As we near the parade, I grow quieter and slow my pace as I look around. I smell all the other dogs and people around me. There is so much excitement in the air, especially from the kids who are happy to see the parade...or maybe the free candy and gifts they are given. The dogs are also excited, but how much of that is themselves, or just the atmosphere getting to them? For me, it is a bit overwhelming, like a wall of smells and emotions.
I give a small sneeze from the smells as I look up at them. It isn't unbearable, but it is definitely everywhere. Too many to easily get individual smells or even sources, but it was there. I watch a female dog ahead of me straining on her leash as she is excited. Another dog on the other side of the street is more controlled but still has his ears perked up, listening to everything.
I slow down a little bit more until my dad gives the leash a light tug and looks down questioningly, as if to ask, "Do I need a break?" After a small shake, I follow my dad, trying not to be too distracted by everything. Just wish everything didn't smell or sound so strongly. But I could keep this up for sure.
Glancing back, I spot how my sister is skipping beside my mom and giving me a small wave. She was telling my mom about all of the gifts that she was hoping that Santa Claus would get her, mostly dolls and books of some kind.
This was my sister for sure. The moment of distraction was good as it reset me a little bit as I glance back down the road, and we are nearing the parade route. We followed some of the crowd heading to an alley behind the route so we can find a spot near the end, but not quite directly there.
This helped a little bit as there was less people, but now I started to notice the sounds from the road, the last few cars driving through the route, the kids shouting, a couple of dogs barking. Though this now makes me nervous, since if it was this loud here, how loud was it on the main street?
We walk along the alley till we reach a good spot and head down to the street as I give a little whine and nudge my dad. He pats my head, nodding, "You will be fine, boy. Just try your best," he says reassuringly as I take a big breath, and after a few moments, I begin to make my way, okay, I can do this, the other dogs are fine, it's not like this is something new to canines. I just have to relax and enjoy the event.
Once we step out closer to the street itself, I jump back slightly as the increase in noise makes my ears hurt, it was like someone screaming directly into my ear. My sister comes up and hugs me, "It's okay, Fluffy, nothing will hurt you here," she says, noticing my reaction. It takes a few moments, but I finally begin to get used to all the noise and finally relax and heel back to my father.
We find a small spot at the side of the road where there was a gap in the crowd and take our place. There was no sign of the parade yet, but my dad looks at his watch, "It should have started now, just have to wait for it to reach us," he says. I look out in the direction of the route the parade would be coming in, not a hint of noise yet, though with everyone excited, would I even hear them if they were not in view?
While waiting, I look at all the people, kids looking excited and waiting for Santa. I was too old for Santa, but I miss the excitement. Instead, right now, I was full of worry. It felt like a wall of people around me. Not enough to make me panic, but enough to feel a little closed in on with nowhere to move. But having my dad there grounded me a little, let me feel like I was safe for the moment.
I don't notice it until I feel a hand on my back as a kid comes up behind me and starts to pet me, saying, "Nice doggy," making me still nervous, as it startled me, my teeth pull back slightly as I fight the urge to growl. It was just a kid, and it scared me. I give my tail a little wag and look back to see a five-year-old boy looking at me excitedly.
My body was tense as I was afraid of how I might react, but I try to wag my tail while giving a goofy head tilt, hoping it would help. I didn't feel any hostility to the kid, but my instincts felt trapped. Thankfully, I hear a woman say, "Mark, you shouldn't touch strange dogs, you don't know how they will react," she says as I see my dad watching me with interest. I wonder if he had seen me almost growl.
My body is finally relaxing slowly now that I don't have the concern and fear of being startled. My dad smiles. "He is friendly, but always a good idea, even friendly dogs might get spooked if they aren't expecting it," he says to the kid and mom. My ears perk up at that. Was he saying that I did well, and that even good dogs could be dangerous if not careful?
The mom nods as my dad says, "It's okay, go ahead and pet him, just be gentle and careful," he says. The kid who was staring at me in concern quickly flips back to excited and walks over and starts to pet me, if maybe a little hard, but what do you expect from a kid? The petting let me start to relax as I lean into it, almost knocking him over, not realizing how strong I am.
I wilt at this, afraid that I might have hurt the kid. Could I get in trouble? But it had felt so good to be pet and instincts said lean into it. To my surprise and joy, the kid seemed to bounce back after a moment and goes back to petting, "Silly doggy."
The kid's mom smiles, "Come on, Mark, we need to find a place to watch the parade," she says as she waves to us, "Sorry about that," she adds. I give a woof and a wag of my tail, glad to see the kid not hurt and just enjoying himself. Soon they vanish into the crowd, and my attention looks back up to my dad, who smiles, whispering, "Good job."
My mom and sister were a little ways away as Sarah wanted to go look at a store, and thankfully didn't see any of that. This was definitely turning into a rather...well, interesting story. I wasn't sure if I was doing well or not. It felt like I was, but I had almost growled, would that go against me? My dad said I did a good job, so thankfully, there was that.
Soon I hear noises off in the distance, sounds like...music? Is that Santa Claus is coming to town? I give a couple of woofs, nudging my dad and trying to get my sister's attention. Not sure how, but my dad seems to get my meaning as he calls to them, "Sarah, I think the Parade is nearing," he says. I can't see them. They are close enough that we can hear them at least.
I can feel and smell the excitement in the air as more kids start to pick up on it, and even some of the dogs were reacting to it. My sister comes over and hugs back, "He's coming, Fluffy!!!! He's coming!!" she says. Her excitement was a bit contagious as I lick her hand and she laughs, "Fluffy ewe." As she doesn't seem quite as upset about it as the first time I did, maybe she was getting used to it.
I woof again as I see movement in the distance and can spot the parade coming around the corner in the road, and even jump up and down a little. My sister laughs, "You see something, Fluffy?" she asks. I kind of wish I had my eagle vision so I could see better. I don't see Santa Claus yet, but I see a small float saying 1990 Santa Claus parade on a banner, and a few kids waving on it.
As it got close, I quickly realize a problem that I had forgotten about. I was used to the level of noise now, but as it got closer, the music played, the cars driving, the kids screaming. I back up slightly wilting my ears against my head as I try to get used to the sounds.
Soon, I was having trouble hearing much of anything in particular, except for the music, the rest felt more like background noise like when I was a human. The parade was only a block away, and there was nothing distinct outside of music. I fight the urge to run as it hurts my ears a little bit. Looking around, I wondered how the dogs handled it all.
I shake my head as it still hurts and was confusing, but was getting used to it for the most part. Though I do whine to my dad about it. Then it was there, the first float began to drive past with the kids waving and the excitement energy. I pinned my ears against my head, not out of fear, but as it helped a little bit to get used to the sound by muffling it a bit.
Once I got a little used to it and used my ears to muffle the sound, I started to enjoy it a little bit. The next float had a some woman dressed as elves waving and throwing out candy to the kids as my eyes track each one flying out into the crowd, kinda wishing there was some for me. Maybe next parade, if I'm still an animal, I could convince them to throw nice tasty bloody meat...probably not, but a wolf can dream.
The next was a fire truck as I back up even more. It wasn't going on full sirens, but the honking of its horn and some of the lights that were on it make me wince. At least it was day, I would hate to imagine this one during the night. I whine, backing away from the truck as my dad tries to calm me down, "It's okay, Fluffy, nothing to be scared about."
