Do you still love thunderstorms? (summer, working, water)

[Hunter Wold]

Absolutly beautiful and powerful lighting last pm.
Only negative is that our county road becomes impassable for 2 days after the heavy rain due to the mud.
Got lots of good rain for the rye field.+

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

No rainbow pictures but here is another light and color show that entertained me one day.

Wow! Love those!!!!

[aries63]

Another thunderstorm lover here, except when hiking!

It's also beautiful to experience them from an airplane, when flying back to ABQ at night. You don't actually see the lightning bolts, just the thunderheads flickering on and off like lightbulbs. Pretty amazing.

I doubt that a dog can get used to it, every dog I've ever had or known has had a lifelong fear of the sound of thunder.

[Brenda-by-the-sea]

When I moved from the Southwest to western Oregon in the 1980's, summer thunderstorms were one of the things I missed most. I didn't even realize how much they added to my life when I lived in Tucson. I wonder how much of it is psychological and how much of it is physiological (a response to negative ion and ozone generation).

[Poncho_NM]

I have trained two out of four dogs to not be afraid of thunder... Just take them on walks every day to include those bad weather days....

My thunder-proofed dogs... The Collie on the left is still with us, if you wish to place a
wager on my claim...




Rich

[Stanrice]

Originally Posted by Poncho_NM

I have trained two out of four dogs to not be afraid of thunder... Just take them on walks every day to include those bad weather days....

My thunder-proofed dogs... The Collie on the left is still with us, if you wish to place a
wager on my claim...




Rich

That only works if it is thundering while you are out walking, which is a good way to get yourself and your dogs electrocuted...

Any dog can be conditioned to not fear thunder It's all in how the people around the animal act. Don't try to "comfort" the dog, just act as if nothing is happening, otherwise the dog sees that comfort as praise for acting frightened. My dog now neither fears thunder nor fireworks because of this.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by Stanrice

That only works if it is thundering while you are out walking, which is a good way to get yourself and your dogs electrocuted...

Of course it has to be thundering... It's very difficult to simulate it. But that's my business. We have not been electrocuted yet, and you say it's a good way? I take some issues seriously... So, that's my business.

Originally Posted by Stanrice

Any dog can be conditioned to not fear thunder It's all in how the people around the animal act. Don't try to "comfort" the dog, just act as if nothing is happening, otherwise the dog sees that comfort as praise for acting frightened.

That is generally the correct way to do it. It does not work all the time and many humans don't know how to really do it. If you are anxious about thunder and lightning, the dog can sense it...


Rich

[nmguy]

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

Sounds beautiful. Anyone have a picture?

Here's a double dipper from the back of our place.

[Stanrice]

Originally Posted by Poncho_NM

Of course it has to be thundering... It's very difficult to simulate it. But that's my business. We have not been electrocuted yet, and you say it's a good way? I take some issues seriously... So, that's my business.

I didn't intend to offend you. While it is your business whether or not to be outside in a lightening storm, I don't feel that it is appropriate to recommend that another take that same risk. New Mexico ranks quite high in deaths due to lightening, and I feel that it is okay for me to mention the dangers of exposing ones-self to that risk.

Originally Posted by Poncho_NM

That is generally the correct way to do it. It does not work all the time and many humans don't know how to really do it. If you are anxious about thunder and lightning, the dog can sense it...


Rich

Good point; if someone is afraid of thunder, then it is going to be harder to correct their dog's behavior.

[Fiddlehead]

You two are inadvertently getting the gist of my opening post. I love mtn. thunderstorms, but I have also found them quite terrifying. I used to do fieldwork (stream restoration) in high elevation mountain meadows. I recall one huge downstrike when I had one leg on either side of a barbed wire fence. Not my idea of a bbq! Another time we were chased out of a meadow by a huge storm, and I looked back to see a crew member of running along with a rock bar in his hand like javelin! Needless to say, I told him to drop it, and we got out of out there for a couple hours. So, they are certainly majestic and exciting, but they can also be a menace. And genuinely dangerous.

I was reading the other day that one of the biggest lightning areas in New Mexico, and the United States for that matter, is the the Canadian River escarpment area south of Las Vegas. Must be some amazing storms out that way.