House Training and Thunderstorms

3 a.m. I am awakened by a thunder storm. I have four problems:

1. Said storm also awakened Gibbs, age 14 weeks.
2. Gibbs has outgrown his puppy crate and is sleeping on a fleece bed on my bedroom floor.
3. Gibbs did not wake me up at 2 a.m. for a potty break.
4. I need a potty break.

The only other storm we have had since bringing the puppy home was on a day that my mother was working from home. His response was to go into his crate and take a nap.  

As I mentioned, Gibbs can jump up onto my bed. At 10 p.m., he tried twice. But I put him back down on his floor-bed and he settled down. Awesome. 

So. 3 a.m. I don’t move a muscle, listening to what he will do and wondering what my counter-play will be. I know that if he gets up, he will have to pee. Then I will have to choose between taking him out in the storm and having an accident in the house. And I really had to pee, too.

He put his paws up on my bed and whined. I flew out of bed, turned on the light and told him to follow me to the bathroom. Solved that problem.  

Just as I was flushing, he started to go on the bathroom rug.  

“Gibbs, no!”

He stopped immediately. We raced downstairs and I put the leash on him. We stepped outside into the storm. It had let up a bit, so I wasn’t worried about being struck by lightning or anything. It took about 15 seconds of, “Gibbs, you have to go potty now,” before he did. For more than a count of ten, I might add. Then we raced back inside and upstairs where I grabbed a towel for him. Then he was in my bed before I had time to put on a dry shirt.

It has been years since I had a wet dog on my bed.

So. Now I have to decide if I am going to let him sleep on the bed. The “experts” say that they way to keep dogs from fearing storms is to make them a non-event. But we don’t have a normal routine yet! Does it make it a non-event to let him sleep on the bed or to make him sleep on the floor, all wet and anxious?

I let him sleep on the bed. And do you know what happened next?

Do you know what happened next?!

The cat came in. Jumped up on the bed and smacked the puppy.

I haven’t seen that cat in two days. He has wanted nothing to do with me and the puppy that I let bark at him. Now, at 3:15 in the morning in the middle of Gibbs’ first thunderstorm, Spooky wants to cuddle.

For God’s Sake.

By 3:30 a.m., I am happy to say, Gibbs was asleep on the other side of the bed. Spooky, curled up next to me, was staring at him.

Whatever, dude.

The morning routine went just fine. I am calling this a victory. Sort of.