Sometimes it Rains Cats and Dogs...but sometimes it Thunders!

So...there was thunder and lightning today...

I don't like thunder and lightning.

I know why. It's because it's something I try to forget all the time...but my owners seem to think it was perhaps from my time in a cage for three years, and I had nowhere to hide during a storm. There's these 'vet-ruf-arians' who have a thought the electrostatic activity aggravates my fur...maybe it's something entirely different. But here's the thing: I don't like remembering times when I was afraid.

See, what happens is I get really anxious. Remembering those loud noises when it was dark and I had nowhere to turn really frightens me. In fact, the only thing I know to do is run and hide somewhere where I feel safe. But when I was in that wretched cage, there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. Do you have a memory like that? Have you ever had an experience where you just wanted to run away and hide but couldn't because you were caged up? I do. I understand. Sometimes it thunders and I don't like it.

One time, while we were camping last summer, there were fireworks a little bit too close to our campsite and I FLIPPED right out! My owners didn't see it coming and neither did I. Because the noise really shocked me, I did what any dog would do - I ran. I ran til I couldn't hear the noise anymore. I didn't care how long it would take. At that moment, I didn't even know where I was going, as we were far, far away from home. I just kept running til it was quiet. I know for dog-sure I really worried my Auntie and Uncle. I'm sure they were searching for me for a while. I know my Uncle especially thought I was a goner - hit by a bus or something. But I didn't know what else to do. As soon as I heard those noises it was all I could do to escape. Thankfully, my Uncle put a tag around my neck with his phone number on the back of it. Some really kind people found me (3 kms away!) and called my Uncle and we had a sweet reunion. But dog, I'd do it again in an instant. I know I worried my Uncle and Auntie. But I just can't stand being in a place where fireworks are going off! It just reminds me far too much of where I've been. My owners even think there were some really mean boys who threw some fireworks in my cage. I've got a scar to prove it. I don't ever want to go back there. So I run. And run. And run.

But when I'm home with my owners, I'm like a 'storm sensor'. I react the same way as fireworks because they sound really familiar. It's a noise in the sky that's bad, I think. I sense the rain clouds way before my Auntie and Uncle do. I start to pace. I start to really be at the heal of my owners (see another post about that). And then the shakes begin. I have uncontrollable shakes because I can't run away. They come and go, but for the most part, I just shake and shake and shake! I can't control it. I feel completely out of control.

My owners got me a 'Thundershirt' (http://www.thundershirt.com/) a while back and it seems to really help. But it doesn't change my need for closeness (or the desire to run away for that matter). I always like to be close by (see my last post), but when it's thundering, you can't shake me from your ankle! Or I'm often hiding under the coffee table (pictured here). I know it reminds me of where I used to be. Maybe it's for other reasons too...but I can tell you that when these times happen, I really appreciate how my owners step up and comfort me. I think we all need a cuddle every now and again when the storms come.

Who have you comforted during a thunderstorm lately? Do you need an extra bit of time because you hear the storms in your life rumbling?

One thing I know - it's especially during thunderstorms that I'm reminded that I'm cared for and loved. It shouldn't take a storm to be reminded that there's people in my life that care for me - but dog! I'm sure glad when those storms come, there's people I can depend on! And I'm super-dog-thankful!

Though I really don't like storms, I like that, when they come, they remind me that I'm loved.

Well...that's all for now.

So, until next time...this is Sakin the Dog. Signing off!

Don't sniff another dogs butt until you've sniffed your own!