According to The Hub, some poor child got the fright of his young life when he knocked at our door this evening during trick-or-treating. I was still on my way home from my new job when it began to get dark, leaving The Hub in charge of the Halloween candy. In our house, it takes two people to handle trick-or-treat because the whole thing is just too much for the dog. Our dog Winston, as you may know, is now down to a svelte 210 lbs ( from 219 - he's been on a diet) Recently we tightened his 32 inch collar, but he can still slip it when he really has a mind to.

Winston just loves children....

because when he was a puppy in MA I took him around to meet all the neighborhood kids to socialize him with all different kinds of people. Mastiffs have a protective nature and to him every kid he met became his brother. He used to LOVE to lay outside in the side yard and watch over the neighbor kids playing. Of course, the young boys would come up and dare each other to encourage Winston to jump up and put his paws on their shoulders to see if they could stand up to it. Okay, lets face it, some of the grown men in the neighborhood did this too, which is why it took us a long time to teach Winston not to jump. But it took a really SHORT time to teach him not to jump up on anybody who is small or frail looking because they fall over, and Winston can sense that that's not a good thing.

But, I digress. While Winston would never jump on a trick-or-treater, he certainly doesn't have any compuction about sticking his big old nose in a container full of candy that seems to be held out for his inspection. So, The Goober ( that's Winston's nickname) was having a great time hopping up from his spot by the front door, sticking his head out and getting petted by the older kids, sniffing goodey-bags and indulging in the ever present hope that a piece of candy would fall on the floor. Hope springs eternal, even if you're a dog. ESPECIALLY if you're a dog!

Then two little ghosts came to the door, accompanied by an even younger child in a stroller who stayed down in the driveway with his dad. The little boy was shorter than the height of Winston's nose, but he gamely held up his bag, "Trick or Treat!"

"Wow! What a dog!" his sister exclaimed. She was a little taller, and, I guess a little less wrapped up in "the rules" of what you're supposed to say.

All of the sudden Winston decided he really wanted to visit the guy in the stroller. So he just slipped his collar, leaving The Hub standing there in the doorway with it in one hand and a bowl of candy in the other, hollaring "He's friendly!" to the somewhat shell shocked guy manning the stroller.

The Hub says that little boy took off at light speed back down the steps and in the opposite direction of Winston, who had by now realized that it was a little, little kid in the stroller. Believe it or not, Winston is now somewhat aware of his size and that he is alarming to some toddlers, so he changed course, thinking that the boy who'd just been at the door wanted to play chase.

"Winston! Get your butt back in here!" The Hub roared at the dog. It was a worrisome situation. Winston's not supposed to be in the front yard at all. He has some knowlege about traffic, but we don't consider it reliable. If he got out into the street we'd have to depend more on the driver's wish to not dent his car than Winston's street smarts.

The Hub said he chased that poor child all over the lawn, ears flapping merrily, before complying with the command to get in the house. The Hub is a real softie. He doesn't really discipline the dog, and the dog knows it. If it was me, he'd have gotten a heavy shake of the collar and a loud, firm "BAD DOG!", which, believe it or not, is enough to make Winston tail down and head off to a corner. We've never hit Winston, not even lightly, and he's generally a well behaved dog....but he has his moments....and this "enchanted evening" was one of them.

Luckily, the kids' dad thought it was funny, "Got a good ole fashioned scare there Son!" he told his wide eyed, panting child who was clutching his candy to his chest. He shook The Hub's hand and introduced the kids while Winston looked out the front door mournfully.

That's why he was on the tie out in back when I got home. But it didn't seem to bother him - he was just laying in the carport with his tail gently thumping, watching the foot traffic on our street.

I bet the story of "The Monster Dog of Main Street" gets to be a family favorite among those neighbors!

And the job? Well, Halloween didn't seem to be an unlucky day. I got down there on time and started my training. The people seem friendly and reasonable and calm. Getting up at 7:00 a.m. certainly beat the heck out of 5:30 a.m. It's too early to tell what the job will be like, but the people all seem really decent, and that's more than half the battle.

Anyway, I've got to get up and do it all over again tomorrow, so I'd better try to get some sleep now!