Dating : Fireworks Terrify Dogs: A Request on Behalf of Molly & Friends

I love my dog, Molly, and I think that she loves me too. So, on behalf of Molly and all her furry friends, I am compelled to put forth a request for this upcoming Fourth of July holiday.

Please consider all the dogs in your neighborhood that get frightened and stressed due to the fireworks that people set off in their backyards across the country. Molly and her barking friends do not understand that fireworks are harmless, and it scares a lot them badly.

Maybe you are lucky and have a dog that doesn’t react that way. I had a greyhound, Shark, a rescued racer, that lived with us for nine years. Shark had no adverse reactions at all toward the fireworks. Looking back, we were lucky for that. Nothing bothered that dog except for being fed late and, at times, the behavior of our cats.

So, until Molly showed up, I had no idea that fireworks and dogs were such a bad mix. Additionally, I also was surprised to learn that there were a lot of other dogs that got scared to death when they would hear fireworks.

This is such a common problem that there are posts on all the social networks from dog rescue groups, dog shelters, and organizations, such as the SPCA, that are requesting that people consider how dogs react to fireworks and to be kind to and not participate in shooting off fireworks on the streets.

There already are people in my neighborhood that appear to be warming up for the Fourth of July, as they have been shooting off fireworks from their backyards for the past week. Every time this happens, Molly hides underneath my desk, shaking so badly that she looks as if like if she freezing to death.

Molly doesn’t understand that this is just people having fun, and this is what a lot of Americans do to celebrate the nation’s birthday. I don’t know how to make her understand that. I wish there was a way that I could, because then I would not have to be asking people not to celebrate this way. I celebrate on July 5 when the most people stop it.

Veterinarians are busy during the time leading up to holidays when people shoot off fireworks to celebrate. So far, I have tried three different prescriptions, a thunder jacket, and a tent to try to prevent Molly from totally losing it when she hears fireworks. Unfortunately, nothing has worked. This year I am going to try CBD oil for dogs along with chewable composure treats. Maybe this will turn out better this year.

However, since people have been practicing shooting their fireworks for the past week, I am pretty sure that July 4, 2019, is going to be a bad day in my house, at least during the evening, that is, unless it rains. Oh, how I wish that it would rain, for like a week.

There are probably two types of folks that shoot fireworks on holidays and scare dogs to death: People who don’t know what it does to dogs, and the people who don’t care that if their fun traumatizes dogs. The people who don’t care at all are lost causes. They have zero empathy, and if given the opportunity to respond to my request, they would probably say something stupid, that is, if it didn’t spill their beers.

So, my request not to shoot fireworks on the streets in your neighborhood goes out to the people who don’t know how much loud fireworks scare dogs. I want to believe that there is more goodness in people than badness. So, maybe if they are aware of what their actions are doing to Molly and her friends, they won’t do it because now they know better.

If you need to see fireworks go boom this July 4th, how about going out and seeing some professionally orchestrated shows instead of scaring dogs and risking injuries to yourselves and those around you? Believe it or not, when fireworks get shot from a backyard and land on someone else’s property, it can cause damage.

Last year, my neighbor shot fireworks off for about two hours. I am ashamed to admit this, but I screamed at him as loud as I could, hoping that he would display some empathy for my dog and knock it off. He didn’t, and I haven’t spoken to him since. Why bother?

He heard me and, obviously, did not care. This year I am resolved not to do anything in retaliation toward this clod. However, I am a former professional drummer with a complete set of drums in my garage, along with microphones and an amplifier. I usually play . . . without the microphones . . . during the day. However, since this person doesn’t care about scaring my dog to death with is his fireworks, for Molly’s sake, I am going to start practicing my chops first thing in the morning. Since I live on a road where there are only two houses about 100 feet from each other, my drumming will not resonate throughout the neighborhood and disturb others. I am going to compose a new drum solo and call it Fireworks. It will probably take about a month of practice to perfect it. (I am joking; I think?)

Please remember that there are a lot of dogs that are terrified from hearing fireworks being blasted off this Fourth of July, and that you could do something about it. It would be the neighborly thing to do.

Happy Birthday, America.