[nagdu] weather prepareness

Lisa belville missktlab1217 at frontier.com
Thu Apr 26 15:42:26 UTC 2012


Julie, how did you teach Monty to react to storms without being a complete 
terror?  Katy just doesn't take them seriously.  We live in Southern IL, so 
we also get the storms and are in a part of town where I can hear several 
tornado sirens when they go off.  Katy thinks it's play time and would 
rather grab her ring and smack me in the legs with it than actually go into 
the bathroom to seek shelter.

Lisa

When life gives you lemons, throw them at something.  Always makes me feel 
better.
Lisa Belville
missktlab1217 at frontier.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] weather prepareness


>I have no idea what the guide dog programs cover regarding weather, but 
>this is what I do.
>
> I live in Nebraska, land of tornado, strong winds and hail.  I live in a 
> single family home with a basement, so it is very easy for me to make sure 
> there are emergency supplies in the basement as well as being able to go 
> down there with very short notice.
>
> In addition to all the people emergency gear, I also make sure that I have 
> enough water for both dogs, dog food and leashes.  Belle, my nutty anxiety 
> prone dog, has been taught by much repetition to go to the basement when 
> she is feeling nervous.  Monty my guide is very good about listening to me 
> when under stress.  His default response to being nervous is to Velcro 
> himself to me.  Neither dog is particularly fussed about storms, although 
> I have noticed an edginess in their behavior when we are in tornado 
> watches and warnings.
>
> Monty will work in all sorts of weather conditions.  although in very 
> heavy rain we usually have to have a discussion about how I am really 
> serious about going out.  He doesn't particularly like it, but sometimes 
> you have to do what you have to do.   I don't particularly like it either, 
> but walking home in the rain is more appealing than spending the night at 
> work! LOL
>
> Julie
>
>
>
>
> On 4/24/2012 8:44 PM, Criminal Justice Major wrote:
>> Hi, all,
>> Since many have experienced rough weather in their neck of the woods, am 
>> curious if any of the guide dog schools do cover weather prepareness 
>> during training classes?
>> If not, will that be something they'll look at in the future?
>> I've been pondering this thought for a long time as Freedom David Berry, 
>> my previous/second guide dog had a huge fear of storms.
>> I couldn't work him in any, even if they were small ones.
>> Freedom's anxiety was bad enough to where he'd have extreme rapid panting 
>> and would shake tremendously.
>> I did use an anxiety medication called Qualicalm (not sure how to spell 
>> that) which did help.
>> That was something I didn't want to keep Freedom on as I didn't want him 
>> to be dependent on the treatment meds too much.
>> I'm glad that the storm defender cape still exists and now the thunder 
>> shirt.
>> If one doesn't want to rely on meds too much, then either of those would 
>> be a better alternative.
>> I do remember one time when the tornado siren went off here in downtown 
>> Denver in the summer of 2008, Odie and I did a practice drill during a 
>> real situation.
>> I immediately put him on leash and the two of us went down to the first 
>> floor of our apartment complex to seek shelter by sitting down on the 
>> floor in the middle of the hallway which was on the north side of the 
>> complex.
>> On June 14, 2009, we did have a funnel cloud that was over the top of our 
>> apartment building, but thankfully, it didn't touch down.
>> The whole experience was scary and Odie was terrified.
>> I happened to be taking a nap during that storm and once the siren went 
>> off, he immediately pushed the bed with hard force to get my attention 
>> quickly.
>> Am glad he did though as something dangerous could have happened if that 
>> funnel did touch down.
>> All I could do was let Odie be and I tried my best to remain calm.
>> The sound of the wind was creepy and my ears popped due to the pressure 
>> from it.
>> I could feel the wall around my window moving toward me and away from me 
>> and same happening to the wall inside the bathroom.
>> During that one, I had not time to get downstairs.
>> I mostly tried to stay away from the window once I felt what was 
>> happening.
>> What made the situation more scarier was when the tornado drill went off 
>> three more times, every fifteen minutes during the whole hour.
>> I've been definitely paying attention to how my furry partner behaves by 
>> feeling him daily and also listening to the sound of the birds.
>> If the birds aren't out chirping, then I know something big is going to 
>> happen.
>> I'm sure that will be a repeat for when I get my next partner and my 
>> hopes are that it will teach the next dog to stay close by during severe 
>> storms.
>> no, I wouldn't continuously keep petting or reassuring my partner, but 
>> maybe a couple of pats and most important is to try and stay calm.
>> We did experience a few earthquakes in Colorado too and again, I hope 
>> that will also be talked about if or when schools may decide to offer 
>> that lecture during training.
>> Just some thoughts to ponder.
>> Bibi, husband Dale and son Odie
>> medical alert service dog
>> the happy spirited bounty labra wolf
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>
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