Have you planned for your pets on the 4th?

Planned for my pets? On June 4th I’m not feeding my fish. Instead, I am dipping my feet into the pool and letting the fish nibble my feet.

The fish have a good meal, and I have a relaxing feeling. Moreover, that’s a good way to interact with them right?

Under the bed seems to be good enough for them.

I’m in Germany, and both the dogs have no reaction to fireworks – but then again, we do what you’re suggesting every New Year’s. We put them in a quiet room, turn on music, and check on them often. We also draw the curtains so the flashes of light aren’t as apparent. Because the little one was noise-reactive as a pup, we play a CD of firework sounds in the weeks before December 31st, gradually getting louder. Works perfectly.

Every year, I invariably talk to at least one new puppy owner, proudly telling me his clever pup was not frightened at all, even though he was taken out at midnight, or just before. The year after, that particular dog is terrified of fireworks. Every. Single. Time.

My mom has three cats. They mostly live outside. For this single day they become bathroom cats.

Kinda a long-shot here Syz. I don’t have any pets that are mammals but I have some fish in a 15 gallon tank. Any hints for comforting them?

All three of my cats are indoor cats…always. The windows will be closed tonite and fans on to drown out the noise.

We don’t do anything special for the 4th, but our animals have never flipped out because they heard fireworks. They’re both indoor animals and the dog stays on a leash if she’s outside.

The hunting dogs who get really excited by all the bang bang will be in the basement.

My 2 cats will be indoors with the fireworks going off about a half mile from my house. Prior to where I have been living the last 15 months now I was on rural properties far away from any fireworks and all personal fireworks are illegal in my county due to the high fire danger.

I am a little concerned for Oda. I’m working until 11pm and the fireworks barge is right off of my beach. He couldn’t be any closer unless he was on the barge. The show starts at 9:45.
Because he’s only 5 months and these are his first fireworks I’m worried he will think I abandoned him and the world is ending.
I asked my best friend to come get him and keep him for the whole day. He loves her. She promised to sit with him during the fireworks and act happy about them. I asked her not to baby him and soothe him, because it will reinforce his fear. I cut up a raw filet into tiny cubes and asked that she praise him and feed him beef during the show. That tactic worked at the carnival. He went from WTF?!? to “Hey, pass the beef.” in a matter of minutes.

Hopefully he handles fireworks with grace. I wish I could be there.

My two dogs will be in “ThunderShirts”, we got them the shirts for thunder storms (like last night with Arthur going by on the coast.) I’ll put them in the shirts after dinner for about two or three hours. Last night I sat down to put on the shirts and they both came right over and sat down.

I live in a rural area, so it’s not a very big deal for my cats. I’m more worried about the cracks of lightning strikes affecting my pets. My one cat banged his head against a half-open door while scrambling during the thunderstorm we had two days ago here.

We were home and watched one of the Macy’s barges out the window less than ½ mile away. Even with the windows closed and A/C on and other fans on, the booms and flashes intrude.
This year I made a point of covering the dear amazon parrot’s cage with her nighttime cover well before they started and she did not make much fuss.

In the past, when she was still up when they started, the fireworks made her Very Anxious and inconsolable. No amount of comfort sounds from us could balance out her alarm and sense of impending doom.

@GloPro How did Oda do?

He slept through the whole thing, right on the beach. My friend said he played with like 10 kids for several hours prior and was totally worn out. He’s seriously the coolest dog.