Two Scaredy Cats (aka sled dogs) in a Storm

Happy Friday! It’s been another warm week here with temperatures in the 60s and 70s, so we were not able to bikejor or scooterjor again this week. So, we resorted to taking the dogs on normal walks instead. Although this doesn’t seem to get their energy out at all, they do enjoy all the smells.

Along with the warmer temperatures this week came multiple rounds of storms. The first couple summers we had Boo for Meteorology Camp, Boo did not seem to care about storms at all, didn’t even acknowledge them. But for some reason during his third Meteorology Camp and ever since then, he has become absolutely TERRIFIED of storms.

If we are not home and Boo is in a crate when it storms, he will destroy whatever blankets are inside and on top of his crate, and will bend the metal on the crate in the process. He will also move his crate around the room somehow. I wish we had cameras to see how he does it. We try to be home with him during storms whenever possible to avoid this situation.

Not only in storms, but even if it is just raining, he gets so nervous now. He’s associated the sound of rain with imminent thunder apparently. He even starts acting nervous about an hour or so before the storms and rain arrive at the house.

It’s like he’s an actual meteorologist now and can predict when storms are coming…

When the first round of storms was nearing yesterday, Boo began panting and pacing around the house. At the first clap of thunder, he ran and hid in the corner behind the recliner in Riley’s office.

Boo was following me all over the house. Even when I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom. For some reason, he decided to seek shelter in the shower. He HATES the shower because he hates getting baths in there, but for some reason he went in there on his own. This dog makes no sense sometimes!

You can tell how stressed out he was by how far his tongue was sticking out panting and how he was holding his ears.

I sat down to eat lunch and turned the TV on hoping the TV noise would drown out the thunder. NOPE. He proceeded to sit on top of me. He was so nervous he didn’t even acknowledge the bowl of food sitting on my lap right next to him.

Typically when it storms, Boo’s favorite place to hide out is inside my closet, under the hanging clothes. When he wouldn’t calm down anywhere else, I took him to the closet. He quickly hunkered down in his safe spot and remained there for a couple hours, even though the storms passed in about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, Pence also gets nervous during storms, but not nearly as bad as Boo. She remained on her couch the entire time. She would not lay her head down to rest and she was vibrating from anxiety. At first, she didn’t care. But I think Boo’s anxiety put her on edge more. She continued shaking for an hour or so before curling back up for a nap.

Yesterday evening brought more rounds of storms which lasted for a few hours. Boo was of course very nervous again, but it didn’t take long for him to seek shelter in the closet. He was in there for a few hours, but we didn’t want to bother him in case he had fallen asleep. No need to wake him up and have him be afraid again if so.

Pence didn’t seem to mind the evening storms and just chilled on her couch as usual.

Luckily, we missed out on the more severe storms and the tornado warnings. Could you imagine Riley and I having to sit in a closet or bath tub with two huskies during a tornado warning? It would be chaos!

How do your dogs react during storms?

Obviously Boo is an odd boy in general, so him being frightened by storms isn’t too surprising. But we want to hear about your dogs!

Do they handle storms well? Let us know in the comments by clicking the button below!