Your dog gives you so much love all year long, this is the one day out of the year that you need to sacrifice your personal wishes, to be with them and take care of them!
Dogs seem to be at one extreme in regards to the 4th of July. They either have no response, or they are seriously afraid. There are very few dogs that fit somewhere in the middle of their response. If your dog has no response, be very very thankful!
Dogs are effected by the sound, by the percussion of the sound waves (think about how we like the thump of the bass when we play music), and the smells from the pyro elements.
Because they are not used to the sound and smells on a regular basis, they become fearful. They think the world is in serious danger. Their fight or flight response kicks in, big time!
Dogs have been known to have super dog strength and have jumped through glass windows, screen doors, tear open doors, and leap fences normally adequate to hold them.
Providing multiple secure layers can help them not run away and get lost. Some people will sit in their dark closet with their dog, locked inside their room, locked inside their home.
In case of an escape, please make sure your dog is micro chipped and/or has a collar with your name and current phone number.
When dogs are in panic mode, they run to get away from the sounds, not understand they can’t. They may run a short distance away, take a turn, run some more, take a turn, and before long they can be quite a distance away and unfamiliar on how to get back home.
July 5th is Shelter's busiest day of the year!
Here are some ways you can reduce or eliminate that fear.
1 - Download a video of fireworks and play it over and over and over again for days prior to the 4th, first starting at low levels, then getting loud. At low levels it may not bother them, then as it gets louder they learn to accept it. On the 4th, it will just be the same sound they have heard the days before and not be frightened.
2 - You can use any one of the many calming medications. You can get an Rx from the Vet (schedule an appointment early) or use over the counter items such as calming pills, Benadryl, or others. Normal doses may not be as effective on this day, so give your dog about 75% of the recommended dose, then watch you dog carefully and give additional doses every 20-30 minutes. Monitor your dog very carefully! Be very careful to give your dog enough (or extra) medicine to make them drowsy and dull their senses, but not overdose them to an unhealthy life threatening level.
3 - Some people have had good experience with "thunder shirts". If you go this route, make sure you get one soon as the demand is high this time of year and online and retail locations sell out quickly. If not available, you can use one of your shirts, but then wrap the shirt, on your dog with gaffers tape. It should be tight but still allow for breathing.
4 – Crank up your music! This is a great night to blast your favorite album or playlist for a few hours to drown out the exterior noises.
5 – You can try having your dog wear high quality headphones. A few years back I bought military grade ear protection for my dogs. At first they don’t like them, since they only wear them once a year, and try to paw them off. But once my dogs learned what it did for them, I was able to put it back on them with no problems at all and they kept them on for hours.
Personally I love the 4th of July. I love celebrating my love for this country. But my love for my dog is a higher priority. I have not celebrated the 4th of July in years because being with, protecting and comforting my dogs means much more to me!
Happy 4th!