Help Your Dog Survive 4th of July with 10 Easy Tips

Who doesn’t look forward to 4th of July celebrations with their festivities of friends, food, and fireworks……   your pets, that’s who!

Independence Day is the #1 day of the year for pets running away and getting lost.  Why?   They bolt in fear response to unfamiliar and frightening loud noises…..   and no animal wants that much independence.  

So what can you do for your pet to make sure they don’t suffer during 4th of July while you enjoy it?

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10 Easy Tips To Help Keep Your Pet Calm and Safe during the 4th of July Holiday:

Minimize What Triggers Their Fear:

1)  Close Things Up to Create a Safe Space

Every little bit helps when the booming noise of fireworks is blasting outside.  Although it may sound exciting to you, your pet doesn’t understand the difference between celebratory and dangerous explosions.   So help dull the over-stimulating noise by at least keeping things closed up. 

And while you’re closing, don’t forget to make sure things are also secure.  Double check latches and locks on windows, doors and even fence gates.  And if you have to open one to go out or let someone in,  be extra careful that a skittish furry one isn’t sneaking through.

Create a safe haven in the quietest area of your home.  You can put their bed there, or a covered crate with the door left open.  If you’re home, this could be in the corner of the room you’re in.  If you have guests, it should be away from the hustle and bustle of all the people.  If you’re away from home,  it’s nice to put it in the space they typically tend to feel most comfortable.

2)  Leave On Calming Music or the TV

If there is only one sound to hear, that’s what we focus on.  So help by offering another more familiar sound stimuli to divert their attention. 

Leave on the radio or the tv  (checking ahead to make sure it isn’t going to end up on a televised firework event).  Even better yet, use something that has been created specifically to calm pets, like “Through a Dogs (or Cats) Ear” CDs (throughadogsear.com) or the Dog TV channel. 

3)  Diffuse Calming Scents

Our sense of smell is connected to an area of our brain that processes memory and emotion.  Given that animals have an even more advanced sense of smell than humans, we can use that science to help them. 

Dog Appeasing Pheromone (DAP)  (there is also a cat version) is a synthetic form of the scent newborn puppies (and kittens) smell from their mothers.  It can be found in plug-in and spray form.  Whether you will be home or not, spray in each room your pet will be in before any anxiety-provoking events begin.

You could also diffuse specific essential oils that help foster a sense of calm, like lavender, chamomile, vetiver, or ylang ylang. Putting a few drops in a diffuser with water, or rubbed onto the underside of their bedding, is preferable so it isn’t too strong and they have the ability to move away from it. (It is not recommended to not put oils directly on them unless they are diluted in a carrier oil, like coconut or almond, and in a spot they can’t reach to lick.)

Even better yet, leave a t-shirt you wore all day long in their bed so that they have the added comfort of smelling YOU there to help them feel safe.

4)  Keep It Cool Inside

Triggers stack up on each other.  Fear increases heart rate and blood pressure, as does increased temperature.  Help keep their physiology stable by minimizing those stacking triggers. 

Put on the air conditioner for them so it stays cool and dry inside.  The hum of the unit may also help mask some of the scary noises outside.   And don’t forget to make sure they have lots of cool water available to drink.

5)  Plan Distractions

As we said before, if there is only one stimuli present, that’s what we focus on.  If we don’t want focus on the booming fireworks from your town or neighbors, plan for different positive distraction in your pets’ environment over the holiday. 

Maybe a new stuffed animal to snuggle, a new bone to chew on, or a treat dispensing toy (like a Kong) developed to keep pets from getting bored.  (Depending on medical issues and weight concerns, you may want to decrease the amount of their regular meal to compensate for the amount put into the toy.)

Be Prepared To Manage Break-Through Fear:

6)  Have Your Pet Micro-Chipped

No one wants to think about their pet running away or getting lost,  but it’s easier to plan for it ahead of time then have to figure out how to deal with it once it’s happened and you are in panic. 

Having them micro-chipped is a quick procedure, like getting a shot, that ensures that if they did ever get away,  someone that finds them can take them to a vet clinic or shelter to be scanned – getting them back to you with a phone call.  (And a pet found with no chip can be adopted out to a new family after a waiting period if they are not claimed… so let’s make sure they can always be identified as yours.) 

7)  Double Check They Have an ID Tag On Their Collar

Having identification on your pet is so important.  You can be creative with how you do it, just find some way to do it. 

Some people don’t like their dogs to have to wear a collar.  Some use a collar but don’t put a tag with contact info on it.  Or maybe you have those things, but the info has worn off over the years.  Or maybe you have a dog, like mine, who make it her personal challenge to somehow maneuver her neck and tongue in a crazy enough way that she could get the tag into their mouth and eat it!   For those situations,  I recommend collars that have their contact info sewn directly onto the collar itself.  (luckypet.com is one). 

8)  Make Sure You Have A Recent Picture

Most of us take lots of pictures of our pets (maybe even more than we take of our parents, kids, or spouses, right?!)   But time also has a way of racing by when we’re busy and maybe it’s been longer than we realize since we’ve gotten a clear one that shows their distinct markings or recent age changes.  If you ever have to put up flyers or online posts, you want to make sure you have a couple that would be helpful for someone who didn’t know them to realize it was them. 

With that being said, it also doesn’t hurt, when you don’t need it yet,  to find out what websites are out there to help find missing pets in your area.  I know, it makes me feel uncomfortable to think about it too….  but imagine having to keep it together enough to figure it all out in that heart-freezing situation.  We should all figure it out now, and hopefully it will be an insurance policy that we will never need.

9)  Try a Pressure Wrap

Years ago, Dr Temple Grandin developed a “squeeze machine”  that used deep all-over body pressure to decrease anxiety in people with autism, sensory issues, ADHD, PTSD, and animals.  Over the years, her idea of a pressure wrap has been tweaked and now you can now easily get ones that will fit your unique pet like a glove. 

Since there are different styles, and it can take a little practice to get comfortable putting in on them, it’s best to have tried it before a night like this where you REALLY need it.  (Some brands include ThunderShirt,  The Anxiety Wrap,  AKC Calming Coat, King Anxiety Reducing Pet Shirt, and ZenDog Calming Compression Shirt.)

10)  Visit Your Vet for an Appropriate Sedating Medication

There are also veterinarian-prescribed and dispensed medications that can help calm pet anxiety.  Some, for pets with chronic anxiety, are meant to be taken every day to keep an even level in their system.  Some are meant to be given only during needed situations, and range from mildly to more significantly sedating.  Because every dog has a unique past medical history that will impact which medications are safe for them,  I will not list any here, but rather suggest you connect with your primary care vet to figure out which one is safest in your situation. 

That being said, if you do go the medication route, remember that it needs to be given BEFORE the fear-producing situation begins (for example, a full hour before there is any chance of fireworks beginning.)  Once the fear-triggering noises begin, and your pet’s physiologic fear-response kicks in, it becomes more difficult for a medication to counteract it.

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Having pets is having kids.  It’s having a best friend and a life partner.  It’s our job to protect them, not only from danger, but also from what they perceive as danger.

The sooner we detect how they react to different situations, the better chance we have of creating plans to help keep them emotionally balanced during their times of stress. 

The best plan is the multi-modal plan that uses diverse tools, complimenting each other and working synergistically to ease our pet through this 4th of July holiday.

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by Karen Spinelli – CVT, CCMT, CCCP,  RMT

Certified Veterinary Technician,

Certified Canine Massage Therapist

Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

Reiki Master/Teacher