PSA For Pet Owners

[Subdeacon Joe]

[Pat Riot]

No kidding! 

[Alpo]

Or you could ignore the vet, and on July 3rd travel around the neighborhood and shoot the people that normally set off the fireworks. Then they'll all be in the hospital and there won't be any fireworks on the 4th.

 

This was basically tongue in cheek, but I have occasionally thought it. If it goes bang it's not legal in Florida. But nobody cares.

[J-BAR #18287]

One of the ways bird hunters prevented gun shyness in a new puppy was to make noise (beating a pan), shooting a cap gun or starter gun with blanks, or setting off a firecracker when the puppy was fed.  The idea was to associate the noise with the pleasure of getting fed.  Some owners unwittingly contribute to fireworks sensitivity by petting and reassuring the dog when loud explosions happen.  The dog figures "I get petted when there is a loud boom and I act nervous.  I like getting petted, so I will continue to do that."

 

If you ignore the explosions, your dog will likely do the same.  Dogs key off their master's behavior.

[Gateway Kid SASS# 70038 Life]

We have one of our dogs who will want to be touching you when the fireworks go off. Normally the dominant dog of our three. The other two just ignore the noise and nap around the living room, or wherever we happen to be. When they were puppies we generally just ignored the loud noise of various celebrations (which is what all three normally do as well) and don't know what happened with the one to be bothered on the 4th.

Regards

    

Gateway Kid

[Rip Snorter]

My big, young dog who has a serious bark, has decided he can make thunder go away by barking at it.  Who knows, the storms so far have been brief.  No fireworks near.  When i lived in another state, I had a big Lab who would try to get into the bed when there were fireworks.  That was a struggle.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

We shot fireworks off on and around July 4 all the time when we were kids, and I don't remember any dog issues with them at all. Never gave it a thought.

 

But back then the dogs ran at large and I suppose they may have hightailed it down the gulch.....never paid it any mind.

 

Now everybody talks about their dogs at fireworks time.....

[Cypress Sun]

 

My old dog, Alex, absolutely loved fireworks, especially bottle rockets. I'd light them off at my shoulder height and he'd "chase" them. I kept the small fireworks (bottle rockets, firecrackers, etc.) in a cabinet drawer in the garage. Anytime I got anything out of that cabinet, he'd go crazy wanting me to shoot some bottle rockets. If we were shooting off fireworks on the 4th or NYE, I had to keep him inside or keep his lease on because he wanted to chase, and catch if he could, ground fireworks which would NOT be a good thing.

 

I haven't shot off any fireworks since he passed, just isn't the same. I miss my boy every day, especially when fireworks are going off in the neighborhood.

[Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474]

My Bichon, "Mugsy" was terrified of fireworks and would crawl under the bed if he couldn't get in our laps.

Strange, because when Sherron and I took took him to the range with us, he was OK.  

[Subdeacon Joe]

For a while we had two dogs.  One, Merlin (named for the bird, not the mage), Flat Coated Retriever, about 40#,  that we got from the pound, very high strung, completely ignored fireworks,  The other, Kestrel, another from the pound, part Great Dane (we think), part retriever of some sort(s), about 75#, very laid back EXCEPT with loud noises.  Drop a pot in the kitchen, raise your voice, shoot an air gun, and, especially fireworks. Shaking, wide eyed, panting. With the 5 days of fireworks before Independence Day, and the day long, well into the 5th, he was a nervous wreck.  Tried to hide behind my head when I was sitting on the couch.  When we went to bed he would try to crawl into the bookshelf on the headboard.  

[J-BAR #18287]

1 hour ago, Subdeacon Joe said:

For a while we had two dogs.  One, Merlin (named for the bird, not the mage), Flat Coated Retriever, about 40#,  that we got from the pound, very high strung, completely ignored fireworks,  The other, Kestrel, another from the pound, part Great Dane (we think), part retriever of some sort(s), about 75#, very laid back EXCEPT with loud noises.  Drop a pot in the kitchen, raise your voice, shoot an air gun, and, especially fireworks. Shaking, wide eyed, panting. With the 5 days of fireworks before Independence Day, and the day long, well into the 5th, he was a nervous wreck.  Tried to hide behind my head when I was sitting on the couch.  When we went to bed he would try to crawl into the bookshelf on the headboard.  

Pet owners like to think they can control all of their pet's responses.  We can't, anymore than we can control our kids or friends.  Influence yes, control no.  You do what you can.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

My 11 year old pup takes her favorite blanket as soon as she hears the bang (including thunder and other loud noises) and drags it down to my walk-in closet.  As soon as I open the door she makes a nest behind my boots and settles in.

 

Once it's over she gets a drink and takes a nap as if nothing has happened.

[Stump Water]

We took Minsc the Samoyed to matches with us and parked him at the back of the berm/bay.  We live about 1/4 mile (as the crow flies) from an LEO range and they shoot some big stuff over there.  He never paid any attention to gunfire.  He never paid any attention to fireworks until one year when he was out doing his business and the people across the street shot off one of those large "screamer" rockets.  After that any fireworks would amp him up pretty good, but he still didn't pay any attention to gunfire.  

 

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