Fuzzlemutt

      Yes, my dog does actually have a name other than pain in the ass, demon, puppy, dammit (sometimes she actually answers to that one), and, of course, fuzzlemutt.  Like any other dog owners, I've always given my dogs nicknames that seemed to fit them--including my pitbull whom I lovingly and fittingly called dumbass.  I had to stop calling her that after my nephew learned to talk and called her dumbass when trying to get her to stop doing something stupid.  Oops.  (My brother wasn't too thrilled about that one and it wasn't like I could even pretend he'd learned that one from anyone else). 
     Fuzzlemutt is a bit long but fitting because she's furry, fuzzy, fluffy, and well, she is a mutt.  But since we adopted her from a rescue group, she's become so much more to this family.  She's a world class demolition dog, insect catcher, self-appointed neighborhood guardian, and an endless source of entertainment when she's not finding ways to get herself into trouble.  And even though she's not trained to be (and probably couldn't even if we tried), she's very much a service dog and family member.
       I've long since given up hope that my dad will learn when he leaves for work in the morning to not slam the front door on his way out.  Most mornings it wakes me up.  Especially lately now that I almost managed to establish some kind of sleeping pattern--go to bed at a normal time, wake up at a normal time... usually around the same time every night and every morning.  Except the past 5 days, I've found myself back in the up all hours of the night wide awake and having a hard time waking up in the morning because I set the alarm to force myself up at the same time, no matter what. 
     So, once again, he slams the door on his way out yesterday morning at 5am and I'm wide awake, silently cursing him out.  I had just barely started to doze off and the alarm is set to go off in 2 hours.  As I'm laying there, trying not to look at the clock, I start to hear thunder way off in the distance and the dog pacing through the house. About 15 minutes go buy and I hear it again.  It's definitely thunder, but it's not any closer.  I assume it's pretty far off and isn't going to come anywhere near us. Not that my community really ever gets a direct hit anyway.  It's actually kind of cool to watch on a radar screen.  We're so high up in the mountains, that you can watch thunderstorms literally split around us.  We'll get the rain, we'll hear the thunder, see the lightning, but very rarely is it high enough to pass directly overhead.  I'll drive 3 miles away and be right in the middle of it, though. 
       Suddenly, it sounds like the house explodes.  I sit bolt upright in bed just in time to be smashed in the chest by a 45lb flying ball of panicked fur.  I try to grab her to calm her down, but she was just way too panicked and way too quick for me.  Amid the chaos, it sounded like constant thunder and lightning closer, brighter, and louder than I can ever remember.  All I can see during the flashes is whirling around my room and hearing the dog whining as things are crashing to the floor.  I'm half buried under my blanket afraid to move, screaming for the dog to come over to me.  Part of me is beginning to wonder if we're seriously not being hit by a tornado there's so much chaos and so many things flying everywhere.  And hell, even my bed starts to move. 
        As quickly as it started, it seemed to quiet down, except for a few whines and a vibrating bed.  The dog managed to get her chunky, panicked ass under it.  And she's in the back corner where I can't even come anywhere close to reaching her.  I turn the light on to see that in her panic, she ran across every dresser top and through my closets, flinging everything on to my floor.  I just do a quick scan of the house just to make sure it really wasn't a tornado, but a panicked dog.  Just a dog.  Three and a half hours of bribery, begging, lifting, phone calls, tears, and I finally manage to get her out.  And she doesn't even look at the 2 dozen treats that are now scattered all over my floor.. she wants me and refuses to let go of me or let me put her down.  So now how am I supposed to take her to the vet after all of THAT?  I can't.  So I reschedule.  Keep in mind this dog stands at about 18 inches from floor to shoulder, weighs about 45lbs.  My bed frame is maybe 7" tops from the floor to the bottom of the frame.  And it's a Tempur Pedic mattress and box spring and while it's comfy--it's anything but light, so while she might be fully recovered, I'm not.  But I did wake up to a milkbone on my pillow this morning as a peace offering. A peanut butter flavored one at that!  I set it aside to give to her later, so I don't hurt her feelings.
     Although I did notice something today.  Besides all my joints, including my feet are more swollen than usual (most likely due to yesterday and the humidity).  I was near tears because my feet hurt so bad.  I was laying in bed after trying to do my usual paces and stretches with a blanket over me reading when she came down for her usual nosy visit (do I have food?  what am I doing?  am I hiding any treats?) She hops up at the bottom of my bed, walks up to me to get pet, goes back down the bottom, tries to steal the blanket (nothing new, it's fluffy and soft--one of her favorites), and licks the top of my foot.  then she puts the blanket back, sits down and just looks at me before laying down.  It's not the first time she's done this when something hurt more than the rest of me.  I asked my mom about it and she noticed it, too.  It's like she knows and tries to fix it in her own little doggie way.