Beaching it with Luke

What a fabulous Sunday, high 60s and sunny. We took Luke down to Salt Creek, Jessie and Tilley were very tired this morning so we thought we'd just bring Luke. Taking the dogs out on their own and in two's in really good for them. And often I don't want to bring the whole pack so it works out great. This also allows me to bring my camera and get some great shots of my dogs for a change which I will post soon.

So Luke is now exhausted; the entire time we were at the beach he was in hunt mode. There are these sort of scraggly, mangy looking squirrels that live in the rocks that drive the dogs crazy. I see some dogs that don't have that natural prey drive but my three are very much primal. And the squirrels know the dogs can't get them; they sit until the last moment and then run away out of reach.

There is alot of whining going on while we are there; Luke hates that he just cannot catch one. Although he sure has a great time trying; he stalks forever, freezes and then makes a pounce. It is great seeing him be a dog and loving it. At the moment we are watching some very dark clouds on their way overhead. And believe it or not we are listening the very loud thunder. I'm very excited to have a thunderstorm but now need to shut the house up and act like nothing is going on for Tilley's sake.

Tilley is petrified of thunder; she never use to be until our stupid neighbors from our previous house use to throw firecrackers on a regular basis. Clyde, the male we had before Luke was insanely fearful about thunderstorms. So far it is only Tilley who reacts to a storm; and her reaction is frantic digging. She likes to dig in the bathrooms if she can get in there but if not she'll dig anywhere. I think she wants to dig into the ground and hide.

What we do for her is to pretend it is another regular day, no talking out of the ordinary, nothing different than our typical routine. If you do anything to help sooth her; it only makes matters worse. Dogs watch us for reaction on how to deal with a situation so we pretend that there is no big deal about a storm. In fact it may be the best time to throw the ball around and have fun.

So we've covered all the patio furniture and we are awaiting the storm.

2 comments:

  1. I've always found that what works for my kids often works for our pets...staying calm is one example.

    ReplyDelete
  2. People don't realize how much our dogs watch us to see how we react to something. Barking is a great one; many people get flustered and yelling which in turn makes our dogs think that there is definitely something to be barking at. If you on the other hand walk to the window or door and look out; shrug your shoulders and walk away, you will defuse the situation. Easy.

    ReplyDelete

Love to hear from you.