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| My crazy old dog all dressed up being a 'cowboy' |
Thunder and fireworks are an evil enemy, nothing short of comparing them to a terrorist or a demon in Quito's doggy mind. A couple nights ago, I learned something from his terror though.
It was 2 am, and I was sleeping fitfully in my camper (still my home at the moment), and trying to find a comfortable position in my not so comfortable mattress. My lower back again aching from the awful support. I shifted over to another portion of the bed and tried to fall back to sleep. Suddenly without warning, Quito jumped into the bed and snuggled up as close as he could to me, shaking and trembling in fear. Maybe he saw a spider!
Now you have to understand, he has never gotten on my bed before, although he has tried a couple of times. I tried, without success to get him off, but he was not budging. Now remember he is a 65 pound dog, so pushing him off the bed is no easy feat for me. I finally gave up and let him stay, panting, drooling, slobbering all over my sheets. His whole body was shaking. There was no fireworks outside, and from my ears, no thunder. What was his problem? About 20 minutes later, I heard the first rumble. And yes, but this time, I had checked the radar on my phone, and knew a storm was approaching. As you can see, I don't really need a weather alert radio (I do have one though) cause I have a weather alert dog.
When the thunder and lightening and rain moved in, a strange thing happened to Quito. He suddenly calmed down, breathing went to almost normal, and I think he even fell asleep for a bit. What?! All this panic, and then calm when it hit?
I got to thinking of how many times I've done that. Feared what was coming, only to find out when it hit it really wasn't that bad, and calmed down while walking through it. The fear of the unknown gets us more than we like to admit doesn't it?
On Sunday, July 3, I came down to Bismarck to spend the 4th with my family and son. I made my annual trip to Art in the Park in Mandan, always a highlight of the 4th for me. This time, I had Quito with, so it was also the shortest trip through Art in the Park for me. On the way to Art in the Park, I stopped by my cousin's house to say hi, as I had parked in a parking lot close to her house.
Quito met several 'friends' in the Park, and I stopped and talked to several other dog owners about fireworks and dogs, and how they just don't mix too well. After my quick trip though the show, I headed back to my vehicle. As I passed by my cousin's house, Quito made a quick turn up their side walk, and was pulling on his lease for me to go that way. I was amazed. It's not like he's ever been there before except for our brief stop earlier. We'd passed by lots of houses, and how did he know that was her house? I didn't stop, but went on to the parking lot. Which was fairly full of other SUV's similar to mine. I said, "Ok, Quito, find our car." He went right up to our car, and stood at the back door waiting to be let in. I was truly amazed. Sometimes I can't even find my own car in a parking lot, but here my dog can! Maybe my Mom is right, she always says, "It's scary having Quito around, cause I think he's smarter than me." Well, he really isn't Mom, but he sure is a smart dog.
Speaking of my Mom, if I just say to Quito, "Want to go to the farm?" He gets so excited he literally jumps! He loves my Mom and Dad as much as they love him. Of course part of it maybe that they let him come into the house now, at least as far as the laundry room and kitchen. :-)
I've learned a lot from this old canine. Don't be afraid of the approaching storm, it really won't be that bad, and always remember where you parked your car.
Have a great day!
"Bark, bark" from Quito too!