A storm and after

Even a hard rain sends Vince into a panic. 

I was surprised when I got up Thursday morning to find that it was not raining and had not rained overnight. I'm trying to teach Samantha that she will not be fed before dawn, so we waited until it was light out before beginning morning feed. I'm glad we didn't wait too long, however, because it started to rain just as I finished feeding everyone. We had thunder as well as rain, and that causes fear and panic throughout much of the canine population around here.

Theo just stuck close because everyone else
was doing so and he didn't want to be left out.

Vince has it the worst. He pants heavily and has this look about him as if he's convinced the world is about to end. There were eight dogs inside and eight dogs clustered around me when I sat down to work. Trooper barks at the thunder, Sparky is scared too, and so is Gigi. Samantha either doesn't care or can't hear the thunder. Maya isn't scared either, but she's under my feet anyway because that's where she always is. I don't think Theo is particularly scared by it, but he hovered around me too because everyone else was doing so. Maya licked Trooper's head to try to calm him down. I finally put Trooper and Sparky in their crates in my office. 

Gigi moves in and sits on an empty spot on a big bed
and then expects the other dog to move. She's looking
at me wanting me to to make Theo move, and I did.

It wasn't a particularly severe thunderstorm and it didn't last too long, thankfully. The afternoon actually turned out to be pretty nice and I got out for a five mile hike with Maya, TJ, and Theo.

Maya can sleep through a storm.

I feel bad for Vince, but there's really nothing I can do to help.

Like Maya, TJ didn't seem upset by the storm but he's always
right next to my chair anyway.

The afternoon was really pretty nice and we got out for a hike.

Maya heard something rustling through the
leaves nearby. I thought squirrel at first but
it didn't run off. If you look in the direction
Maya is pointing you can barely make out
a large black snake in the upper right hand
corner of the picture.

The redbuds are still very pretty in the woods.

I'm not sure what this leafy green plant is growing along
a stream bed, but it's the first real green to appear in the woods.

TJ has proven to be first rate hiker, except for a continuing
tendency to do more stopping and sniffing than I care for.

Maya and Theo share a shepherd brain and are both in hunting
mode on our hikes, excited by any wildlife that moves fast.
TJ the Husky marches to the beat of a different drummer. 

Just as we were finishing our hike, a small rain shower came up
followed by the God Loves Gays sign right over Fluvanna County.