Col. Potter Training Tip: It was a dark and stormy night...

My little Daisy Mae (and Kringle before her) are (and were) terrified of thunder boomers. They are/were so sensitive that they came to me shaking even before I heard the first sounds of thunder.

We have tried everything and not even thundershirts work. However, recently I seem to have found a solution.

Audiobooks are just the thing for Daisy Mae

I have been listening to a lot of recorded books on my iPad recently. I usually wear just one ear bud so that I can hear what is going on in the rest of the house.

We had a big storm the other day and, sure enough, here comes Daisy Mae. She jumped right onto my lap, shaking like a bowl of jello. In an attempt to calm her down, I wrapped a fluffy towel around her and I held her tight. She was still shaking and her ears were flat but I felt like I was doing something. On that particular day I was listening to a recorded book with one earbud in my ear. And I suddenly wondered if she would like to listen as well. So I dropped the other earbud over her shoulder so that it was in the middle of her chest, tucked her in and continued the story. In just a few moments she stopped shaking. She relaxed, rolled over onto her back, and went to sleep. I was amazed, but just kept rocking her while we listened to the story together.

I could hardly believe what I was seeing. So I decided to try again the next time we had a storm. Luckily (or not, depending on your point of view) we had another storm the next day. Once again Daisy Mae came running to me looking for a cuddle, I reached for her towel, wrapped her up and gave her the ear bud. The exact same thing happened: she immediately calmed down and went to sleep.

I have been thinking about this and wondering if I should share it with you all or if you would all think I am completely nuts (if not actually certifiable).

Then I recalled that when Kenneth & I drive long distances, especially with scared fosters we are transporting, we always play books on tape on the car stereo. And after just a few moments, the dogs quiet down and even the really scared ones settle in to listen to the story.

I think it must be the calm and continuous human voice that does it.

Anyway, I am passing this on. Please let me know if it works for any of your scared furbutts. Even if you don't normally listen while you drive, your local library has tons of recorded books and you can sign up (for free) and have then downloaded to your iPhone or iPad. Believe me, it is much better to listen to a story rather than a scared and whining dog while you drive hundreds of miles.

— by Deirdre B.