Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year


We wish every a very safe, happy and prosperous new years.

Today is unfortunately a very dangerous and scary day for pets that are afraid of fire works and loud noises. Please practice caution and plan ahead for the safety and comfort of your pet.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Put a collar on every pet. Make sure you have up do date tags and personal information in the event a dog escapes, or fire.

2. Some dogs may need tranquilizers. Today will be your last chance to call your vets for this. Unfortunately, if you are waiting till today to this, you have not had a chance to see if your pet responds to the recommend tranquilizer... so it may or may not work. Be very careful of any possible side effects.

3. Take a photo of your dog. I know this sounds extreme, but working in this industry every year on July 4th and New Years I witness a high number of families who have lost their pets due to the sounds of fireworks. You will need this for posters, in the even your pet escapes. I hope this does not happen to any pet, but better be safe than sorry.

4. I would strongly recommend allowing your dog(s) to rest in a dark room. One of the things that works really well for me is letting the dogs sleep in the laundry room while a load is running in the washer and dryer. We typically air dry all our linen, but not on New Years!

In addition, I always toss a blanket in the dryer, just enough to warm it and then lay it on the ground for the dogs to sleep on. It has a calming effect on them.

The heat and vibration really helps keep them quaint and calm. It also acts as a buffer for the sounds.

5. Make sure you feed your pets earlier than normal and let them out to potty before all the fireworks. We will have fed and walked all the dogs by 4:00pm.

6. Dog's that chew / use their mouth in times of stress should be given plenty of tough chews. Deer Antlers and soup bones work great! Especially with dogs that have never had them before. It's almost like their brain does not allow them to focus on the sounds, because the temptation of the bones is so high. If your dog is disinterested in the antlers or soup bones, use whatever works BEST!

7. Exercise your dog! Way more than normal! Wear your dog out!

For next year: Don't be in this predicament.

1. Get your dog crate trained (this is when a properly crate trained dog is very helpful).

2. Hire a trainer and start desensitizing your dog to sound stimuli.

1 comment:

Denise E.Z. said...

Wow, this is great information. I particularly find the laundry room with a load running solution very clever. You know, this noise also helps babies sleep? They like the noise and the vibrations also. Chiqui is VERY scared of thunder and fireworks and to calm her down, we allwoed her to sleep next to our bed. She felt safe and went to sleep!