Awake in the storm

I love my animals but they can be so frustrating. Like tonight... it is 2  AM on Jan 23 and I am awake and have been so for a couple of hours. We are currently in the midst of a doozie of a thunderstorm and I have a dog that is terrified of storms. Poor Blaze is an older Border Collie that I rescued 2 summers ago who must have had a bad experience in a storm. Nothing that we do helps... and when he is really scared and can't get into a "safe" space he freaks out and chews on the walls. It is very frustrating to have him tearing up the walls he has even chewed a hole through a 4" cat door to get into the bathroom. Last week when I was away and my son was home during a storm Blaze was biting the door frames trying to get out of the room where Dan had him trapped and into a space that he felt was "safe". 

I have no solution to the problem and haven't broken down to get him the "Thunder shirt" yet. Supposedly they help dogs to feel more secure. The meds don't work unless given an hour in advance and of course I am not quite adept at picking up disturbances in the atmosphere and then I miss the opportunity to get the dog medicated. The same problem applies with the shirt. . . someone has to be around to put him in it. And since I travel for work this is problematic.  

Tonight I thought I would try to make something similar to the thunder shirt... so I took my security glow in the dark vest that I got for walking in the dark and put it on him. . . he seems to like it ok. Although it is not quite as snug as the Thunder shirts would be... so when it is thundering he is still freaked out. 

He loves our Black bathroom and feels secure in the corner by the toilet (see above photo) Blaze is a Black Border Collie so he is really difficult to see next to the black walls!

He also likes to lay in the alcove behind the laundry hamper. . . I made him a tent over the hamper and he has not yet come out of it so maybe a tent is the answer. Who knows. 

My house is like a zoo I have 2 dogs and 4 cats. And for a 2 month time frame a guest dog who is blind. 

A typical day on my bed...I have my leg propped up and all the critters around me. Kind of unusual all 4 cats on the bed. Marley, Mama Kitty, Sgt Tibbs and Sasha.

Rex our blind guest dog enjoying the snow.

Mamma Kitty she is 19 yrs old

Typical day in bed.  Three of the cats and one dog with me.

Arya, Sgt. Tibbs and Sasha.

Marley and Rex laying on the floor.

Blaze on the floor beneath Arya and beside Rex.

So on top of Blaze's issues tonight the fun began about 10 PM with the guest dog Rex... having GI problems and then not being able to walk. Once I got his mess cleaned up and calmed him down he was able to walk just fine but at first my son thought he was having a seizure... just what I need tonight. 

As you can see from the photos I am generally surrounded by the all the critters which is going to be problematic on Wednesday when I come home from the hospital on crutches. It will be quite a challenge navigating around the house and between the four legged critters. I will definitely have to slow down and maybe knock them out of the way with the crutches... we shall see. 

It seems that the storm has abated for now so hopefully we can all get some sleep. 

Ta Ta