One freaked out CorgiThe past couple weeks were full of storms and have left me with little sleep. Not because they wake me up, I find sleeping through stormy weather quite soothing.
My lack of sleep is because, for some reason, Duke the Corgi suddenly has become scared of storms. Furthermore he believes when he is scared I have to be awake. Boo, my Chocolate Lab, is quite annoyed by this as he grumbles at Duke and then flops back asleep.
I’m not sure where this new fear of storms came from, but the lack of sleep is beginning to wear on me.
I discovered over the stormy weekend he can now sense when a storm is coming. His heightened canine senses can tell me when a storm is coming before I even hear the thunder. I know this because the poor little thing freaks out.
When the storms rolled in Saturday, he started whining and wouldn’t leave my side. I almost tripped over him several times. I would sit down on the couch and he would run as fast as his little legs could take him to the couch and sit next to me shaking, trying to sit as close to me as possible.
After hearing the tornado warning on television I opened my basement door in case we had to go down in a hurry. Duke didn’t wait for that. I noticed I hadn’t tripped over him for a while and found him sitting in the basement. I called for him, and he wouldn’t leave the basement. He stayed there until the storm rolled through and he was happy.
This would have been fine and dandy if he hadn’t sat right in the middle of a puddle of water that had settled in my basement, tracking said water throughout my house when he emerged from his safe zone.
The worst is at night. The little booger wakes me up and makes me stay awake until the storm has passed and he feels safe again. Early Monday morning I was woken by his barking. It’s kind of funny. It’s almost as if he’s whispering at first but then when I don’t wake and immediately give him attention he gets louder.
Each time it storms, I roll over to the Corgi who is crying in my ear and pat him on the head and say a little “it’s OK, boy” and roll over to try to go back to sleep. This does not satisfy his majesty so he usually starts crawling all over me until I give him satisfactory attention. Again, Boo will grumble and then go back to sleep, annoyed.
Usually, this is the routine during any storm. That morning in particular he added a new part to the routine. He hid under the covers.
I was slightly relieved because I thought maybe if he can hide under the covers he’ll be OK and won’t need me to be awake. Sadly, that was not the case. He would hide and then emerge to make sure I was awake and if I wasn’t he’d wake me up again.
While dogs can often sense things that humans cannot I will never be able to tell if Duke is trying to alert me to danger because he does this with any rumble of thunder, not just the dangerous storms.
So, the past couple weeks I’ve been dealing with a freaked out Corgi. I placate his nervous moments and then tiredly go throughout my day with lots of coffee and little sleep the night before.
I can understand when people have to do this for their children, but Duke is a dog. I try to remind him of that fact, but I’m not sure it’s sinking in.
With more spring storms to come, I will expect many more restless nights ahead. Maybe he’ll get over his fear as quickly as he developed it. Probably not. Boo and I will just have to learn to tolerate him.
My lack of sleep is because, for some reason, Duke the Corgi suddenly has become scared of storms. Furthermore he believes when he is scared I have to be awake. Boo, my Chocolate Lab, is quite annoyed by this as he grumbles at Duke and then flops back asleep.
I’m not sure where this new fear of storms came from, but the lack of sleep is beginning to wear on me.
I discovered over the stormy weekend he can now sense when a storm is coming. His heightened canine senses can tell me when a storm is coming before I even hear the thunder. I know this because the poor little thing freaks out.
When the storms rolled in Saturday, he started whining and wouldn’t leave my side. I almost tripped over him several times. I would sit down on the couch and he would run as fast as his little legs could take him to the couch and sit next to me shaking, trying to sit as close to me as possible.
After hearing the tornado warning on television I opened my basement door in case we had to go down in a hurry. Duke didn’t wait for that. I noticed I hadn’t tripped over him for a while and found him sitting in the basement. I called for him, and he wouldn’t leave the basement. He stayed there until the storm rolled through and he was happy.
This would have been fine and dandy if he hadn’t sat right in the middle of a puddle of water that had settled in my basement, tracking said water throughout my house when he emerged from his safe zone.
The worst is at night. The little booger wakes me up and makes me stay awake until the storm has passed and he feels safe again. Early Monday morning I was woken by his barking. It’s kind of funny. It’s almost as if he’s whispering at first but then when I don’t wake and immediately give him attention he gets louder.
Each time it storms, I roll over to the Corgi who is crying in my ear and pat him on the head and say a little “it’s OK, boy” and roll over to try to go back to sleep. This does not satisfy his majesty so he usually starts crawling all over me until I give him satisfactory attention. Again, Boo will grumble and then go back to sleep, annoyed.
Usually, this is the routine during any storm. That morning in particular he added a new part to the routine. He hid under the covers.
I was slightly relieved because I thought maybe if he can hide under the covers he’ll be OK and won’t need me to be awake. Sadly, that was not the case. He would hide and then emerge to make sure I was awake and if I wasn’t he’d wake me up again.
While dogs can often sense things that humans cannot I will never be able to tell if Duke is trying to alert me to danger because he does this with any rumble of thunder, not just the dangerous storms.
So, the past couple weeks I’ve been dealing with a freaked out Corgi. I placate his nervous moments and then tiredly go throughout my day with lots of coffee and little sleep the night before.
I can understand when people have to do this for their children, but Duke is a dog. I try to remind him of that fact, but I’m not sure it’s sinking in.
With more spring storms to come, I will expect many more restless nights ahead. Maybe he’ll get over his fear as quickly as he developed it. Probably not. Boo and I will just have to learn to tolerate him.
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