My Dog is Afraid of Her Own Shadow

Tiny is a weenie. I’m not referring to the thunder buddies post and how she likes to curl up in a ball and sleep to escape the thunder. I am talking about her inability to function like a normal dog when there are loud noises or large moving objects.

Ex 1:

The doorbell rings. Lil Dog races to the door and barks her head off. Tiny Dog jumps up, hops in a circle for a moment trying to figure out what is going on and determine the source of the noise, realizes she doesn’t know where the noise is coming from, runs to the side of the couch opposite the door and Lil Dog, puts her front two paws on the couch and cautiously peeks over the couch.

Ex 2:

We’re walking down the street and Tiny sees a car coming. She bolts to the grass and lies down.

Ex 3:

We’re on a walk and Tiny didn’t see the car coming (not sure how a car sneaks up on you, but whatever) and gets startled. She tries to wiggle out of her harness but can’t. So she sits down and nervously looks over her shoulder.

Ex 4:

Lil Dog and Tiny Dog are hanging out in the backyard. The cable man arrives for the next door neighbors. Lil Dog barks her head off. Tiny repeats her doorbell act but this time hides by the back door and peaks around the corner to see what the fuss is about.

Ex 5:

Tiny Dog is batdogging Lil Dog. How to you stop her? You get her attention by making a loud noise of your choice. She gets confused, runs away, and then runs back to you for protection.

Ex 6:

You are watching a moving with surround sound. A car chase scene comes on and Tiny Dog bolts from where she was sleeping and runs a lap around the house in sheer panic. She makes her way back to you, hops in your lap, and buries her head out of fear.

Tiny dog is not going to be a small dog and is already bigger than Lil Dog. She’ll be tall and lanky and about as coordinated as that tall kid in gym who hadn’t quite figured out how to make all of his long appendages work in sync. However, I doubt that she will ever stop hiding behind Lil Dog. At the first sign of “danger,” she darts to the nearest human or Lil Dog. If someone tried to break into the backyard, Lil Dog would go nuts while Tiny Dog raced to the intruder to seek cover from whatever threat caused Lil Dog to bark. Yeah, she’ll never be a guard dog. I guess her career as a member of the K9 SEAL team is over before it starts.