I grabbed a measuring tape and took a rough dimension of our patio furniture. They were calling for rain; I couldn’t even remember the last time it rained here in Southern California, but boy did we need it. I stopped by the hardware store after my morning appointment and grabbed what I needed, heading home to cover up for the impending storm.
Once I got outside I was quickly sidetracked by Riggs, Elsa and a couple of balls. We played catch and retrieve for a long while until the first few drops appeared, it was actually going to rain. I grabbed the tarp, threw everything on top of the outdoor couch and bungeed it down; hoping that we were in for an actual storm and not just a few pathetic drops like usual.
The thunder rolled, drops fell leaving their mark on the patio and that was that. Really? We do not get a lot of rain here, let alone storms (although anything resembling rain is classed as “storm watch” on the news here in sunny California.) We wrapped up our catch and retrieve session and headed in for dinner.
After we all ate, dishes were cleaned up and we were relaxing in the living room, when it began. In my peripheral vision I noticed it first, flashes of light in the far distance. I wasn’t wasting a moment of lightening action and I grabbed my phone (wish I would have grabbed my big camera.) Situated up on our balcony I had a great vantage point of what was coming. Looked like maybe, just maybe we were going to get a storm.
I love storms, I always have and within moments the weather changed. From hot and still with flashes in the distance to a strong cool wind hitting the chimes and sending them tousling; a storm was coming for sure, there was no mistaking the signals. I stood prepared to capture some of Mother Nature’s beauty.
It came fast and hard, raining down marble sized hail into the windows. Both Elsa and Riggs acknowledged that something was happening. Elsa is not a fan of thunder but she retained her composure through it all. Riggs, not so much, but it wasn’t just the storm, it was his human’s reaction to the storm and a dark stranger that had the most impact.
If I run around the house sort of frantically on a normal day, Rigg’s gets hyper vigilant; he knows that something is up. Add to that, hail hitting the windows, the wind howling and a dark stranger. We were watching the hail out the front door when we noticed a person running down the street. Riggs saw her just as a huge boom of thunder struck. This was the beginning of a long session of alert barking as he lay close to Elsa or one of his humans for safety. He already thinks that strangers are pretty much monsters out to get him so I’m thinking that I’m going to have work to do.
I let my emotions run free during the storm; I needed some “happy” and so I seized the moment. From experience with Riggs, the biggest issue would have been the dark person running down the street during the hail, pouring rain, thunder and wind. The “me” behavior during it all I can work on easily. He use to be afraid of the vacuum and with a little work he follows me around while I vacuum now. So I know how to address the frantic running around the house issue. The “scary dark person” part of it all will have left more of a lasting impression on him/
After the “scary dark person” moment, I worked hard at going out several more times and coming in overly happy and calm. This was important for Riggs and something that we have to think about constantly when dealing with our dogs. They are always watching us; it is our job to show them the way. Some are more sensitive than others, but they are all very, very different from one another.
They are always watching us.