Stormy and the fish…or… a dog who panics!

Have you ever seen a dog that has a sheer look of panic on their face? I see this quite often in my little Shih Tzu, whenever his prize fish comes up missing. His fish is actually a raggedy, little blue stuffed toy that he laid claims to shortly after he came to live with us. He carries this little fish everywhere.

He brings it to his dinner bowl and gently lays it beside the food, stepping back as if he thinks the fish is going to grab a bite to eat. He sometimes takes the fish outside for his “potty break” and lays it down. So far, I have never witnessed the fish eating or pottying, but Stormy still keeps trying.

And yes, he has to sleep with this fish and that’s where the sheer panic on his face comes in. Sometimes we don’t manage to keep a close eye on Mr. Fish as he journeys around the house and he gets left here or there. Gizmo, Stormy, the fish and I all share a big old king sized bed.  I have to lift both of them up on the bed at night, sometimes Stormy has the fish tucked securely in his mouth....sometimes not. 

As soon as Stormy’s feet hits the bed, he does a search and rescue lap all over the bed top in hunt of Mr. Fish. A missing Mr. Fish sends him into fits of barking and even faster running as he looks at me in sheer panic, barking nonstop as his little legs run as fast as he can.

He will jump down and run around the bed, then he wants back up to take another look, just in case he missed Mr. Fish the first few laps. Oh, and did I mention that he barks and looks at me in a panic the entire time as if to say, “OMG, where is Mr. Fish!”

"Oh no, the hunt is on!"

No one in my household gets to go to bed until Mr. Fish is located. It’s like a scavenger hunt as we all run around the house trying to locate the little blue fish, all the while being chased by a dog in panic mode who is still barking his head off. My granddaughter has even gotten out of bed to help with the fish hunt as she can hear his panicked bark from her room and immediately knows what the problem is.

Me, I walk around looking and even get down on hands and knees peering under furniture, under the bed, and anywhere else I can imagine Mr. Fish taking off to. I even ask this dog, “Well where did you leave him?” Or I admonish him, “If you’d leave him on the bed, you’d know where he is!” So far, he hasn’t told me where he left him, nor has he left him on the bed!

 So, I guess so long as Stormy insists on taking Mr. Fish for a daily stroll and then forgetting where he left him, our random nightly hunts will still go on…if not, no one in this house is getting much sleep!

We have a lot of crazy antics around our house. Follow our blog and come back often to see what we are up to!