Floofins & Co. a Pet Sitting and Dog Walking company serving La Grange, IL and surrounding areas, send some words of advice to pet parents for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend. Animal shelters will find more strays than usual during this weekend because many “floofins” are scared off by Fourth of July fireworks. Fireworks are often frightful experiences for dogs. The loud noises can hurt their sensitive ears.

Frightened dogs have different reactions: some tremble at their owners’ feet, others hide, some try to run off or they can display bizarre behavior. Ordinarily well-behaved pets may become aggressive, destructive and/or unpredictable during the holiday.

Here are some precautions you can take to help your pets through the Fourth of July celebration:

Make sure pets are wearing well-fitted collars and securely fastened ID tags.
Do not take pets to events with fireworks.
Find a quiet, secure place to keep your pets. Darkening the room can help. Make sure you give your pet safe chew toys to occupy and distract them during the weekend.
Do not leave pets outside, even in a fenced yard, if fireworks might be set off in the distance.
Rather than cuddle a frightened dog, try to distract the dog from the disturbing noises with physical activity such as playing ball.
Remember that scolding or coddling a scared dog will not help. It will only reinforce fearful behaviors. Instead, assume your pack leader role and act confident and unbothered by the noise and activity outside.
Vets can prescribe tranquilizers for extremely frightened dogs. Also, some people find that non-prescription remedies such as Rescue Remedy or Serene-um calm their dogs.
If you’re going out of town for the holidays, entrust the care of your fur kids to a professional pet sitter.