Bad mama

I was so happy to see my sweet Amie when we got home, but was heartsick to find that she had made an acral lick granuloma on her foot in our absence. This is a fairly common stress-related behavior in dogs, but she had not done this in more than two years. She hates thunder, and there were some frightful storms here while we were gone. While we were in Italy, looking at the satellite weather map, I worried about Amie, alone and afraid in the Scientist's closet. I know she had a lot of attention from her grandma and our neighbors during the day, but she spent her nights alone. If we take such a long trip again during her lifetime, I'll have to come up with some contingency plan so she won't be all alone for so long. I felt like such a bad mama when I saw her foot. She's stopped licking it, though, so it should heal soon.