Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1889 — The Effects of Thunder on Dogs. [ARTICLE]

The Effects of Thunder on Dogs.

An interesting story was told last year of a supposed mad dog out in Litchfield County, that was killed because of its strange conduct, and afterward was found to have been only frightened by the thunder. It had run twelve miles and then taken to a strange house, run up-stairs and refused to stir, and so was shot. It was a Scotch collie, and these dogs are peculiarly susceptible to and utterly cowed by thunder. There is one in this city not quite as bright as the sunshine in fair weather that becomes an utter imbecile as soon as thunder or even a firecracker is heard. Yesterday afternoon, amid the distant rumble of a far-away storm, he laid aside his intelligence and ran wildly off from home without it. A long search for him proved futile, but in a couple of hours he turned u*, all wet and muddy, at his owner’s office ready to be escorted home. On the penitential journey homeward they met another dog, not quite so big as this one, and, at sight of the large and ruffled collie, the strange dog dropped flat upon his belly and lay cringing and trembling, the victim of abject fear, until the dog scared by a crack of thunder had walked proudly by. There are all sorts of cowards.