How MargeDog Did

I have to say that Marge was an absolute trooper during the confusion of Hurricane Sandy.  In fact, despite the fact that the storm was much more severe than Hurricane Irene, and much more tumultuous (leaving the house with the storm surge rushing up your block is certainly enough to set a fearful dog off) than anything Marge has ever experienced in my household, I was really surprised at how well behaved she was.

Contrary to popular belief, Marge was NOT a Katrina dog (she was born in 2007), so I'm not sure she's ever experienced anything like this before.

Marge definitely knew something was up in the day or so before the storm.  She had that nervous look about her and seemed to watch my movements closely.  However, even once the wind started to roar, she was relatively calm.  She enjoyed a few romps on the beach on Sunday and Monday and didn't appear nervous at all.

She did nearly have a heart attack when we threw her in my dad's hatchback car and she rode with me in the trunk as we escaped the high tide, but that's to be expected.  She settled down once we arrived at my grandma's dark house, though I kept her on a leash to be sure I knew where she was at all times.

Most importantly, once we returned home, she responded very favorably to the visitors coming and going from my house in the wake of the storm.  One neighbor who had her house completely destroyed stayed at my house for several hours, and Marge was nothing but hospitable towards her. (We did put her away when folks like the National Guard rang my doorbell, though, because I knew she wouldn't take kindly to men in uniform.  It's all about setting up for success.)

My friends stopped by to check on me, too, and she greeted them with only a few hackles and mostly swooping, happy tail wags.

The one thing that did make her really nervous was walking past the front-loaders that were taking garbage away from a nearby block.  But, she recovered quickly, and a few minutes later, ran some zoomies in a successful attempt to burn off the stress she just experienced.

So, she may not be perfect.. but she's pretty darn close!