I’ll just get my dog calmed down, then BOOM… and he starts crawling up on my pillow above my head. I’m beginning to dread New Years and 4th of July.
I’m ordering one of those thunder shirts. What is the correct size for a Lab? XL?
Patriotic neighbors were still going at it with large aerial burst mortars at 1AM despite it technically being illegal in the city limits. Cops didn’t seem to mind, a deputy sheriff lives less than a block from the conflagration.
My dogs and I got drunk and went to sleep before the city of Chicago started its big fireworks show. All we had to contend with were the random boom-booms set off by rumbustious dagos. (We’re staying near Taylor Street.)
My dog spent the night in our bathtub trying to dig to Japan. That was relatively easy.
The night before we were on a walk when the fireworks started going off. I ended up carrying her home with her squirming like a frightened octopus and screaming like a banshee’s 8-month-old. It’s want until we got home I discovered the booming had literally scared the shit out of her. On to my jeans and coat.
It’s never been this bad but it’s never been this close or numerous for us before in California. Here in Washington,people can and do buy vary large boxes of very large fireworks. It makes for a pretty spectacular sight when pro-level displays are sprouting off as far as the eye can see. Not so nice for the puppy.
We used to go to an overlook area in our neighborhood. You could see official fireworks displays from at least three different areas. Didn’t bother me the first couple of years, but the following year something. . .odd. . .happened that I can only assume was an association with being in a war zone all those years ago. A lot of the people who gather at that place bring their own fireworks, most of which are pretty harmless. But there are people in the houses nearby that fire off some pretty heavy duty artillery. All was good at first, but then the air took on a hazy look from all the powder and fire, and there were bits of glowing material flying through the air, and the loud booms of the salutes being launched, and I sort of started feeling a bit freaked out and told my wife that I needed to leave. Like NOW, please. Haven’t been back since, as it was a bit panic-inducing.
My idiot neighbors started around Friday night (July 1). Bonus points for a drought area, and some last night that I’m pretty sure were illegal (launched 20 or more feet into air before going off).
Allie, aka the Princess or Princess Razorfang Scissorpaws, coped OK, but she clearly was not amused by the louder bangs. I’m just glad nothing caught fire, and that there wasn’t anything going off in my parking lot. In prior years, stuff’s been used close enough to cars that I was worried about my car being set on fire.
I’m sure the cats aren’t thrilled about being Buttercup’s passengers, but the mental picture has me giggling.
My dog will start digging as well. In his crate which has a plastic bottom.
And of course, get the dog drunk.
Wow, now even more impressed with my 10 month old kitten Theodore, aka The Best Behaved Cat in the World. The first night he was a bit surprised and hid, but by last night, he was hanging out in the living room and even going out on the deck without any anxiety, through what for a solid hour was uninterrupted heavy thunder.
We had a dog who had shotgun pellets in one hip when we adopted her, X-rays revealed. She rightly feared loud booms, and was miserable during thunderstorms and firework-celebrated holidays (in the US, that’s the weeks on either side of New Years and July 4th).
My pop-psychology observation of canine behavior was that the pack leader only authorizes play when the situation is safe; by inference, maybe playing with her would persuade her we felt there was no danger. It didn’t take too much to get her to learn the behavior, and for the rest of her life, she brought me a toy at the first rumble of thunder. This was a significant improvement in her quality of life.
So that’s my advice – play like there’s nothing wrong.
I’ll add that wild animals are also disturbed by human fireworks. I am no longer able to enjoy fireworks for anything but their original purpose – driving off hordes of invading Mongols.
That a common occurence where you live? 
Ha! I have retired racers too, and they’ve never acted like a loud noise was a starter gun. However, the biggest problem I had with basic obedience training was convincing them that the release command (okay) did NOT mean launch yourself halfway around the world in 2.8 seconds. 
They’ve never been thunderphobic, although my girl is getting elderly now and is just in the last few months becoming upset by thunder and fireworks. Not shiver and huddle in the tub terrorized, but definitely upset. Yet another reason it sucks when they get old.
Scientists tend not to be interested in measuring such things, is my guess. I would trust the animal shelter people to know if they get flooded with strays the week following the 4th of July.
Yep, it doesn’t require a double blind study to detect this, typically this time of year is clearly marked by digging through the storage room for “just one more” temporary kennel.
It is fairly difficult to get funding for a project which should take an actuary less than a full working day to actualize. Although if they do start funding these types of studies let me know, I’ll file a grant for a study to see if Mazatlan is busy during Christmas and Spring break.
[Of course as this is a human behavior study I will need to run it several times until I get the result I am looking for to publish, and this will open the opportunity for other dopers to try and duplicate my results, which will also require multiple attempts…from a palapa on the beach. We will just need to hope that they don’t fix the publishing process before then]
Anecdotal statistics seem weak to me. “It seems we get more calls for lost dogs over July 4th weekend because of fireworks” without any data makes this statement in danger of being an urban legend. It makes SENSE it would be true, but I’m not buying it without hard stats.
You know what rather than hijack Ill ask in General Questions. 
Its very possible that Buttercup is playing me for a fool. She’s the one who jumps up, grabs a cat and takes off, Westley always just follows her lead.
Their only reaction to thunder is to want to sit next to us and then ooze onto our laps. (Of course, that’s their normal reaction to us doing such things as sitting down, turning on the TV or opening a book.) They don’t react to cars backfiring or to people knocking down our fence post.
Its not like I’ve ever had critters playing me for a fool before, I do have cats after all.
The fireworks were crazy last night! I couldn’t sleep and I had to be up early. #ZombieAllDay
My neighborhood was a war zone for five straight days. Illegal fireworks for hour on hours. My dog goes ape shit and it’s horrible to watch. I can plan on getting something from the vet for one night, but five nights? It should be illegal to do fireworks any day other than the 4th of July. PERIOD !!
I was pissed at my step-father who we spent the weekend with. My mom asked me what the laws were here about fireworks, and I told her (basically nothing off the ground). So my step dad launches bottle rockets, sky rockets, and other things that are obviously illegal.
It does seem weird that as more information about PTSD and the long term affects of war comes out people like fireworks more. My SIL spent only 9-month in Baghdad, all of it sitting at a desk. She still get freaked out from loud bangs because of the random shelling that occured. It’s a great way to salute our veterans!
Gasp and swoon… I think I have the vapors. 10:30 is a good three hours after a proper person should be in their bed cloths.
Did anyone call the cops on the crazy person screaming obscenities halfway down the block?
It is a shame the special census didn’t get distributed in time. That could have also prevented the parents of the 4-8 year olds having to explain the F word to their kids.