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July 4th Pet Safety- What you Need to Know

When it comes to fireworks and dogs, one of the first things I think about is the need to know how our dogs will react. If you have never witnessed your dog around fireworks prior, taking them to a 4th of July party with fireworks is not the best way to test this out. I certainly would not have a new dog or puppy at an event with fireworks without some knowledge of how it will affect them.

If you have not exposed your dog to fireworks, then a good way to start is by setting your pup up for success first. You can do this by having someone with some type of loud noisemakers (such as speakers airhorns, cowbells, whistles to name a few) at a good distance away while your dog is being entertained or playing to get a feel for their initial reactions to these noises. Typically, a dog that is reactive (fearful or aggressive) of fireworks is also fearful or aggressive of other noises like thunder and/or vehicles braking or backfiring, so this may give us some insight to how they will be around fireworks.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed dogs doing everything from trying to run for their life while fireworks are going off to actually chasing them, even biting at them (causing injuries). Understandably, some dogs live in areas that even while being in their home it is not possible to keep the noise of fireworks away, especially on a holiday like 4th of July and proximity of the home to the event area. When this is the case (regardless of if the dogs are reactive in any manner or even neutral), I recommend keeping dogs in safe confinement (crate or area they cannot escape, hurt themselves, destroy things, etc). Preferably, something they are already accustomed to. In extreme cases, some dogs may need to be confined and given a sedative (speak to your Veterinarian about this).

Often I see folks trying to comfort a dog that is either in fear or aggressive mode and for the dog this actually does not translate the way most humans believe it does… petting and holding onto this animal saying…. “Oh it's okay, it’s alright” actually translates quite the opposite information- dogs take this as confirmation that “Yes- I am glad you agree these loud noises are awful.”

My personal preference, although my dogs are fairly neutral to noises, is to just keep them away from fireworks and the shenanigans that go along with them. I do not believe that there is a benefit for the dogs to be around these events. More often it is the case that something will become negative. Not to mention this cannot be good on the hearing either. There are much better events I can socialize and exercise my dogs at that have more positive in nature with less stress all around.

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