Keep Your Pet Relaxed During Fireworks
Fourth of July weekend is a time to relax with family, reflect on the meaning of freedom, and throw large explosives up in the air scaring (or scarring) our furry family members. It is the worst day/weekend for our fur-kids. More pets go missing on the 4th of July than any other day of the year. Instead of subjecting them to this misery, let’s throw our pets A Freedom From Fireworks Party to keep your pet relaxed during the Fireworks.
10 Steps to Create a Freedom From Fireworks Party
Exercise your Patriotism – Take a Morning Walk
Start the day by getting in a little exercise for you and your pet. If they are a bit tired, it can help relax them later when the world is ending outside their home.
The Boundaries of Independence – Check your Fence for Holes
In preparation for the weekend, take some time to walk around the perimeter of your fence and make sure there are no vulnerabilities. Fix every hole or gap. Please don’t take for granted the lengths that your pet will go to when they think their life is at risk. I once saw my hound dog squeeze herself through the cat door during some severe thunder. However confident you feel about your invisible fence set-up, maybe give it a holiday break too and stick to leash walking for extra security over the weekend.
Renew your ID – Update the ID on Your Pet’s Collar
Take a moment to make sure your pet’s collar is decked out with their name and your telephone number. Even if your fur-kid is microchipped, this will help get them home to you faster.
Freedom For All – Bring all Pets Inside
Dogs, cats, horses (and maybe chickens) can all be affected by the impending doom of firecrackers. If you have an outdoor cat, bring them inside for the evening. Unfortunately, fireworks now seem to happen many days before the holiday and last a few days afterward. You may need to repeat the process for the whole weekend.
Star-Spangled Chill Lounge – Create a Safe Space Inside
If possible, choose a room without windows or in the interior of the house. We don’t have one of those in our home. Since one of our pups is regularly scared of thunderstorms, we doubled the curtains in one room to create a semi-soundproof option. If that seems extreme for one holiday weekend, you could rig up some temporary blankets. Still too crazy?
Create a comfortable space where your pets and hopefully you can hang out for the evening. If they have a crate or bed that they love, bring it into the room. Cats and dogs often like to hide so you could create some options where they can duck under and relax.
Dropping the temperature can help pets get comfortable and ready for snuggling under blankets.
If you have a holiday gathering put signs on the door so guests are aware that it should remain closed.
And don’t forget the treats! Give them lots of treats.
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Red, White Noise and Blue
One way to block out the fireworks’ is to add some white noise to the room. You can use large box fans, white noise makers (this a fav on Amazon),
or you can use an online white noise generator like this one. It has controls where you can adjust the sound a little bit, which is handy in this situation. You can tweak to see what will keep your pets relaxed during the fireworks.
Musical Fanfare – Play soothing Music
Instead of or in addition to the white noise, you can play some music. There are even playlists on YouTube and Spotify for pets specifically during fireworks. Most of them are classical music, but according to this study done in Scotland, pets prefer Reggae music and soft rock because “those genres have a rhythm that is similar to the dogs’ own heart rate. When a puppy is feeling stressed it will snuggle into its mother and use her heartbeat as relaxation, so this music mimics that.”
Something more upbeat than classical music may also cover up the exploding fireworks noise.
Every pet is different. I am pretty sure our cat Lottie is into Yacht Rock, but pop music can lead to barking, and heavy metal can cause some anxiety. Maybe avoid those. Classical and Reggae are safe bets. You could always do some tests of other music in advance of the Fourth.
Check out the Doggy Reggae Music playlist here.
A Salute to Audiobooks
Pets also responded well to audiobooks. In that same study they used the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe read by Michael York. Audible actually has a selection of audiobooks for pets. (It’s somehow connected to Cesar Milan, but just ignore that and focus on relaxing your pet).
Pro-tip For both Whitenoise, music, and audiobooks your laptop speakers are not going to cut it. Use external speakers to drown out the explosions.
American Doodie
Before you settle into your firework fall-out shelter, take your pet out for a bathroom break. No pups wants to do their biz with the word exploding over their head.
Patriotic Aftermath
There is a considerable spike in poison control calls on the 5th of July because many pets eat the remnants of fireworks and other the 4th of July leftovers. It makes sense. Scout will eat anything new just in case it could potentially be edible. The next day do a lap around your yard and look for abandoned sparklers, glow sticks, fireworks, bbq skewers, and CHICKEN BONES!!
The most relaxing Fourth of July evening we have ever had was when we picked my nephew up in another town. We were afraid to leave the pups at home, so we loaded them up and took them with us (we just had two then). I think the combination of the white noise from driving on the highway and our snoozy podcasts helped the pups nap. We watched as the fireworks exploded above us, and the dogs just slept right through it. Maybe the vibrations from the car drowned out the overhead explosions?
We can’t make this happen every year but we do try to make sure we are home with them that evening. This is the most stressful weekend of the year for them so keep your pet relaxed during the fireworks as best as you can. Good luck out there, and I hope you all have a relaxing holiday weekend.
