As a young pup, Laika wasn't too scared of loud noises. She was able to listen to distant fireworks without any problem and didn't seem to care if they were close-by, either. All of that changed one day during the first spring that I was taking care of her. She was alone in the apartment that day, crated and, presumably, sleeping happily. Since this was after I bolted the crate to the baseboard, I had peace of mind that she would be there, waiting eagerly to see me when I went home to feed and walk her on my dinner break. Unfortunately, I was greeted by an entirely different scene.
As soon as I opened the apartment door, I could hear the chirp of the smoke detector battery dying. I could also hear Laika pounding hysterically on the inside of her crate! I quickly rushed to the dining room and released her. She was shaking with terror and immediately ran to me to protect her from the sound. She looked completely pitiful and I consoled her for a moment before climbing on a chair to remove the offending battery. Laika sat in place panting, but happy that the sound had ceased. As I sat on the floor to hug and kiss her, I noticed a gash on her nose from her struggle to escape her noisy prison. I can only image how frantic she must have been trying to get away from the endless high-pitched pulse.
Once she felt better, I gave her the meal she had probably been dreaming about as she was rudely awakened by the horrible noise. She ate it quickly (as per usual) and then she happily rush to the door to go outside. Laika seemed normal (for her) on our walk, but as soon as we returned to the apartment, she started shaking and following me closely, slinking behind my every step. I couldn't leave her in this condition. I called Missy to see if she had some advice. As luck would have it, she was working from home and told me to drop Big Baby off at her place on my way back to work! Laika had never been more excited to jump into the truck and escape the source of the evil beeping. I was so thankful that Missy offered to help, despite Laika's track record with destroying her stuff and annoying Ramona, her pup. Everything turned out ok, as I'm sure Laika was more than excited to not be home alone.
Since I never wanted to see Laika so terrified again, I made sure to keep changing the batteries regularly. However, once in a while, an errant chirp from smoke in the kitchen or something else would make her cringe and shake in fear. I remember another time having to take her in the car with me in the dead of night in the dead of winter when a battery in a forgotten smoke detector started to chirp. Leaving her at home, even after the sound ceased, would have been torture!
After moving into our current house, I had planned to change all the batteries while Laika was at her chemotherapy appointment one week. This would ensure that she wouldn't hear a chirp and would be none the wiser. Several days ahead of plan, though, I awoke to a loud chirp and a hysterical Laika! At least I already had the batteries. Laika got to hang out in the backyard while I sleepwalked through the replacement process. (Apparently, I neglected the one that woke me up today!) Laika calmed-down pretty quickly and even went back to sleep within a few minutes! I was so happy that she had seemingly overcome some of her fear. Either that, or she was just really really sleepy!
Even though Laika is no longer with me, my immediate reaction to the chirping this morning was to look for her to make sure that she was ok! I guess her behavior indirectly has conditioned me to panic at the same sound, but for different reasons.I will have to agree with her, it is maybe the worst sound in the world!
Heisa and Laika chillin', unaware of the smoke detector above.
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