12.26.2009

A couple of things!

Hi Pups and Kitties:

We learned something interesting from A Word A Day.  For those of us who are terrified of thunder and lightening, there is a word for us:      Astraphobia or Astraphobics !  Sounds better than just calling us scardy katz, doesn't it?

People have nothing on dogs when it comes to astraphobia. Up to 20 percent of dogs of all ages and breeds suffer from noise phobias so severe that their people seek professional help for them.   Now what do you think of that?  I'm just glad there is gonna be some help for lots of us.

One more thing:  The weather, of course.  We got quite a lot of snow and we are expecting 2 to 3 more inches today.  Here is a picture of me doing what I love to do in the snow. (its way deeper now, this was taken  a few weeks ago.)   It takes my Mom to get out and throw it for me though, and she will if its not sub-zero!
                                                                


Here is a little pome about Minniesnowda in the winter time:

It's winter in Minniesnowda


And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minniesnowda

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave Minniesnowda

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!
 
Its a good thing Ali Z stays inside, she couldn't take this stuff.
 
Happy, Healthy New Year Everybody!
 
Kisses,
Stella

17 comments:

The Oceanside Animals said...

hello stella its dennis the vizsla dog hay dada is giggling and saying minniesnowda sownds a lot like upstayt noo york!!! he sez yoo can come visit us in sandy eggo if yoo need to thaw owt!!! ok bye

KB said...

Funny, I had a dog named "Astro" and he became afraid of thunder in his old age. So, "astraphobia" seems like a funny word to me.

Enjoy that snow!

Sue said...

Our big brother Monty was noise phobic, so when we were little pups Mom would put us in a pen in the garage with lots of toys while Dad ran his power tools and hammered things and made lots of noise. It worked, none of us pay any attention to thunder or any other loud noises.

Dexter said...

I am not bothered by the thunder. In fact I will go outside and play during a storm. But my grandpa Angus FREAKED over it. Go figure.

Slobbers,
Mango

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Your khousin Merdie is NOT fond of T&L...

I love the looks of Wubba in the snow!

My snow has been replaced by a grassy sponge!

Khan I have some of yours PLEASE?

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: Eva and Brice tell me they had a BLAST in theirs!!!

Audrey the Photographer Dog said...

Hello, I'm Audrey and I'm an astraphobic.
It's good to be able to get it out there. I'm so glad I'm not alone! Thanks for sharing that!

Ms. ~K said...

Poor Zack is terrified of thunder!
We've tried tranquilizers, but it only made him scared and drunk...
Hiding in the closet is the only thing that comforts him!
Thanks for teaching us a new word!
~K

Life With Dogs said...

ROFL! Nice prose girl!

Happy holidays Stella. :)

Lorenza said...

Hi, Stella!
Sure is nice to learn something new everyday, right?
Do you think that, if I go to visit you... Ali Z would let me be inside with her??
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Hamish Westie said...

Hi Stella
Oh I usd to be so scared of thunder, totally astraphobic, before I went deaf.
Now that I am old, I really don't like cold weather, although of course I would still love to visit you in Minniesnowda, Stella, as your warm heart would certainly make up for all the snow and ice!
Cheers, Hamish
PS Thank you so much for you offer of honorary citizenship. And I am delighted to report that this is one honour that Gail is going to allow me to accept (albeit on the condition that I have to give it up if ever another member of the Bush family is elected president. But that won't happen will it Stella....)

Martha said...

Hi Stella
It sounds like you are having the perfect xmas with perfect xmas weather!
Thank you for teaching us new words today.
love
Martha & bailey xxx

Teddy Westlife said...

Ali Z please stay warm!

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

We love it Stella...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

Love the poem!

Anonymous said...

Wow! You ARE a writer, Stella! Thanks for that info on the scary-thunder phenomenon.

I don't have astraphobia and that surprises these two (the humans I live with, who go by the names of Mercury and Cameo.)I think it must have something to do with my Zinar Cutie genes.

Licks n wags,
oorvi

D.K. Wall said...

Excellent poetry. We are really impressed.

Fortunately, The Herd is not affected by thunder. Qannik is the most bothered by it, but he looks around at the rest of The Herd and handles the noise just fine.

P.S. - Our word of the day is elfondip. Hope that poor elf gets help to get off the dip.

Dexter said...

Miss Stella,
I have posted before about Raja's short life, so I will share it here with you directly. Raja had the very bad hips. It caused her a lot of pain and made her very grouchy. Momma and Master took her to the vet a lot and they tried many different medications. Some of them would work for a while, but her hips got worse and worse.

In addition, the poor gal had to undergo surgeries to fix a botched spaying which was causing UTI's and other bad things (this was not life threatening, but did add to her misery).

The vet and momma and master discussed options for helping her feel better and agreed that corrective surgery was not an option for such a big (190 lb.) gal (they even consulted with the experts at the vet school).

Eventually, the muscles in her hiney started to waste away and her back leggies were like little stiff sticks. It took her a really long time to get up. Even in pain, she loved chasing her soccer ball and we all agreed that when her ouchies were so bad that she couldn't even enjoy that, then it would be time for her to cross over.

When she made her final trip to the vet it was obvious that her back end had just given out on her. Momma and Master held her close while she crossed over the bridge to run free of pain forever.

Slobbers,
Mango