She’s tired. It’s not easy dealing with this when you are 12 years old.
Like Elsa, I am hesitant to go to bed these days. Since before July 4th, the booming started in our neighborhood. And sadly it is still going on, much to our dismay.
Elsa has become agitated at bedtime now. She use to go upstairs, get her nightly snack and hunker down for the night, not anymore. She goes upstairs, then comes downstairs. Back up again and back down again until we are all in the bedroom together. She gets her snack and is on high alert. This is when the scary noises come. at least our little Miss Elsa is losing her hearing fairly quickly; so even though she can still hear the big ones, the smaller, less booming ones silently slip past her.
I hear them, and with each boom I hold my breath. She is terrified of fireworks; she has been for a very long time. Not all dogs are, it’s hard to tell who will be affected by the sound. I most definitely think that it should be our other dog, Riggs who is a fearful sort of guy in general. But nope, he’s fine…for now that is.
Three and a half years ago Elsa had a spinal stroke (read about it here). I’d never even heard of these things until she was struck suddenly while playing in the yard. It hit hard and without warning and after being instantly paralyzed she recovered with a residual bum back leg. She is now 3.5 years older and her body is aging more quickly because of the stroke. Her front ankle areas are very stiff and her hind end needs some assistance often.
So when the fireworks start or even just a few that are loud enough to be audible by Elsa, she is in a panic. Outwardly she is panting, pacing, jumping off the bed (our bed), goes into the shower and is in a general state of hysteria. Not a place I want my old girl.
So how do you stop the needless booming. I’ve written blogs, letters, done podcasts and posts with startling results. There are those who understand, those who are very sympathetic; but there are also those who are well…lets just say not kind and understanding.
Elsa was asleep quickly last night, having missed the distant boomers. But sure enough at around 11 o’clock a boom could be heard very close by. I held my breath hoping that she hadn’t heard it, she did. Her head shot up and she prepared to dive off the bed. Diving off the bed is not something that she should be doing. I have set up a double dog bed in our room in hopes that she will start using it when she is panicked. She has not used it to sleep yet; although she has dug the crap out of it when she’s in a state.
Luckily I caught her last night, right before she prepared her dismount. I physically maneuvered her to a down with a pillow for her head. I lay my hand on her and slipped into the most zen like mode that I could; in hopes of helping her to relax. I can’t talk to her because her hearing is so bad. But I did use my hands in a very “hey, no big deal, you got this,” manner. I thought that if I could just get her through the ritualistic 2 boomers, she might realize that she is okay.
Clearly these are not stopping and I can’t drug my dog all the time. It is a handful of dumbasses who get some sort of thrill from loud boom. I honestly do not get what the big deal is; a couple of big booms EVERY FREAKING NIGHT! What a thrill, not. Maybe all the complaining that people do actually fuel these idiots, who knows.
I’m tired of it and I know that Elsa is as well. And I’m sure that Riggs is also tired of the strangeness that is happening more and more often. I have to say that she settled more quickly last night. With my hand on her back leg, I offered her what zen I could muster up for her. But it is the moment that she starts to settle that worries me the most. Will there be another just as she starts to relax?
I get the whole fireworks on the big days. We can prepare for those, we know it’s coming. But the constant booming, void of a light show; I don’t get it, I just don’t get where the thrill comes from this. But I’m hoping if enough people speak up and say “okay, enough,” that maybe there will be fewer things to send my old girl into a panicked frenzy.
We can hope.