Do you know where your dachshund is?

I know where ours will be tomorrow or even possibly tonight. At the first crack of a firework, she'll either be under the bed or we'll turn around and find ourselves doing an unexpected jig to avoid stepping on her because she's under foot. Fun times.

It used to be that fireworks were the only problem, and then only on July 4th. But these days we have fireworks not only on Independence Day but also Memorial Day, Labor Day, and New Year's Day. And now we have thunderstorms, too (although ever since the tornado scare last year, I'll admit they don't do me a lot of good now either). And slamming doors. Whether it's the wind slamming the basement door or Kathleen shutting all the doors opening off the hallway, it hardly matters. Any loud noise sends Sadie scurrying through the house with her tail between her legs.

I have no idea what it's about. Age, perhaps? She's going to be ten in six months. Do small dogs generally become nervous as they grow older? Or is it the more chaotic household with the addition of Muggles and Kathleen over the years that's thrown her off? I wish I knew.

Has anyone invented doggy ear muffs, yet?

I'm glad Muggles isn't the nervous sort: Sadie's more than enough to deal with. As a cat, though, I'd expect her to be. But she stands her ground even with Kathleen. I can only suppose it's because she has the knowledge and the ability get out of the way. Cats also excel at finding the perfect hiding spot when they don't want to be found (the corner of the walk-in closet behind the robes is the known spot - we're still searching for the rest). Poor Sadie hasn't figured that out after all these years. She doesn't even know enough to crawl under the center of the bed or head through the baby gate (it has a pet door) to find peace and quiet out of reach of sticky hands. And there are people who say dogs are the smarter animal.