Recently in fireworks Category

Got a note from Julia, a dog park friend, about her dog Barkley who was adopted from the Harbor Animal Care Shelter in San Pedro in January 2007.

Julia's involved with Basset Rescue and Daphneyland.

Barkley, she said, "is an amazing dog. He has two big dogs here that he loves, but the little hound hates loud noises!"

And that's where the Maytag comes in. It seemed to provide the consolation he needed on the Fourth of July as the fireworks exploded:

 Make it go away!

Your turn: So tell us how your animals fared during the weekend fireworks. Any problems or issues? Successes this year? New strategies tried?  

My neighborhood seemed quieter than usual. Not by much -- and the fireworks continued into Monday night -- but things didn't seem as crazy as in the past.

Cowboy survived, though he still was very anxious even with medication this year. The cat seemed mostly not to notice, at one point she was snoozing away on top of her cat tree as the fireworks boomed all around us.

And how about you & your pets?  How did you all do? Leave a comment below.

The holiday proved difficult for one Santa Rosa police dog, but that story had a happy ending.

Taz, a 70-pound Belgian Malinois, took off after he was startled by the sound of nearby fireworks. He escaped from his backyard sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight Sunday.

Thankfully, he was found Monday by a veterinary technician who spotted the large dog lying on a sidewalk. Taz jumped into her car when she called and the tech scanned him at work finding the microchip ID.

He has since been reunited with his partner, Officer Mike Clark. The European-born and specially trained dog was exhausted and limping with worn nails, but otherwise he appeared to be unharmed.

So here we are again. The Fourth of July. A terrific holiday. But one that brings much angst to dog and cat owners.

I live in a neighborhood where illegal fireworks are a problem every year, with no shortage of participants on my street. I remember driving home at dusk one year with the dogs only to find residents had actually pulled lawn chairs out into the street on my block as people set off fireworks in the middle of the road. I had to drive around the block just to access my driveway.

Tess is usually ok with the noise, but Cowboy becomes very anxious. I put a request in to my vet today to see if there's anything he could prescribe to help keep Cowboy calmer.

And what about cats? I just got my first cat in October and have no idea what to expect with her. What do you do to keep your pets calm on the Fourth? Many dogs don't react, but those that do have a really hard time with all the commotion. (I still remember how our German shepherd Queenie who would literally cower in a closet when she heard fireworks.)

Meanwhile, here are some tips from the spcaLA:

• Dogs and cats should be microchipped and wear current I.D. tags at all times.  This is the best way to ensure a happy reunion if your pet goes missing.
• Keep pets safe and secure inside your home.  Loud noises from fireworks can cause a dog to jump a fence and run away from home or a cat to hide for days.  Keeping your pet indoors and secure will also keep them from dangerous roadways.     
• If you're hosting a party, keep your pets in a cool, well-ventilated room with a radio playing softly in the background.  Include your pet's favorite toys and pet bed for comfort.  Do this as well if you are going out but your pet is staying in.
• Do not tie your dog up outside to keep him/her from escaping.  The loud noise from the fireworks can frighten your pet making them more likely to attempt to flee.  Dogs can seriously injure themselves, or even die, trying to escape.
• Educate children to not scare pets with firecrackers or sparklers.

Music apparently helps and a website called Through a Dog's Ear includes some CDs you can buy but also some free downloads.

Here are some more tips.

(My dogs normally don't sleep on the bed with me. But the other night when we had some early neighborhood fireworks going off, both of them jumped up for consolation. I had Tess on the right side of me, Cowboy on the left, Annie the cat at the foot of the bed. I could not move.) 

So tell us: How do your pets fare with fireworks? Any special tips you can share with readers?

Poor Mr. Cowboy.

The fireworks in our part of town last night drove him to jump up onto the pillow next to my head by 11 p.m. He typically prefers his own private sleeping space in his dog bed on the floor (which is fine with me), as does Tess.

Cowboy never gets on the bed unless he's super-stressed.

He's just not a party kind of dog, I guess. He worries so much about loud noises.

How did it go for all your critters last night?

"While Tom Cruise may well object to the psychotropic juicing of family pets, I contend that, like Brooke Shields, there was no choice.

"I realized this a year ago on the Fourth of July when Jack chewed his way through a pair of French doors. We were gone for an hour but a nearby artillery-barrage-like fireworks display started early and Jack went like Mel Gibson in 'Patriot.'"

To read Daily Breeze columnist John Bogert's entire July 7, 2005, piece about surviving the Fourth with his dog, Jack, see the jump. (Jack, by the way, is a German shorthaired pointer and looks nothing like the dogs pictured here. I tried to get a picture of the real Jack, but the only one John had was on his cell phone, apparently non-transferrable to this blog.)