Chloe and Thunderstorms!

Really who needs the National Weather Service? Poor Chloe; she knows at least an hour before a thunderstorm will hit. She starts panting, pacing, and making very sad whimpering sounds. In past storms, she would go into the bathroom that has the ceramic flooring and tries to dig a hole into the tile. She picks the same tile every single time. She moves the bathroom rug covering the tile before she starts digging. I've always thought that was very considerate of her.

The other night, Chloe changed her digging habit to crawling into Chancey’s crate and staying there during the storm. For you folks who don’t know our dogs, Chancey, a Scottish Terrier, weighs in at 26 lbs. so we picked a medium size crate for him. Chloe, a Eurasier, weighs around 62 lbs. Yet, she managed to get into Chancey’s crate turn herself around and flop down with her paws sticking out. The point is Chloe found a spot where she could feel safe while the storm was in full swing.

It is not unusual for dogs to be afraid of lighting and thunder. For Chloe, it’s much more than that. Chloe and her brother were abandoned in an isolated area in Northern Virginia when they were just a couple of months old in 2003. I can’t image how they survived, but they did and were rescued when they were about six months old. Somehow, maybe getting into someone’s chicken coop, Chloe was shot and injured. To this day, she still has the buckshot in her, but it has not caused her any health problems.

Unfortunately, Chloe reacts strongly to loud sounds such as drums, nail guns and fireworks, to list a few. The 4^th of July is not her favorite holiday.  One year, the fireworks were so loud I had to lie on top of her to calm her down. I talked and told her Chloe stories during the fireworks presentation that was miles away in Easthampton.  Chloe loves hearing about herself as any Diva would.

We’ve had work done on our house when nail guns were used. We learned the hard way that when that happens, Chloe needs to be at Doggie Day Care. Our first episode was so traumatic to Chloe that she ended up hanging out in Mary’s car the entire day. We had a hard time convincing her to come back inside even after the contractor left.

Chloe is such a wonderful dog that we do whatever it takes to keep her calm during any loud episodes. She has an anti-anxiety pill we give her prior to a storm and that helps some except she gets a major case of the munchies afterwards. The dog crate may be our answer. Only time will tell.