We almost never get morning storms. And this year’s monsoon has been an almost total bust but things have gotten a little more dramatic lately. This morning I woke just in time for a big flash just outside my bedroom window and when Tobie and I went outside for a first pee there was this big scary storm rolling in from the SW. Tobie has not been loving life.
I went back out with my phone to try and capture the lightning flashes and kept being just the tiniest bit too late, but…
That glow in the cloud isn’t sunlight or moonlight. Big scary thunderstorm right at five ayem, just as the eastern sky was getting light enough to see.
That was three and a half hours ago and Tobie has only just calmed down enough to eat breakfast.
Would wrapping a blanket loosely around his ears help? Other than that, a safe, cozy shelter place probably is the best bet.
Neon (Above) is onto something; some years back we crate-trained our mutts – it enabled them to become fully housebroken in three days – and we kept the crates, which were deliberately oversized for the full grown dogs. With a favorite blanket in them they became comfortable refuges, with the house rule being “if they go into the crates by themselves, we do not bother them in any way until they decide to come out.” AQlone time in a secure environment has its value.
Have you considered getting a couple of galvanized trash can lids and using them like cymbals to get Tobie accustomed to the noise?
My poor feral cat hates storms too. I wonder if a thunder vest would help.
We used to do what we called ‘meatball therapy’. We got a bag of meatballs from CostCo and everytime it thundered, the dog got a meatball. He had no problems with storms.
Another option is a Calming Band.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Happy-Hoodie-Dogs-Cats/dp/B00B0I5Z42/139-8614163-6712019?th=1
I’ve never managed to snap at the right instant for lightening. I’ve either set up a DSLR on a tripod and took long exposures one after another until the lightening hit (which ends that exposure), or take video and pull a still from the video file.
Hoping everything is OK, and the radio silence just means nothing interesting is going on…
Yeah . . . what ZD said.
Hope everything is good….
Ping?
Ping-ping?
Okay Joel. You need to post proof of life. I’ll email Ian tomorrow.
How’s it going?
Anon 9/28 @851: Any update?
Hoping all is well!
My suspicion is that something bad happened to Toby and Joel has been in a bad spot about it since.
Whatever’s going on Joel, we are here for you.
Just a thought, but could this be as simple as that severe storm damaged his connection to the internet and/or cell service? IIRC, he has described both as “fragile” over the years.
Should that be the case, I’d doubt he’d feel compelled to drive 20+ miles to “town” (for various values of “town”) to let us – people who do have a connection to him but are not necessarily immediately critical to his day-to-day battle against the elements (and, it assumes that after a severe storm there’s actually a “road” that would enable him to travel to “town” and that “town” has internet and/or cell service). He may have more pressing immediate issues to deal with than sending out press releases.
Not to sell Tobie short, but Joel’s lost dogs before and life continued on.
I agree with Irving. Joel has a largish river wash that winds around him, and there’s no way to get “to town” without crossing it. If that storm was big enough, he might be having a bit of a time finding a path across it. He could be dealing with finding somebody with a functioning backhoe to fill in deep ruts. There are several people on “his side of the wash”, so he’s not completely alone.
When you hang out online with many of the same folks on various websites for over 20 years you do develop a kinship. Many of us are not the most social butterflies but we recognize that we are birds of a feather and somehow that is meaningful in our purposeful isolation (I speak only for myself). We don’t have to explain ourselves in depth to anybody but it would be nice to hear that you are breathing and simply busy with the routine gathering of nuts for the winter and will maybe fill you in later should the mood hit. Joel hope you and yours are ok.
I just hope our guy’s OK!
How amazing that our “community” worries about our friend Joel much like we love our families. Hoping all is well with him and the Pupper. Might reach out to Claire to see if she has any knowledge.