Halloween just might be my very favorite day of the year.
Kiki’s cookie club, cookie club for dogs, self serve pet wash
Why? The whole day is fantastic, start to finish. At the shop, mom gives out a free half-pound of biscuits to all my four-legged buddies who come in to show off their costumes. At night, we give out candy to the kids and treats to my friends who stop by our house.
Everyone comes to us. All day. It’s so exciting!
Kiki’s cookie club, cookie club for dogs, self serve pet washMom gets into the Halloween spirit every year by offering up special creepy cookies – like eyeballs, monsters, and ghosts! I wish all my friends could get some. I’ve heard some pretty scary stories about run-ins with kid candy.
Last year, my good friend Piper told me about finding a brand-new bag of candy corn in the kitchen. No one was home, and it was right near the edge of the counter. Just like any reasonable friend, she thought that it was for her – and helped herself… to the whole bag.
When her parents got home, Piper was excited to see them, like normal. Then, her mom saw pieces of plastic that Piper left on the floor and got really upset. Piper thought that her mom was yelling at her because of the mess at first, but it turns out that the candy corn wasn’t for her.
Piper was so sad. She felt horrible about the mix-up.
About an hour later, everyone felt equally awful. Piper got sick. Everywhere. I don’t want to gross you out, but the candy corn was coming out of both ends. And you know how corn can be!
Piper says that she’s never felt so sick in her life! It makes my stomach hurt just thinking about it! Mom says that a couple of candy corn can’t hurt, but they are full of sugar and corn syrup. If you eat a lot of them, like Piper, you’ll probably feel just like she did. Mom says that even two-legged folks can’t eat that much candy corn!
Poor Piper. I don’t think she’ll ever eat one again.
Piper’s story also reminds me of Romeo, this little pug that we met when he was visiting a relative a few years ago. We first saw Romeo on Halloween, in fact. He came over to the shop with his cousin to get free treats. He was dressed like Dracula and his cousin, a chihuahua, was a ballerina. Their costumes were great!
Kiki’s cookie club, cookie club for dogs, self serve pet washWell, Romeo got hooked on some of mom’s cookies. His mom had battled breast cancer before, so she bought him some of the pink ribbons mom makes to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Then, to commemorate Romeo’s love-hate relationship with the black cat who lives next door to him, his mom bought him some evil kitty cookies. They are apple and oatmeal cookies covered in carob.
It may seem obvious to some people, but many of my friends don’t know that carob isn’t chocolate. Romeo didn’t know that there was any difference either. A couple of weeks after Halloween, he was mourning the loss of his new-found favorite cookies when his dad brought home some new cookies, shaped a little differently but equally delicious-smelling.
Romeo waited and waited to get one from his parents, but for some reason, they never gave him one. Fearing that they had forgotten that he loved them, he decided to take the package out of the pantry when his parents left for work.
He ate the rest of the bag. They tasted different than his cookies, but he thought that they were pretty good.
Then came the thirst. He couldn’t find enough water to drink! He drank every bit out of his water bowl and then tried – unsuccessfully – to drink out of the big bowl in the bathroom. His little pug legs just couldn’t get him high enough.
Next, Romeo felt like he couldn’t lay down. He just started pacing around the house. His heart was racing! He didn’t know what to do.
Luckily, Romeo’s dad came come from work early. When he saw the empty bag of cookies, he immediately took Romeo to the vet to get checked out. He ended up being okay after a few days, but Romeo learned a crucial lesson about chocolate that day: It’s not carob.
I think we can all take away two important life lessons from my friends:
Messes can save lives; it doesn’t matter what your parents say.
Just say no to candy corn – and chocolate. Stick to my mom’s biscuits.
Enjoy this Halloween responsibly, my friends – and I’ll see you at the shop!
Kiki