiler could get his own place.

Birds

I know, this sounds totally silly, but sometimes I'm scared of birds. Usually I find birds very interesting, and when I see birds, I try to go over and say hello to them. The thing is that birds are not very polite, most of the times they just fly away.

The birds that scare me are the kind of birds that gather in billions up in trees, don't know what they are called in English. Anyway, mum says it's not billions of them, maybe hundreds, but I don't care, I don't like them. I actually believe it's mums' fault I'm a bit scared because she told me about a film she saw where birds were attacking humans, and I'm sure they attacked dogs too, and they attacked them for no reason at all. Yuck, I wouldn't want to be attacked by some crazy birds tearing me up in little pieces!

When they gather in the trees, even mum finds it a bit unpleasant if we have to walk under the trees. The reason for that is that once a bird pooped on mum, and that was when I was just a pup. You should have heard mum "Oh no!! Bird poop on my coat! Horrible, I hope I didn't get any in my hair!" When we got inside mum scrubbed her coat for so long I thought she would end up with a hole in it.

Oh, and guess what, even I got bird poop on me once, and I didn't like it one bit! Neither did mum, and she washed that spot on my back where the poop landed very thoroughly!

The reason I find those kind of birds scary is that when they gather that many in a tree, they are very noisy, and also sometimes they throw stuff down at us when we have to pass under the trees they are sitting in. And it's not just bird poop, it's twigs and seeds and whatever they decide to drop when we pass. So, whenever we have to pass under a tree with loads of birds sitting there making horrible noise, both mum and I hurry up!

Well, that's all I'll tell you about things I find scary, because you might think I'm a real coward, but really I'm not. At least not all the time, and I'd rather be safe than sorry!

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Copyright Yvonne Eriksson - 2003