Wow what a rough night we just had. There have been some major storms rolling through the area, and in the wee hours of the morning Chicago got slammed. I don’t mind a rain shower or light thunderstorm, but the severe storms and I aren’t friends (has to do with a really bad storm/fire I was in when I was a kid).
Now I’m human, and have a fairly good understanding of basic weather concepts and can read the radar pretty well. It helps calm my nerves when a big storm is going through. Bacio on the other hand, he thinks the apocalypse is happening every single time there is a rumble. He tries to find some where to hide, he gets restless, constantly panting. One time he tried to hide behind my bedroom door….
This door will keep me safe!
Once he realizes his hiding place does not make the noise go away, or the weather get any better he turns on the MOOOOMMMMM!!!! HALLLLLPPPPP ME! mode. He comes over to me, stares at me like I’m creating this chaos, and when I tell him its ok, he paces a little more and then decides well… if the hiding places aren’t safe, sitting as close as I can to my human will be safe.
Only…. its not that he sits as close as he can… It starts out with him sitting so close he’s touching my side… then another lightning strike illuminates the apartment, following by the roar of the thunder and he starts inching closer and closer, until I have a 65lb dog on top of me.
Last night was no different. However, last night when I was jolted awake by the crack of the thunder, I looked around my room and didn’t see Bacio, he wasn’t at the foot of the bed, he wasn’t hiding behind the door, he wasn’t under the desk. I got up and looked around the apartment. He wasn’t on his bed in the living room, he wasn’t hiding in any of the other rooms, he didn’t even trap himself in the bathroom, which seems to be an issue for my dogs.
Now I’m starting to panic a little, wondering if my dog vaporized in the thunderstorm… or maybe he pushed out a screen and toppled out a window… oh noes… I’m starting to have crazy thoughts.
I go back into my room… Yuki is passed out on the ground like usual, not a care in the world. I start calling for Bacio, and he had been on my bed the whole time, right next to my head… I guess I thought he was just one of my pillows in the excess pillow/blanket pile that forms on my bed in the night. I saw his terrified marble sized eyes, and went back into bed and pet him a bit. He leaned into me and I ended up falling back asleep.
I didn’t get to stay asleep, as every clap of thunder brought Bacio closer to me. I found out last night it is near impossible to sleep with a 65lb dog laying on your chest, panting like the air in the room is going to run out.
And one more thing! Those severe weather alerts that come via SMS message on smartphones…. Super annoying and rather terrifying… I don’t need a nuclear bomb alarm to tell me about the flash flood warning. I don’t care about a flash flood, I live on the second floor… Tornado warnings only… K thanks.
Luckily (or rather unluckily), because of the weather and flooding, I was advised not to head to the office, and got to sleep in a bit. The sun is out now, and both dogs are passed out in the middle of the floor. I’m running on broken sleep and espresso today.
