8 Tips for Keeping Your Dog Calm During Fireworks

*It’s the most horrible time of the year* … for dogs. I love everything about the Fourth of July. From the red white and blue merchandise covering the store shelves, the creative patriotic recipes popping up on my Pinterest feed, to watching the firework displays around town, we love the Fourth!

Most dog parents cannot say the same though. The Fourth of July weekend can be terrifying and extremely stressful for most households with dogs. It is common for the loud noises of fireworks to leave dogs feeling panicked. Some may try to escape from their homes, cry, bark, whine all night, or even become destructive. 

To prevent your dogs from panic this year, we’ve made a list of a few precautions to protect your pet this Fourth of July. 

1. Create a safe space
2. Tire your pet out 
3. Try relaxing treats
4. Use a Thundershirt 
5. Play music or turn on the TV
6. Keep your pet on a leash outside
7. Ensure your pet is wearing their identification tags
8. Stay inside and away from the fireworks show

We are pretty lucky, our dogs don’t mind fireworks, but that hasn’t always been the case. Read on to learn how we use these tips to keep our dogs calm during the celebrations.

1. Create a safe, quiet space for your dog. Our dogs are crate trained and they love their crates. This is their safe space. Oftentimes, we will find they have put themselves in their crates if they are feeling anxious or tired. This Fourth, we will allow the pups in their safe space, put their favorite blankets in their crates, give them a special treat, and close the blinds.

2. Before the celebrations, tire your pet out! Take your pet for a long walk or play an extra game of fetch before fireworks go off. This may help tire your pet out so they will be calmer and more relaxed during the show. The past few years we’ve made a point to take the dogs somewhere fun in the morning of the 4th, like on a hike or swimming at the grandparents’ house. They are normally exhausted by the end of the day. 

3. Give them something to take the edge off, try hemp and CBD relaxing treats. If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you’d know that Navy suffered from separation anxiety as a pup. It was horrible. We couldn’t leave her alone or take her anywhere for that matter. Over the years, she has grown out of her separation anxiety and we’ve also definitely learned how to better handle her anxiety. We now give Navy and Duke Vital Essentials Raw Hemp treats. As we’ve mentioned before, CBD and hemp treats may help your dog, but it won’t completely change your dog’s behavior.

4. Try a Thundershirt. We’ve never used a thundershirt on our dogs, but we have friends and family who do and it seems to work for them. Thundershirts work by applying gentle pressure around a dog’s torso, like a comforting and continuous hug. This helps to calm and reduce anxiety. Thundershirts can be found at most pet retailers or on Amazon.

5. Drown out the firework noise. Turn on the TV or play music. Having some noise on in the background whether it is a TV or radio may help drown out the noise of the sky booms. We generally leave our TV or radio on during the day. It helps the pups get desensitized to the little (and loud) noises outside our home. 

6. Stay indoors! Avoid potty breaks when fireworks are going off and if you can, take your pet out on a leash to relieve themselves. 

7. More dogs run away on the Fourth of July than any other day of the year. Before you take your pet outside, make sure they are wearing their identification tags.

8. Most importantly, keep away from the fireworks show! Last year I was appalled to see photos on my Instagram feed of terrified looking pets at fireworks shows. Your pet’s safety is worth so much more than Instagram follows and likes.

---

We hope you all have a safe and happy Fourth of July weekend. If you are looking for something fun to do with your dogs to celebrate, check out one of our patriotic pup-friendly recipes: red, white, and blue pupsicles, patriotic treats.