I Have a Dog
I love my dog, even though she kept me awake last night, and I am very tired while she is sleeping through today ;-)
My retriever is terrified of thunderstorms. She pants uncontrollably and her heart races. She becomes wild-eyed and unfocused. She paces and trembles. She jumps on and off of the furniture and the bed (which she otherwise never does). She will even open closet doors and tear out the contents during a bad storm. I have tried lots of methods to calm her and relieve her anxiety. Training and positive reinforcement techniques don't work. Meds don't work. Her "Thundershirt" (TM) only helps a little.
Last night, there was a 2 hour severe storm. She exhibited all of her usual manic and anxious signs. So I did the only thing that seems to work: I sat on the floor, pulled her into my lap, wrapped my arms tightly around her, and lowered my face to talk softly and calmly into her ear. Sometimes I even hum.
It is always the same: she struggles and scratches me to free herself from my hugging restraint during storms. I have the scratch wounds testifying to holding 70 pounds of terrified chaos. But I don't let go. And she never bites, never. She collapses against my chest in the intervals between thunder claps, until the next sound sets her off again. Eventually, she struggles less and accepts some comfort from the hug. And when last night's storm finally passed, she relaxed, I let go, and she walked over to lay in her dog bed.
Today I am tired from missed sleep. And she is napping beside my desk. Somehow that doesn't seem quite fair. I love my dog anyway!
My retriever is terrified of thunderstorms. She pants uncontrollably and her heart races. She becomes wild-eyed and unfocused. She paces and trembles. She jumps on and off of the furniture and the bed (which she otherwise never does). She will even open closet doors and tear out the contents during a bad storm. I have tried lots of methods to calm her and relieve her anxiety. Training and positive reinforcement techniques don't work. Meds don't work. Her "Thundershirt" (TM) only helps a little.
Last night, there was a 2 hour severe storm. She exhibited all of her usual manic and anxious signs. So I did the only thing that seems to work: I sat on the floor, pulled her into my lap, wrapped my arms tightly around her, and lowered my face to talk softly and calmly into her ear. Sometimes I even hum.
It is always the same: she struggles and scratches me to free herself from my hugging restraint during storms. I have the scratch wounds testifying to holding 70 pounds of terrified chaos. But I don't let go. And she never bites, never. She collapses against my chest in the intervals between thunder claps, until the next sound sets her off again. Eventually, she struggles less and accepts some comfort from the hug. And when last night's storm finally passed, she relaxed, I let go, and she walked over to lay in her dog bed.
Today I am tired from missed sleep. And she is napping beside my desk. Somehow that doesn't seem quite fair. I love my dog anyway!
56-60, M