AT LEAST I THINK SHE DOES

13 NIGHTMARES is one of my favorite podcasts. I can get the really good skinny on the back story of many horror flicks. Real corpses were used in POLTERGEIST floating in the pool and the cast did not know. Shelley Duvall ‘s fear was real on the set of THE SHINING due to the psychological torture of Jack Nicholson and the director Stanley Kubrick. Or chocolate syrup was used on hams to look like real blood to stand out in George Ramirez’s Night of the Living Dead

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-nightmares/id149641

Charley Waffle loves Horror. Movies. Or at least I think she does. Because I’ve been repeatedly told that all dogs want is to make their owners happy. And I love horror movies. I’m not sure if that’s really all they want for I think she’d take a frisbee over HellRaiser any day.

I’ve had Charley since she was 6 weeks old, not quite weened and definitely not potty trained. I’m the only thing she really knows as far as, I guess, I was going to say MOM and loving friend and a sister and all that but I think I’m basically a tool. A tool of survival. As a provider of all her needs. And WANTS.

Another thing I’ve learned is that Pets adapt to their environment that they are constantly exposed to. Becomes the norm.

(This reminds me of one reason given for the calves that live to become veal cube steaks.THAT’S THE ONLY LIFE THEY’VE EVER KNOWN… (but I will not go there.)

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Veal_Cows.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

I live in the city. Downtown. Right by the hospital. CHARLEY does not flinch at ambulances and fire engines screaming by. Police sirens won’t even cause a futile glance. Buses roaring by her while walking on the sidewalk and that will make her jump Same goes for ANGRY and loud voices.

Going back to my horror film watching I started becoming a bit concerned and very aware when watching CABIN IN THE WOODS

I really like that movie.

Also watched The Descent , which scares the heck out of me. It’s one of those “could -might really happen.” Dale and Tucker Vs Evil isn’t really horror but I guess a com-hor flick I guess??? Like ROM-Coms. So I guess it would be called a Hor-Com, right?!? I love horror that plays on all human fears and oh my gosh!!! The Just imagine…… fear…..

During Charley and I kicking it while watching CABIN IN THE WOODS I started getting annoyed. It seemed so loud. And all the screaming and the sounds of “SQUELCH” and “”RIIIIPPPP”, “SQUISH “ My mind recalled that you are supposed to censor what your child watches. This is the kind of movie a very young child should not watch, for we all know Horror leads them to a life of crime, homicidal and psycho insane tendencies. A serial killer, etc…. RIGHT?!?!

I kept looking at Charley starting to convince myself she was looking anxious and fearful and that she was only sitting there because DOGS JUST WANT TO PLEASE. I turned the TV down, concentrated on sub titles, started flipping through other channels. Comedy? nah, her ears just perked up but her face, I swear, was a confused and non-understanding. Not in a good way. She can’t laugh, so maybe she was feeling left out. I put it on cartoons and it seemed she was extra annoyed by these characters in vivid color flying through the air or “UNDER THE SEA” and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkusy4ylhiYUnder the sea doing things that she was not able to do. Why could those dogs talk like humans and she couldn’t?

What is funny about cartoons is they are just as loud as horror flicks. Same with comedy. Loud and animated stunts, etc etc… I was even thinking that she thought these things on the screen were making me happier than her. How could she compete, she was thinking. Because I knew what she was thinking, right?!?

I forget that term used when owners project to their pets how they think they feel . I do that a lot. To people as well. It’s led to many misunderstandings and even a few losses for me.

So I switched to DOGTV. On YouTube. I put on the nature walks. I switched to the videos that have a camera set up and just films wild creatures (squirrels and little chipmunks and baby birds) https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/dogmusic andhttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-CDH2fN7XXA I found she thought the little animals were BEHIND the TV set. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-CDH2fN7XXAThat ended up almost being catastrophic when she leapt in the air and almost knocked the tv off my built -in-a-box table available at Target

By this time I was frazzled. I was thinking this and that and worried maybe I was not good for her and she was going to be neurotic or turn into CUJO or some evil thing like the cat in PET CEMETERY. Was she fearful for her life out in a total state of ongoing anxiety? What really got me was this one gal said she felt horrible when she heard that the only reason dogs are nice to you because they think at any moment we’ll kill them….. How horrible is that one????

That one made me sad

WAS she thinking I was watching these horror movies and things she couldn’t do to scare her in some sick twisted game. Maybe I have watched too many movies like “SAW” or “seven”.

Then my wonderful friend Mike told me that animals don’t have conscious thought. They aren’t worried about yesterday or tomorrow or if they did the wrong thing or hurt my feelings. They were only focused on what was in front of them.

Which I kinda felt better but I swear she thinks more than that. She’s got to. She’s so sneaky and funny and makes me laugh and definitely has a memory.

My final decision as it was nearing bedtime and I was getting sleepy from the relaxing music for dogs, AND but for some reason that music kinda gets me a bit depressed. Or I’d like to say wistful. About the past, future, the now…

After one last serious thought I thought of jazz music. I put jazz in the “explore” tab up top on YouTube, scrolled a few pages, saw the name DR SAXLOVE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQI6D_gZxHo. I was sold on the name. I thought it was witty. I wanted to hear Dr SAXLOVE.

I like Dr SAXLOVE. The first night I fell asleep along with Charley and woke up with her sprawled over my forehead. I had been drooling.

Now we listen to Dr SAXLOVE. It gives us the cozy feel. As a matter of fact, Dr SAXLOVE is playing on my phone. I’m watching the series THEM on Amazon Prime. It is very weirdly wicked spooky and horrific and scary. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTgp_x2jQ7FDw8I3VqU_L4OS_27j7yHEDZn2Q&sMy eyes are glued. I’m watching it with subtitles. With the volume at 10. So good night. Dr SAXLOVE