Articles: Fireworks

It’s not that dogs aren’t patriotic, but many dogs, and also some cats, are terrified of the loud and sudden bangs we call fireworks around July 4th. It’s arguably adaptive to be hard-wired to be afraid of sudden loud sounds. We too may jump and even run from loud and unexplained noises. Who wouldn’t? Dogs…

Here are some fireworks facts: Many pets are frightened, and even terrified. And many pets are lost as a result. They’re kept outside in the yard, panic and run off. Some pets are tethered to ropes or chains and even choke to death. As a result, shelter intake of lost pets increases around the country.…

Pluto appeared with Steve Cochran and myself on WGN Radio and CLTV – and impressed everyone. But did we find him a forever home? We will – and spreading the world will help, a lot!  Cara Schwalbach, development director of One Tail at a Time talks about how we will never know why Pluto was…

It seems Pluto, a Shih Tzu-mix,  is the perfect name for this amiable little dog. Pluto was pulled from Chicago Animal Care and Control by One Tail at a Time and delivered to a foster family. Foster families are quite heroic giving all animals a more comfortable place to be than a shelter. Even the…

The Fourth of July is a scary time for many dogs. Here are three acts of cruelty which should never occur – each is downright cruel. NEVER tie up the dog outside on a tether, or even keep a dog in a yard around July Fourth without adult supervision. Fearful or terrified, a dog may…

I speak HERE on my WGN Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show with Amanda Smith, lead author of a recent paper on leptospirosis,  “The Descriptive and Spatio-Temporal Analyses of 45 Canine Leptospirosis Cases from Chicago, 2015-2018” We’re talking about leptospirosis here for two primary reasons: The bacterial disease may infect our dogs and potentially cause…

It’s not that dogs aren’t patriotic, but many dogs, and also some cats, are terrified of the loud and sudden bangs we call fireworks on July 4th. It’s actually adaptive to be hard-wired to be afraid of sudden loud sounds. We too may jump at such sounds, and we might also run the other way…

You’ve waited ‘till now to get your pet help for the fear of fireworks, there’s little time for behavior modification techniques to work by July 4. Still, don’t despair – not all is lost. Depending on your pet’s level of fear – distraction might work. Take your pet into a room most away from the…

It’s no secret that fireworks scare pets. Sometimes they are downright terrified. And the people of the town of Collecchio in the province of Parma in Italy have done something about it. The local government mandates use of silent fireworks as a way of respecting the animals and reducing the stress caused to them. Incidentally,…

The fireworks have begun, so now what? At this point, anti-anxiety medication, which would take weeks to kick in, won’t help. And it’s exceedingly unlikely that a gradual counter-conditioning and desensitization program to the sudden blasts and crashes of fireworks wouldn’t have nearly enough time to be effective. There are some still options depending on your…