Thunderstorms

Mom says that we're going to get thunderstorms today. I have never liked thunderstorms.

They used to really, really scare me, but I'm much better now.

When Mom and Dad first found me at the animal shelter, it was thundering, and they could see how scared I was. The nice lady at the shelter told them that when they found me, it was after a big thunderstorm. I had a broken rope around my neck (and it was really hurting me 'cause it was tight - I still have a scar!) from where I broke it trying to run away from the thunderstorm.

I know a lot of dogs are afraid of thunderstorms, and sometimes their well-meaning people can actually do more harm than good. Most humans try to pet us and tell us that everything is OK.

Did you know doing that actually makes us more scared??

We dogs know that you humans pet us and talk nice to us when we do something good. We know we don't get pet when we're doing something we're not supposed to do. So when we're acting scared, and you pet us, you're actually saying "Good Buster, be scared." And when you get all worried about us, it's really scary - if you're worried, we're even more worried.

So the best thing for you to do if your dog friend is scared in thunderstorms is to just act normally. If we're doing something we shouldn't, like whining, or barking, or chewing, tell us we shouldn't, just like always. If we're trying to go somewhere we shouldn't, don't let us. If you don't act like we should be scared, that helps us realize that we don't need to be.

And if your dog friend is acting so scared that you think he or she might either hurt themselves, or get lost, or damage something, you should call a dog behaviorist who can help you show them they don't need to be scared.

Don't get me wrong - I still don't like thunderstorms, not even a little. But now that I know that I shouldn't be quite so scared of them, I'm a lot calmer.