I am having a major dilemma. Charley all of a sudden is terrified of motorcycles. She tries to bolt every time she even hears one nearby. I’m talking about the motorcycles that have that tough motorcycle sound. We could be playing and one will roar by on the freeway and she panics. Panics so bad she almost hopped the fence leaving me standing there helpless.

But right now it is summer. Motorcycles are out and about. It’s that time to dust off the bike and go riding.

To top it off there was the big Pride parade today where there was about 300,000 people who showed up, so there were a lot of horns honking, sirens wailing, and an extraordinary amount of fire trucks rushing by our building (we live by a hospital) in which she ended up going into her room and disappeared for more than an hour. I looked in and she was dead asleep.

Another thing I’m very nervous about is the 4th of July coming up on us. Last year there was some fireworks that went off randomly a week after the fourth and she’d bolted so fast, with the leash tearing out of my hands, and I didn’t see her for about 45 minutes. That time I was lucky because it was at the college campus where she’s familiar and there are no moving vehicles.

But it has gotten so bad that she won’t even go for a walk. I tried enticing her with her ball, in which she reluctantly heads on out with me, but then we will exit the back of the building and she’ll immediately head for the front of the building. It’s like a 100 feet walk. I don’t want to force her to walk if she is scared, but I know she needs exercise and I know she probably has to go to the bathroom.

I tried to watch Avatar tonight but any loud noises and she would jump.

No horror or action movies in this house for awhile.

So right now I’m sitting here catching up on things I have been meaning to do, have the music on her favorite soft jazz, and she’s lying peacefully on my bed.

I really don’t know what is the best way to tackle this. Somebody told me to get her some of that mellow medication for dogs, which I might do on the 4th.

We will see how it goes.