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Happy 4th of July everyone!

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Well, at least to the Americans. Everyone else enjoy your weekend. 🙂

The Independence Day holiday is one of the busiest times for animal control officers and emergency clinics. More dogs get out of their yards on this day than on any other day of the year, for obvious reasons. Panicked dogs thinking they are under attack can do the most unbelievable things in their state of duress- destroy couches, jump 7 foot fences in a single bound, bust through sliding glass doors (for real!), then, all too often, run down the road and end up getting hit by a car.

Many people simply forget how stressful an evening of fireworks can be for a pet; it doesn’t even occur to them to bring the dog in for the night before they leave. They forget how the sound of explosions can travel for miles. Or worse, they bring the dog to the local big fireworks show. No one likes getting pooped on by a frightened German Shepherd (or by anything, really…)

There are lots of ways to avoid or minimize July 4th debacles:
1. Bring pets in for the night.
2. Try to drown the fireworks out with the radio.
3. Sedate the pet, with your veterinarian’s guidance of course.
4. Invest in some Mutt Muffs (I did not come up with this name.)

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And I think this should go without saying, but should you happen to have a dog with a strong hunting instinct, for God’s sake keep them away from your roman candles!

Anyone have some wild July 4th gone bad stories to share?

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Comments

  1. Blade wasn’t a huge fan of fireworks. The first couple of years he hid in the laundry room. The next couple of years he would sit outside and watch the fireworks go up and explode. Cookie likes to bark and howl at them.

    Oh but my childhood OES, Alex. He loved to play with fireworks. I remember one summer he grabbed a Jumping Jack while it was spinning and took off with it. He didn’t get hurt fortunately but we made sure he was inside when it was fireworks time from then on.

  3. Hehee, love the video. Last year the 4th was on a Friday and I worked the day after. I saw a Jack Russel that had done exactly what the dog in the video did – he came in with severe burns on the side of his face, inside his mouth, and on his ear. He was in good spirits and we all had a little chuckle about how lucky he was UNTIL the owner says, “Maaaan he did the SAME THING last year, I can’t believe we didn’t think to lock him up this year.” And I’m thinking, “Hey lady, there’s this thing called a LEASH… It might just save you have $75 Saturday Emergency Fee…”
    ~Sara

  4. I might have some good stories after this weekend. I’m on emergency surgery call today through monday. let’s see how smart (dumb) people are this weekend.

    • Didn’t get called in once Sat or Sun. Had an emergency surgery today for a foreign body (black lab that ate part of a towel…SURPRISE SURPRISE). Boring weekend!