Off Topic Forum...

[Cassie 8]

Finishing up some last minute packing...waiting on Joel to get home. Then we're off...gonna spend the night at a hotel near the airport so we don't have to make a mad dash, two hour drive to the airport in the morning.

I'm all jittery inside! We're going home!!!

yay!!!!!!!!!! have a wonderful wonderful time!!!!!!! Wish I was going with you. Not Emancipation, as Krikit already called shotgun.

[Flames9_RN 358]

have a safe trip karen

[trailmix 77]

Good morning all!

Well when it got dark last night we could hear fireworks so we mosied on out to the lake area at the back of the building and there were people on both sides of the lake with fireworks.

It was really nice!

[Sprailenes 47]

So today my husband got a new apartment and are finally moving out. 2 weeks. FINALLY!

[trailmix 77]

So today my husband got a new apartment and are finally moving out. 2 weeks. FINALLY!

Congrats Sprailenes!

Wow, big thunder/lightning here - seriously loud thunder!

Seeing as where krikit is they seems to get worse storms lately, she is prob paddling down the street in a boat right now!!

[Kathryn41 3,205]

I've always found this a useful adjunct to the weather channels: http://thunderstorm.vaisala.com/explorer.html It shows you wherever there is lightning going on across the country and refreshes every few minutes. It helps to show you if you are in for a long haul of storms or it will be overly quickly. Right now the south is a mess of lightning and thunder - we have been having almost non-stop 'mumbling' all afternoon broken by bits of thunderstorm or bits of sunlight. We need the rain so I hope we get more of it - mostly it has just be dry and thundering.

(And to harken back to the other thread about how to know you are in Canada, yeah, we Canadians do have a thing about weather! I guess it comes from growing up with four distinct seasons - sometimes in the same day!)

[MissStacey 1]

My dog is traumatized from the fireworks we set off the other night. He hid in a corner and shook while they were going off- the next morning I opened the back door to let him out and he ran and hid in the bedroom. He will go out there if Mel and I both go outside and then coax him out but he never once scratched at the door yesterday when he needed to go out.

I have never seen anything bother him like this before. He has no problem with thunderstorms. I have seen him jump a few times with loud noises- but he recovers quickly. I had never seen him shake with fear before.

I'm worried about my boo boo

[Krikit 1,164]

So today my husband got a new apartment and are finally moving out. 2 weeks. FINALLY!

Yaaaaay!!! Congratulations Sprailenes!

Wow, big thunder/lightning here - seriously loud thunder!

Seeing as where krikit is they seems to get worse storms lately, she is prob paddling down the street in a boat right now!!

I think it's because we live on the highest point in Florida. So when the storm hits the mountain, all hell breaks loose.

My dog is traumatized from the fireworks we set off the other night. He hid in a corner and shook while they were going off- the next morning I opened the back door to let him out and he ran and hid in the bedroom. He will go out there if Mel and I both go outside and then coax him out but he never once scratched at the door yesterday when he needed to go out.

I have never seen anything bother him like this before. He has no problem with thunderstorms. I have seen him jump a few times with loud noises- but he recovers quickly. I had never seen him shake with fear before.

I'm worried about my boo boo

Awwwww. Poor puppy.

[trailmix 77]

So today my husband got a new apartment and are finally moving out. 2 weeks. FINALLY!

Yaaaaay!!! Congratulations Sprailenes!

Wow, big thunder/lightning here - seriously loud thunder!

Seeing as where krikit is they seems to get worse storms lately, she is prob paddling down the street in a boat right now!!

I think it's because we live on the highest point in Florida. So when the storm hits the mountain, all hell breaks loose.

That last line sounds like a good song line, you should write a Florida song!! I didn't know Mt Dora was the highest point in Florida!

Well as it is warm here today, as it is every day, iced coffee is on offer, if you prefer yours warm, remove the ice and put it in the microwave

[Krikit 1,164]

I didn't know Mt Dora was the highest point in Florida!

They have reallly stupid t-shirts in the shops in town which say "I climbed Mt Dora". Which is totally my sense of humour considering Mt Dora is only 184 ft above sea level.

[trailmix 77]

I didn't know Mt Dora was the highest point in Florida!

They have reallly stupid t-shirts in the shops in town which say "I climbed Mt Dora". Which is totally my sense of humour considering Mt Dora is only 184 ft above sea level.

That's hilarious

[Ban Hammer 13,262]

good morning everyone.

trailmix, doesn't all coffee in canada turn into iced coffee before too long?

[Kathryn41 3,205]

My dog is traumatized from the fireworks we set off the other night. He hid in a corner and shook while they were going off- the next morning I opened the back door to let him out and he ran and hid in the bedroom. He will go out there if Mel and I both go outside and then coax him out but he never once scratched at the door yesterday when he needed to go out.

I have never seen anything bother him like this before. He has no problem with thunderstorms. I have seen him jump a few times with loud noises- but he recovers quickly. I had never seen him shake with fear before.

I'm worried about my boo boo

Aww, poor puppy! Yes, I can appreciate your worry - my cats are the same and I try to be home if I know there are going to be fireworks - they race around growling then hide under the lowest bed in the house, growling and wide-eyed. It takes them some time to calm down afterwards. For the next two days, even, they are still stressed out - even to the point that someone starting a lawn mower up outside bothers them and they race again under the bed, growling. Your puppy literally is traumatized by the noise. It will take him some time to get over it. It is a new experience and it made his home feel unsafe to him. It was also unexpected - it happened without warning. Thunderstorms often bring with them pressure changes and environmental differences that animals can sense - but this happened with no warning and he didn't understand what was going on. Be very reassuring to him - try and hold him and cuddle him as much as you can. Be very patient and reassuring and allow him to be clingy over the next little while. There is a product that is available that you might find useful - I will find the link and post it for you. It will probably take a few days before he begins to relax and feel safe again, but he may well revert to his traumatized stage at other loud noises. It may be something that he never really gets used to .

[Kathryn41 3,205]

For MissStacey,

This isn't the item I was looking for but it does have a lot of useful information. Apparently trying to reassure a dog that is frightened during a thunderstorm or fireworks just confirms for him it is right to be afraid - interesting.

http://www.dogsonly.org/StormFear.html

and here: http://www.k9centre.co.uk/fireworks.php which mentions the product I was thinking of - DAP, Dog Appeasing Pheromone - which is available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&rs=105...%2Cn%3A12923371

Good luck

[KarenCee 3]

Having a wonderful time here in Pubnico! We had a family/friends get together today...lots of family, family pictures, and lots of food. Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary and we're going to his parent's cottage by the lake...Joel's parents are babysitting so we get to spend the night there. *sigh* It is heaven being home again...even though technically I'm not Canadian (merely an honourary one). First stop out of Halifax airport was...TIMMY'S!!! Anywho, it's late here and we are bushed! It was a long day but a very enjoyable one.

Y'all take care now, y'heah!