Thunder Storms and Colic

Before we heard the thunder rumbling quietly from far away, our Brittany spaniel, Jake, started to prance around, unable to settle. He is our indicator that a storm is on its way. It was 10:30 p.m. and we had just finished putting all the furniture back into the bedrooms after having the carpets replaced. After two days of disarray and then clean up, we had been looking forward to a solid night’s sleep. There were sheets of lightening flashing from a distance. Jake’s eyes became black and panicked, and we knew that we would not be laying our heads down any time soon.

There is nothing that anyone can do for Jake when he reacts to a thunder storm. His anxiety heightens to an uncontrollable level and he spirals into an exhausting, circling of the house. He begs to go outside into the storm perhaps thinking that the thunder and lightning are inside and he needs to get away from it. We were once told that the best thing to do is to ignore him when he becomes agitated, and he will eventually calm down and go to sleep. We have tried this, but we never get very far as our empathy for him takes over and we get up with him because he doesn’t understand what is happening. We sit on the couch, pet him when he comes over, we try to calm him down, and talk to him while we wait out the storm.

As I sat up with him last night, I heard the clock chime 3 times and remembered another time in my life when I sat with someone I loved while he was in a panicked state. Twenty years ago, I spent many endless nights sitting up with my infant son. I would rock him and pace the floor for hours on end as he suffered through the trauma of colic. Nothing would calm him down; laying him in his seat with the dryer on, pushing him in his swing, holding him close in his snugly, rocking him in the glider, pushing him in his stroller and walking for miles; he was inconsolable. We were told that the best thing to do was to leave him in his crib and let him cry. We tried this once and rushed to him after 5 minutes because he didn’t understand what was happening. We picked him up and held him close to our hearts while we waited out the little storm in his body.

So, for all the Jakes in the world, you are our babies now, we love you and we will stay up with you until the thunder and lightning passes through.