Photo: M.A.Wells
Rolling thunder this morning is unsettling to our German Shepherd, Silas. He has gotten better about such sounds and fireworks but I guess he will likely always have some issue with it. He is a rescue dog but we have had him for more than 10 years. When we first brought him home he was laden with anxiety for almost everything. He would not walk through a doorway unless led through on leash.
When I am working at my desk he, and the little long haired dachshund, Madison, will quietly rest close at hand. Madison's main function in life is to tag along underfoot - especially when I move into the kitchen because he knows it is most likely there, that God will see that manna will fall from heaven. Any eatable that is enroute to the floor he will likely snarf up mid-air before it hits the floor. But he is perfectly fine eating off the floor as well.
If I am sitting otherwise quietly at my desk but have something I am eating, they are both instantly aware. Madison impatiently working for my attention in hopes I will share. Silas on the other hand lumbers over and stands quietly with this look he knows I cannot resist. It is polite and sincere and of course makes me want to reward him. If he feels however that Madison is winning in the attention mode, Silas will up the ante by adding a very quiet whimper. His posture otherwise remains polite and he only moves closer if I offer an extended hand with a treat. Madison will of course rip it out of your hand if at all possible.
What is really funny is that if I have popcorn or chex mix, or something else I can offer him while I am eating it -- and of course ancy pants too, once I am finished I have to say "all gone" and show the bowl or my hands like I am a Black Jack dealer. Once that happens he quietly goes back to his spot on the floor.
Dogs are some of my favorite people.
We have had cats too as well as at the same time. But we have had dogs that were not cat friendly and I can't be certain these two would tolerate a cat, so that is not happening. I do however miss the cats even as they were trying to walk on my keyboard as I write. But mostly they would get comfortable next to where I was writing.
I notice it has grown quieter and I think maybe we are done with the thunder for now. All is quiet, and I need to shift to another mode for a different writing project.
