I’ve been dog-sitting my sister’s pooch — a feisty poodle-schitzu cross named Mr. Biggz — for about five days now. He’s fairly low-maintenance but does have a few quirks that require special attention.
Like many dogs, his acute hearing makes him very sensitive to noises like thunder. During a recent storm, in fact, I had to hold him close and reassure him while he shivered in fear and hyperventilated for about an hour. My theory is he was an army dog in a previous life (maybe during the WWII London blitz) and is still suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Today is Canada Day (woo hoo!!), and in our Toronto neighbourhood, we usually get a good blast of fireworks at our local park come sundown. I absolutely lo-o-o-ve fireworks and skyrockets of all shapes and sizes. This year, however, in order to help Mr. Biggz feel safe and secure, I will forego them so I can keep him company in a sheltered room in our basement. (Just like in the London blitz!)
Animals bring out the good deeds in all of us, don’t they?
P.S. For all the animal lovers out there, I just had to share this very sweet webcam link. It’s from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park (one of a group of North American zoos, the Metro Toronto Zoo is another, participating in a program to breed black-footed ferrets, which had almost become extinct).
The zoo has a Ferret Cam.
(Ferret Cam — don’t you just love it?!)
