A few weeks before that was another tornado. I
love extreme weather events while they are taking place and try to be
out in them, or at least close to them, as much as possible. I don't
love so much being without power afterward, but its a small price to
pay. I guess if I lived in a tent or a treehouse, I wouldn't love it so much. But a porch or a deck is perfect for safe storm viewing for me and the dogs.
The dogs definitely get worried with intense storms and thunder, as with any loud noises.
They don't seem to be terrified, but they do seek out a place to be that feels safe. On the Fourth, everyone huddled in the bathroom--the smallest, darkest, most confined place they could find.
The fireworks in Takoma Park seemed louder this year than in the past. It really felt like a war zone, and I could understand how it would be terrifying to a dog. I thought Pager was going to be irreversibly traumatized, but she bounced back soon enough.
Not sure if the anxiety wrap helped or not! I wanted to give her some melatonin, which supposedly has great effects with some noise-phobic dogs. But she was too stressed to eat a peanut butter-covered pill (happily, she has gotten to the point where under normal circumstances I can give her pills smothered in peanut butter) and I definitely didn't want to make her more stressed by shoving a pill down her throat.
Fortunately, by the next day she seemed back to her old self.
How did YOUR dogs cope with the fireworks?
We gave her some benedryl and she slept pretty good throughout the night. Thank goodness!
ReplyDeleteThe girls got some herbal calming remedy & a kong full of tripe. They didn't seem too stressed when we got home, except for refusing to take their night-time potty break out in the war zone. Hurley enjoyed a stroll around the neighborhood while everyone was setting off their fireworks & didn't even blink an eye. I hope he'll be a good influence on the girls in this area!
ReplyDeleteHi Kirsten, we really dislike fireworks, lightning claps or rolling thunder. It seems as though my brother and I (spaniels) are more nervous and sensitive about those sorts of noises than are the shelties. We're not sure why. My peeps turn up the volume of the television, close the windows and give us lots of treats to calm us down a bit.
ReplyDeleteOh we don't like that scary weather. Hope every buddy stays safe
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
I always feel sad when I hear dogs are afraid of loud noise. The town fire works were a piece of cake. They were far enough away so the noise was just a faint popping sound. I had the air on and the dogs were hanging out with me in the bedroom and I don't think they noticed at all.
ReplyDeleteUnlike Saturday night when the neighbor two houses over was setting them off and it sounded like it was right outside my bedroom window. Delilah kept getting up every time she heard it and right before we went to bed they both ran out and told them off quite loudly. :-)
Thankfully it stopped shortly thereafter. I'm sure Sampson and Delilah felt victorious! :-)
Freedom loves the bathroom during storms and fireworks. Casper is good if I can get him to stay in the bathroom. His preferred method of dealing with it is to pace, pant and bark. Nikki doesn't even appear to notice.
ReplyDeleteOur dogs hung out in the basement watching TV while the town fireworks were going. It's a safety measure, because we have people coming over that night and I don't want the dogs possibly getting out thanks to an unaware child or adult. However, it's also good insulation from the sound, the coolest part of the house and I've heard that being on cement, tile or ceramic helps some dogs feel better during fireworks or storms anyway. Most of our dogs aren't phased by the sound of the fireworks, though, fortunately! The Thundershirt goes on the one who is mildly bothered and it seems to be no big deal for her.
ReplyDeleteI was out dog sitting and the dogs I was in charge of did well minus some barking. I heard my dogs barked a lot too but I don't think they were stressed out. I am not like you, extreme weather terrifies me! I would curl up in the bathroom with your dogs.
ReplyDeleteIve always thought storms where beautiful in hte country, not so much the city. None of my dogs are bothered by storms are loud noises, so I guess we are lucky.
ReplyDeleteurban hounds
Funny you should ask. Just now I heard a loud blast (sounded like a shot gun). Honey looked up and then went back to sleep. So we're lucky. Honey has no anxiety about loud, booming noises.
ReplyDeleteEven so, I did not take her out in the kayak when we went to see fireworks over the lake. Seemed entirely too risky to trust her not to jump overboard.
I also like to be near weather. As we prepare for a future living on a sailboat, however, I'm respecting weather more and more. Watching a storm from my porch is one thing. Sailing through it on the ocean is quite another.
The weather can get pretty scary. I'm glad Pager was fine after the fireworks too. :)
ReplyDelete