Storm Central

Spring has officially started and that means only one thing. Our 7.5 year old first born will lose 3 pounds over the next month. Not because she cares about her figure, or because she smells the males on our evening walks. It's because she will burn so many calories hyperventilating and convulsing each night there are storms. Ever since she was a baby, our poor little girl has somehow been deathly scared of storms. Generally, she lets us know they are coming hours before they are even in the city, but often they sneak up on her.

Both of our dogs were crate-trained as puppies and I'm a huge advocate of this. They have not had accidents in the house since they were babies (except when they catch the flu bug...but that is a whole different post!) and are good, obedient dogs. Lacy has always been fond of her personal 'bedroom' as we call it and can even be caught taking naps in there on her own. Below is a picture of her "bedroom"... yes, it's just her crate with a blanket over it. So when storms come, Derek and I have our procedure down pat to get her in there. This dog won't come out of a corner for a 3 lb T-Bone steak, so one must be sneaky. We've learned to trick her into her collar and coax her out of corners only to get her leash on in order to guide her to her "bedroom". It really is a miracle though. Once she's in, the convulsing and panting stops and she goes right to sleep! It's her own personal panic room.