Sometimes it's the little things

Here's Dahlia in 2008 during a thunderstorm

Sometimes it's the little things that impress you the most.  Because I wasn't paying enough attention to the weather, Dahlia and I walked outside tonight to discover there was lightning in the air.  At first I thought maybe I was seeing things as Dahlia didn't really react to the flashes of light.  I no longer can hear thunder in the distance thanks to my hearing problems, but I can only assume she could.  Then there was a flash of chain lightning and that was enough for Dahlia.  She immediately bolted straight for the house and concerned about her stress level, I let her.

But then I had a second thought.  Dahlia needed to go out.  And she's gained so much confidence in the past year that I had a "what if" moment.  As in "what if I pull out some high value treats and my omg so excited voice..."  Would she go back outside and find a spot to do her business?

I decided to try it.  It was still lightning off in the distance (as I discovered, the storm is somewhat to our north and is not going to hit us right now) and Dahlia had a couple moments of nervousness, but I kept my happy voice going and I kept offering her hotdogs for continuing.  She did so.  And then she started to sniff around to find a spot to do her business.  Despite the presence of lightning she found a spot and then we celebrated with a lot of praise and a huge jackpot of treats and a quick racing back to the house.

This is huge for Dahlia.  Right now there is lightning and thunder still around and she just finished her Dogster ice cream and is relaxed and asleep on the ground.  A dog who used to shut down and panic over lightning and thunder has now gone outside with it in the area with only minimal stress.

I am so very impressed with my girl.