(07-01-2015, 10:15 AM)niightwind Wrote: Well, I'm Canadian, so we don't celebrate the fourth of July here, but we do have Canada Day on the first! We've always lived outside of the city since we got our dog, but we very recently moved back into the city less than a month ago. There is always some sort of Canada Day firework event going on, and we've been fortunate up to this point because we couldn't see or hear them from where we lived. Haru, my dog, is very jitterish and gets frightened easily by loud noises (even small things like a plate dropping make him scurry away). I'm a little bit worried about how he'll react come the first of next month - which I just realized is tomorrow, my goodness - to be honest. I don't expect he'll get scared to a point that we'd need to do any sort of sedation (I've seen this method recommended for dogs that are especially anxious of fireworks) but I expect I'll have to sit with him inside and hold onto him to be sure he doesn't freak out. The basement in our house is very quiet so I'm hoping that if worse comes to worse just taking him down there might be enough to calm his nerves.
As for the running away - unless you already KNOW that your pet will do fine with the fireworks based on past experiences, I don't think it is ever a good idea to bring a pet along to watch fireworks with you. Animals need a safe, familiar place to retreat to, and if you go out somewhere unusual to the animal they are obviously more likely to run away. If you do take them out though, I'd say to always make sure the pet has an ID tag on no matter what.
Firstly - hope you had a Happy Canada Day! I didn't realize it was celebrated so closely to the 4th of July! Your approach with Haru sounds like our approach with our dog - just keep him inside, give that reassurance and lots of cuddles, and try to keep any anxiety to a minimum...
And yes - I absolutely wouldn't take my dog out to a fireworks event! He would just be frightened out of his mind. I agree 100% that they need that safe familiar place. I know my pup still gets frightened when he's inside and can hear them, so I can't imagine the strength of his fear if he was at an unknown place outdoors where it's usually crowded with people and super noisy!
The importance of an ID tag can't be underestimated either, and ensuring the contact details on it are up to date! I know the times that I've changed cell phone numbers I've always updated the pets tags too, because there would be nothing worse than a pet going missing with an ID tag but it having an old number on it!
