Does your dog hate mascots?

[DavidS]

So, of course in Williamsburg, Brooklyn it's very common and normal to have a guy dressed as a giant bear handing out free concert tickets on the corner by the subway. Any other town, or even part of Brooklyn, this guy would be met with odd stares and perhaps even a police presence to question him. In Williamsburg, however; it's quite common and even encouraged.

Unfortunately, my dog does not agree with this. He's had a problem with people dressed in costumes for a very long time. He's also had a problem with a giant stuffed teddy bear I gave him for his birthday last year -- not much is left of him these days.

Somehow, he thinks this giant moving, talking bear is out to get him. Once he sets his eyes on this giant bear - it's on. His entire body tenses up, his lip curls, his teeth are bared and he starts barking furiously at the man dressed as a bear. It's actually REALLY funny - because, and again this is Williamsburg, there was a "street performer" who is my dog's nemesis who was also there tonight. This street performer dresses up as a pirate and uses a swiffer as a sword and just entertains people as if he was high and/or crazy... he's probably a little of both. The deal is with this guy is that he's dressed in a costume and my dog absolutely HATES WITH A PASSION, my swiffer.

Tonight we had both. After doing my best to pull him back, it's hard to do normally when he wants to chase a squirrel, I almost lost control of him. Thankfully, I didn't. But the guy kept yelling through his giant bear head that he was going to call the cops if I didn't get my dog out of there. In the background, the guy dressed as a pirate was cheering my dog on.

This is a normal Thursday evening in Williamsburg.

 

[catzmeow]

My dog doesn't like:

Shiny things that reflect on the floor or ceiling.
Men, generically.
People dressed up in costumes.
Hats.
People wearing costume-like hats.
The banging of pots and pans.
Banging of any kind.

We think she has PTSD, too. Which makes her kind of a good fit for our family.

(in all truthfulness, she is a shelter dog who was previously a stray. When the shelter got her, someone had shot her full of bb pellets. When we brought her home, for the first two months, during every interaction with humans, she crawled on her belly. She has some issues).