The Day I Was Transformed Into a Seagrass Monster
I love a party, but at what cost?
A few weeks before the annual SAGA Halloween party (SAGA is the Humane Society in San Pedro, Belize), my people sat me down and asked me if I wanted to go. Well, of course, I wanted to go to the SAGA party! I LOVE SAGA parties. I get to see all of my friends (with fur and without) and get fed delicious “human food”.
Then they reminded me. This is the Halloween COSTUME party. Oh boy, the costume party. I remember what they did to me last year.
So not cool. It looked like I was walking around with a T-Rex backpack on, and not to mention, that thing was HOT! I did win an awesome prize, but it was for the cutest costume and I was really hoping for the scariest. When I told my people that I wanted to go, and they reminded me that I had to wear a costume I said ok, but I had two requirements for my costume this year:
- I want my costume to be scary.
- I will only put it on for the costume competition.
My people agreed to my costume requirements and we shook on it. Well, I shook on it. (I literally “shook off” since I just finished swimming.)
I asked them what costume they were going to make for me, but they wouldn’t tell me. Even after I begged. They said it was a “secret”. Oh boy, I should have told them that I needed to approve the costume before I agreed.
The costume construction began.
I watched them work between naps, but I couldn’t figure out what my costume was going to be.
While I was drifting in and out of sleep, I could hear Ronnie and Lisa laughing. Every so often, they would wake me up, measure me and then laugh again. I was starting to get suspicious. Why do they think this is so funny?
And then this happened:
Lisa put a piece of garbage on my head with a chin strap. Don’t tell her I told you this, but I think Lisa might be crazy. At this point, I was seriously doubting that my people were making me anything good. So far, all I saw was a bunch of brown cardboard, basically garbage. I couldn’t sit back and watch anymore. I had to know. “What is my costume going to be?”
Finally, they told me, “You’re going to be a Seagrass Monster!” Oooh, that sounds scary! And they said the big brown box Ronnie was working on was my wheelbarrow. Awesome. So I thought. I see people pushing wheelbarrows around the beach all the time and thought that I would be getting into the wheelbarrow and Lisa would be pushing me around the party instead of making me walk.
Boy was I wrong!
“This wheelbarrow sucks.”
I know I’m just a bear dog, but shouldn’t wheelbarrows have wheels that work?
Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, this happened:
I mean, really?
Next year I need to be more specific with my costume demands. The hat wasn’t that bad but, it needed monster eyes on top of it. So I asked them to buy some big scary eyes to put on top.
Is it me, or do those eyes look more funny than scary?
And then, the “trial runs” began around the beach.
The wheelbarrow was difficult to walk in at first but after several days (yes people, Ronnie and Lisa put this on me and made me practice for several days!) I got the hang of it and was really loving my costume.
The morning of the SAGA party I was ready and excited to show off my scary costume. I just knew I’d win the Scariest Costume Contest this year! When we arrived at the party I found this great cool spot to take a nap in while my people talked to their friends. I had to get my nap in so I’d be ready for my big debut! All of a sudden Ronnie and Lisa woke me up and told me, “Time for the contest!” “Let’s get your costume on!”
Like a well-trained ballerina, I delicately stepped into my costume and waited. I was ready to take the stage and win the prize!
There was a slight delay in the start of the competition. I was getting hot and tired of standing. I don’t know what happened, but I tipped over and landed on my side. How embarrassing! A lot of people saw me fall, but thankfully no one caught it on film! Ronnie and Lisa helped me up and got me ready (again).
I put my game face on and when the judges called “Number 7” (I drew lucky number 7!), I gave them my best Seagrass Monster!
As soon as I entered the stage, I could hear all of my friends cheering and yelling, “Go Dooley Bear!” I loved all of the attention and couldn’t stop my tail from wagging!
Nailed it!
I knew that the scariest award would be mine!
As a reward for my scary Seagrass Monster impersonation, Ronnie gave me ribs. Woo hoo! I love ribs.
Will I win the scariest award this year?
I could barely contain my excitement. The award ceremony began and I heard the judges call out: “Dooley Bear!” The crowd went wild. But I didn’t hear which award I won. Lisa told me that I won the Funniest Costume! That’s pretty awesome. I’ll take it! (it’s better than cutest, right?)
It was another super fun SAGA event and I love being able to help out all of my potlicker friends. Oh, in case you don’t know, a potlicker is the endearing term used to describe local Belizean dogs.
Dear scariest award, why must you continue to elude me?
Next year SAGA, next year. I will return with an even scarier costume and a snarl instead of a smile. The scariest award will be mine!
Butt waggles and kisses,
-Dooley Bear
My good friend Rebecca wrote a great story about the entire event (featuring me of course!) https://www.sanpedroscoop.com/2015/10/saga-humane-societys-12th-annual-halloween-pet-spooktacular-is-a-huge-hit.html
