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Fear of Thunder
Max and Misty couldn't be more different in their responses to thunder.
Misty is fearless as she runs toward the end of the deck. A first time observer might think in horror (or humor, depending upon your feeling about little dogs) that she is about to leap into eternity, as there is about twelve feet of free-falling space between the deck and the gravel ground below it. To my joy, she always comes to a stop when she reaches the railposts, and barks with a ferocity at the invisible intruder rumbling above the treetops. She loves the thunder, loves chasing it.
I imagine that to her it's a big squirrel running around amongst the upper branches of the trees, elusive as any of the Common Grey Squirrels in our area. She can catch a mouse, but has never caught a squirrel. She never gives up hope, though, that one day, she will bring one down. But that's another story.
Now Max, on the other hand, fears it. Long before we hear the sound of distant thunder, Max hears it. I wonder if he doesn't feel it as well.
While Misty is eagerly barking and leaping out the door to take chase, Max skulks quietly and quickly to the bathroom, his head and tail lowered, his ears flattened back against his head. He is our early warning system.
"There goes Max skulking to the bathroom... there must be a storm coming!"
There he will remain, laying on the floor, waiting for the sound to end. Tonight, I felt sorry for him. I put his bed on the floor for him. At first he didn't accept it, but after awhile, he sat down in it, then laid down. He looked more comfortable at least.
Tara of Peach Pages wrote about her own schnauzer's fear of thunder, Security in the Master's Arms. It's a very tender piece about how she takes care of her precious pet when it is afraid. She connects her dog's behavior to our own, to the trust we put in our Lord during a raging storm.
She writes about how we have atendency to hide from God when we know we have done something wrong. She closes with this:
"And it's when we leave our hiding places and leap into the Master's arms that we find peace."
I find her writing to be descriptive, touching, and out-reaching. If you haven't visited Tara's blog, start today with this entry.
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Your Max reminds me a bit of our Copper - when ever there was a storm brewing he headed to the back of our closet. We realized early on trying to coax him out only made him more anxious so we put a couple of towels in there and dubbed it "Copper's apartment". For the rest of his life if we knew it might be storming we'd make sure the "apartment" door was open!
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I wonder why he chooses the bathroom as his safe place? Maybe 'cause it's a smaller room and more cozy? Interesting how different the two doggies react to the storm.
We don't get that many horrible thunder storms. Our little Schnauzer Taffy seems to be fearless. Thinks she's bigger than she is! LOL! I suspect she'd be more like your Misty.
Have a good day........Pamela -
I've never known a dog that wasn't afraid of thunder - that's pretty amazing! :)
Ours have always been terrified and we would know a storm was coming most times before we heard the first rumble of thunder. The dogs would go and hide.
I also loved Tara's entry. I always love to get an alert from The Peach Pages, because I know it's going to be GOOD!
Hugs,
Gwynn -
Dearest Bea, lol
it is funny that little dogs do wonderous things!
love you,nat
7/7/06 12:59 AM
Schnauzers are generally fearless creatures aren't they? (Except your Max and my Sadie could be little chickens together when the thunder rolls!)
Thanks again for such sweet words. Knowing that they're reaching out makes all harsh words from former readers land on deaf ears. :)
~T