Ah, the irony. I had intended to repost an article to help prevent and treat thunder phobia, but ended up holed myself up in the basement last Tuesday night because the TV weatherman said, “A tornado is heading for your house. It just hasn’t hit the ground yet.”
We haven’t entered Tornado Alley yet, But it happens here regularly. I was here in 1984. F5 Barneveld Tornado I just got over a hill, and believe me, standing among the firewood, scrap metal, and trees cut down like celery sticks at my nearest neighbors’ houses is nothing like what you see on TV or in pictures. That’s bad enough. It’s heartbreaking and extremely confusing.
I spoke to many of my neighbors. Following Tuesday night’s storm, which was heartbreakingly devastating, Greenfield, Iowa), and when I told someone I agreed with them, they said, “We’ve seen tornado warnings many times before without going into the basement or a cave, but this time we all went downstairs saying, ‘Oh my God.'”
But here’s the problem. Skip is a versatile dog, and having never seen a staircase in his life, he decided that stairs were a direct route to hell. Skip is a dog who will fearlessly throw himself into a ravine, a fence, or an impenetrable thorn bush while herding or playing with sheep. But he can’t go up or down stairs. (One day I’ll show you one way to prevent/treat thunder phobia. This is: Alice’s Restaurant This kind of work is easy to understand once you get to the point, but it does require patience.
A few years ago, I started teaching Skip to go upstairs. The stairs from the living room to the bedroom are steep but carpeted so it was easy, but we decided against it. At first I thought it would be nice to give Maggie her own place, but in the end we decided against letting the dog sleep there. Skip has handsome movie-star fur that sheds relentlessly, and my allergist says not to bring dogs into the bedroom. Maggie knows that sleeping upstairs is our little secret, and Skip is very happy to sleep there after spending most of the evening snuggled up with me on the living room couch, so all is well.
I often think this. “I need to teach my dogs to go down the stairs to the basement in case there’s a serious tornado warning,” which is about as effective as thinking, “I really need to stop eating sugar and I’m never eating strawberry-rhubarb pie again.” Then Tuesday came and Skip became a rag, which we’ll get to in a moment.
This is the staircase Maggie herself never got off.
She goes up and down the stairs When she gets to her bedroom or motel, she sees these stairs as a direct route to her worst nightmare: They’re steep, they have no risers, and they only seem subjectively frightening to a sentient creature that doesn’t burrow. I take stairs very seriously because a fall can easily kill someone.
Last Tuesday, meteorologists “I’m serious, guys. Let’s get downstairs,” Jim and I heard. We had already filled the bathtub with water, gotten out the flashlights, unplugged the appliances (in case of a power outage, which did occur), put towels and chairs downstairs for everyone to settle in, and got out the leashes because we were sure our attempts to lure the dog downstairs with treats would fail. (At this point, you can blame me for not doing this sooner. Since I pretty much fit the job description myself, you might want to blame one of my many other shortcomings.)
Once you decide you have no other choice, We put the dog on a lead, I got some treats ready, and we headed downstairs together. I will admit that I had to drag her down the first few steps because she didn’t want to go and we didn’t have time, but once she got down two steps, lots of treats followed and she ran down the rest on her own with relative ease, learning that in the basement, dried liver treats sometimes fall from the sky.
Skip took one look at the stairs. Skip realized he wanted us to go down the stairs and ran to the farthest corner of the house. I was sure he would never make it down on his own before the worst happened, so Jim went to pick him up. Imagine a 47 pound dog squashed onto the floor and seeing what looks like 3 inches thick. The black and white rug is AARP approved because it sticks to the floor and doesn’t trip. Poor Skip was totally terrified, but my amazing husband managed to pull him off the floor and get him down the stairs. I watched, and now Skip was almost as terrified, afraid that we would both fall.
They didn’t fall. There were no tornadoes in our area, for which I remain grateful. There were power outages, but they didn’t last for days like they did in some parts of our area. Both dogs ended up settling down while we were together, exploring the basement (mouse poop!) and eating snacks, although Skip spent an inordinate amount of time licking his own private parts.
But winds of 70 to 80 miles per hour will have an impact. All the chainsaws were busy in southern Wisconsin on Wednesday and Thursday. Some places sustained major damage, with large trees falling on roofs and cars, and hundreds of roads closed. We made it through safely. Two large trees were down, but nothing in our yard was. Our fence was also spared from the large trees falling… (There is a fence below that.)
I feel mostly gratitude. I wish it wasn’t worse, but my heart goes out to those who were so affected by the storm. (And of course, I’ve started a lesson in “Going Down the Ghost Stairs” – maybe I’ll try converting the stairs into a ramp! I’ll keep you posted.)
wait a minute, Wasn’t I going to talk about preventing thunder phobia? I almost forgot, but Skip would be happy to remind me, because I knew he was a prime candidate for thunder phobia after being so frightened by the dramatic events of Tuesday’s storm with the whistling of freight trains and the thunder that shook the house. I was actually happy to hear that there was going to be another big storm on Friday, because the sooner we start counter conditioning, the better. I was prepared and started handing out “thunder treats” every time the thunder rumbled. You can see in this photo which dog is more worried about thunder than the one who didn’t care much about it before.
But I kept at it. With each lap of thunder As a result, I got a piece of chicken. Again and again. Thunder = treat. Thunder = treat. Thunder = treat. (The treat is cooked chicken that I always keep in the freezer for emergencies. Don’t waste time with dog food, make a great treat.) I did this about 30 times in 30 minutes. All the while I was declaring “Thunder treat” as if we had all just discovered the meaning of life and would live happily and harmoniously ever after. Both dogs did “Plading Eye Dogs” but when there was no thunder I just shrugged and said “Sorry, no thunder, no treats.” The dogs didn’t get their chicken until the thunder rumbled. By the time I had eaten the last of their bowls of treats, both of them chose to lie down and sleep even when the thunder was still rumbling. Thunder training works very well if your dog isn’t already scared of thunder.
If your dog isn’t afraid of thunder (Thunder phobia often doesn’t begin until age 3) or, like Skip, is only moderately anxious, counterconditioning with treats and ball play is great and easy (except at 3 a.m.). You don’t have to be there for every storm, but be when you can, use the best treats you can think of, empathize when there’s no thunder and how sorry you are, and be really happy when there is thunder and you can give your dog a treat.
However, if your dog develops a full-blown phobia of thunder, my Previous Post on Treating Serious Lightning Phobia. In this case you need to up the ante. Consult a vet. Sileo Consider using Thunder Treats and other medications, body wraps and herbs, create a “safe house” and counter conditioning once the storm starts, but it’s much better to start preventing it now, so I recommend giving any dog a few rounds of Thunder Treats to avoid future trouble.
Meanwhile on the farm: Our garden both exhausts me and gives me immense joy at the same time. Here is the little garden at the end of our driveway.
Columbine, The flower in front of the purple iris below is a native plant that grows annually. It seems to like it here, and I like it too.
I became Georgia O’Keeffe This iris is one of those flowers that may or may not be suitable for all ages.
And above all, Maggie is showing off her Japanese version of The Other End of the Leash. Unfortunately, neither of us can read Japanese, but I’m so happy this beautifully produced book is available in Japan. I received a few extra copies. If you or a loved one lives in the US and can read Japanese (no international shipping please), send your first message to support@patriciamcconnell.com and we’ll give you a free signed copy of the book.
It was one of the many joys I experienced this week. What about you? Tell us your lightning story. I’ve read many times how helpful the comments section is to our readers.
