Dog Language in a Storm

We haven't had a real rain in many months - until last night. The sky began to light up like an airport runway and the thunder started rumbling/grumbling. My dog Seymour started whining, circling and periodically hitting his head on the side of my bed while trying unsuccessfully to join me. I pulled him on to the bed and pushed him under the blankets, thinking that if he doesn't see the light, he'll settle down. Nope. In the dark, I could smell his chicken jerky breath and feel his little elbows digging into my chest. I tried massage and headlocks to keep him still while thinking that I should have brushed his teeth.

I finally set him back on the floor and tried to go back to sleep. Nope. He paced, tried going under the bed, into his crate, into a secret hiding place in another room, and finally back to whining and hitting his head on the side of my bed.

If the doggie door had been left open, he would have run out and hidden in the most weed-infested part of the yard. Since it wasn't, as he stood on my chest, nose to nose and eye balls to eye balls, I finally understood that he wanted my car keys. If he couldn't escape out the doggie door, he could get to security under the car seat, if he only had my keys - and opposing fingers.

Thankfully, his new doggie tricks didn't include learning to use the car remote and I wasn't about to leave the comfort of my bed to run through the downpour so he could go to the only place he thought he would feel safe. Was I a bad doggie-mommy?

Finally, sleepless, grouchy and losing my patience, I was about to toss him my car keys when the storm let up. Seymour quietly tiptoed back to his crate to sleep. All was fine in his life again. I was awake the rest of the night. Doggie communication can be exhausting!