As Americans, we love the 4th of July, and look forward to all the associated festivities; BBQs, friends, family, and...fireworks.
Our dogs are not nearly as excited about any of this.
Many dogs get frightened by loud noises - thunder, gunshots, and fireworks.
It is our responsibility to do everything in our power to alleviate our pup's anxiety in general, but especially when we can anticipate a bout of anxiety; such as the inevitable fireworks on the 4th of July.
**My top tips on helping you and your pup survive the 4th:
1) Keep your pup home -
You do know that a dog's hearing is exponentially more powerful/sensitive as ours right?
- Yes? Then why would you subject your dog to being auditorily tortured? Yep, I said it - tortured! I know how some of those boom booms hurt my ears, I can only imagine how my pups would feel.
2) Create a place for your dog to retreat to -
Ideally, a room located in the interior of the home, with dim lights, and calming music. Do a search on you tube for dog calming music. Have it playing in the background, at a volume where it is barely able to be heard by humans. You DO NOT want to blare it; that defeats the purpose.
If your dog is crate trained, you can put a bunch of comfy blankets in there, perhaps even one that you have used so your scent helps to soothe them as well. You can cover the crate with a blanket to help block out the light and noise, if that won't freak your pup out even more. If your pup is interested, you can give them a frozen stuffed Kong to enjoy too.
CAUTION - if you do give them a toy, Kong, etc, please keep checking on your pup to make sure they aren't destroying, and then ingesting, the thing you gave them.
3) Load up on exercise and enrichment before nightfall -
Take a vigorous walk/run, go on a long sniffari (decompression walk), do some enrichment activities (brain games), in the hours leading up to nightfall. This can help exhaust your pup, which in turn could decrease any anxiety, and anxiety induced behaviors.
4) Use calming products -
There are a bunch of things you can do/buy, to help soothe your pup's anxiety. A few such options are:
- Thundershirt - This is an item of clothing that fits snugly, and sort of mimics being held/snuggled.
- Pheromone products - D.A.P, Adaptil. These products release a pheromone similar to a mama dog's, which can soothe your pup.
- Essential Oils/CBD - I love this option, BUT keep in mind that not all essential oils, or CBD are created equal. Personally, I only use oils and CBD that come from Young Living. When I intentionally use EO's to help calm my doggos, I have multiple diffusers going, ALL DAY LONG. My favorite oils to diffuse for this purpose are: Peace & Calming, Stress Away, Frankincense, T-Away, Lavender, Trauma Life. I also rub a couple drops into my hands, and then massage my pups' ears, and head. DID YOU KNOW - there are emotional reflexology points on your pups head, and behind their ears? Peep this great blog post giving step by step how to perform an ear massage for your dog. I also use CBD oil when needed to give my pups any extra soothing they may need.
5) Supervised potty breaks -
Try to let your dog out to potty BEFORE the booms start. However, if they have to do their business while fireworks are happening, ensure that they are closely monitored, and better yet - tethered/leashed. I know dogs who have gotten spooked in their own yards, and easily scaled a 6+ foot fence. So, please err on the side of caution.
6) Update your contact info -
If your dog wears a collar, make sure that your contact information is visible, and current. If your pup is microchipped, I suggest you take a few minutes TODAY to verify that A) it was properly registered with the ID company B) your contact information is accurate.
PRO TIP - if you adopted your dog from a shelter or rescue organization, and they were microchipped prior to adoption, double check that the microchip registration has been transferred to you, and is not in the rescue group's, or shelter's name. If you are unsure which microchip company your dog's chip is from, no worries - use this to perform a microchip search. You just need your pet's microchip number. Don't know it? No biggie - check your paperwork from the rescue group, shelter, your veterinarian's office, or if all else fails, call your veterinarian; they likely have the number recorded in your pet's chart.
7) Be prepared -
Let's be honest, shit happens. Even the most diligent, well-prepared, and responsible dog owners have invariably had a dog get out of the yard, or get away from them. I know I have. Pfftt - one of my dogs, Tucker, was brought home by the police one time. Thankfully, the dispatcher that was on duty at the time, was a friend of ours, recognized Tucker, called us, and the kind officers gave him a lift home.
To best prepare for the worst case scenario, gather the following, beforehand:
- Proof of ownership. Dog license, breeder purchase, or adoption contract.
- Proof of current Rabies vaccination. If you cannot prove that your dog is up-to-date with their rabies vaccine, dog control may require you to provide it before they return your pup, and they can also force you to get your pup vaccinated, even if they technically already are; because you cannot prove it.
- Make note of the phone number for your local Animal (or Dog) Control officers, and find out what their protocol is when they find a dog at-large. Do the same for the surrounding towns. Locally, there are multiple animal shelters, and the municipality that picks up the dog, dictates what shelter the dog is taken to.
- Make note of the phone numbers to your local animal shelters. If your pup goes missing, give the shelter a call, and give a physical description, noting any special markings etc, that would help to identify your dog versus one that looks similar. The shelter staff should then be able to tell you if they have a dog that may be the one you are looking for, or not. Don't just call once and give up - call every.single.day. Dogs can travel pretty far in a short amount of time, and can find ingenious hiding places, especially if they are afraid.
- Have a current photo of your dog available to post on social media if they do go missing. Check for local missing/found pets groups on Facebook - they are SUPER helpful at spreading the word.
Wishing you all a safe, and Happy 4th of July!
Stay safe.
Be excellent to each other!
My sassy AF beagle, Roxy, is going to be 10 years old soon, and has, historically, given us a run for our damn money!
Roxy has lived with our super sweet, soon to be 12 year old Golden mix, Lilly, from the day she left her mom and litter-mates.
My son had originally named the puppy we were going to be bringing home, Cupcake; he and our friend's niece named every pup in the litter a snack food name. LOL Well, fast forward to the day we brought Cupcake home; the tiny little nugget pup was rowdy, bossy, sassy, and didn't take NO kinda shit. We pretty much instantly knew we needed to find a name a bit more fitting. So, after a few days of brainstorming, we settled on Roxy.
Life was pretty good for a few years, and then - all hell broke loose!
Roxy began to randomly attack Lilly.
For example...
Lilly, Roxy, myself, and my, at the time, ~7 year old son, were all snuggled up on the couch: Lilly on one end of the HUGE couch, Dylan and I in the middle, and Roxy on the other end. It was a wonderful evening of snuggs.
Then, Lilly got off the couch to get a drink, a toy, or something equally innocuous, and as she tried to get back up onto the couch, Roxy leapt over me, over Dylan, and started a fight with Lilly. My kid was right in the midst of these two lunatics, snapping,biting, and snarling at each other.
I threw Dylan out of the way, and broke up the fight; both girls struggling against my hold.
That was it, I was fed.the.fuck.up!
There was no rhyme or reason to any of the incidents.
*We took Roxy to the vet to get examined to make sure there wasn't a physical/medical reason for her lashing out.
- She was in perfect health.
*We tried tightening the reigns, and revoking certain "freedoms" Roxy had.
- It didn't work. I know, I know, don't laugh, it made sense to me at the time. OY
*We took away all the toys.
- Made no difference.
*I reached out to a dog trainer I knew.
- Praise Jesus, Pass the Butter - things started to look up.
The forward steps we made, were baby steps, but at least we were making some progress, right?!
A couple years later, totally unrelated to Roxy, we began using essential oils. We got ourselves a set of 11 oils, and a diffuser. Roxy would still occasionally have a fit for herself, or as we called it, Furious Roxy would come out, but they were far less frequent.
My son Dylan LOVED making up different combos for us to diffuse. Yes, sometimes this meant there were 11 different oils pumping outta the diffuser, all.at.the.same.time. #idonotrecommendthis LOL
Dylan's favorite was a blend called Peace & Calming - he diffused it erryday!
Well, after about a month or two, we realized that there had been precisely ZERO Furious Roxy sightings.
We also noticed that when Roxy sat on our laps, instead of her usual sort of quiver, sort of tremble, she was completely calm.
I tried to think of a way that Roxy could get benefits of the oils all the time, not just when we diffused it.
So, I did an experiment - I put a couple drops of Peace & Calming on the underside of her collar, and put it back on her.
HOLY BALLS you guys...
In the six years that it has been since we implemented the use of essential oils into our home, there have been less than five Furious Roxy sightings. WHOOP WHOOP!!
Now, please note, that in this time, I have also learned a CRAP TON about dog behavior, force-free training, behavior modification, etc, and have put my skills to use for ALL of my dogs.
BUT -
Peace & Calming soothed our savage beast, errrr. I mean our Furious Roxy!
Roxy is the reason I have like 80teen bottles of Peace & Calming hoarded. #notkidding
I am thankful for each of my pups, and for various things. To my Roxy, I am thankful that her brain loved essential oils, because as a result, I went all in - and have now been able to find ways to resolve my OWN fits of fury.
Need a jump start at getting your emotions in check?
Peep my guide of 3 ways to Spring Clean your Emotions, here.
