On the Fourth of July, when Independence Day is celebrated in the U.S., nearly every city and town across the country puts on fireworks displays. Many also shoot off fireworks as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Everybody loves fireworks, right? I mean who doesn’t love fireworks. So dramatic, so colorful, so loud. The rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air. So inspirational.
Well, I’ll tell you who doesn’t like fireworks. Me! I don’t like fireworks. Because my dog is terrified by fireworks. Terrified!
Whenever she hears fireworks, she begins shaking all over. She will sometimes walk into the shower or jump into the bathtub, but as long as she hears the explosions of the fireworks, she is beyond consolation. I worry that her heart will give out.
My wife and I try turning up the volume on the TV or the radio to cover up the sounds, but that doesn’t do the trick. The only cure is time, and it usually takes about an hour after the fireworks are over before our poor dog calms down enough to breathe and behave normally again.
So no, when it comes to fireworks, I’m definitely not a fan.
(199 words)
Written for Roger Shipp’s Flash Fiction for the Purposeful Practitioner. Photo credit: MorgueFile Fidler Jan New Year’s. I realize that this post isn’t a work of fiction, but when I saw the picture of exploding fireworks, this is all I could think of writing.
This, That, and the Other 
Many pets and their owners go through this ordeal during fireworks.
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I’m not a pet owner, but if she were a child you would likely hold her and comfort her. You probably do that already. Just a thought. Take care. GROG
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Yes, we do try to hold her and comfort her, but even with that, she shakes.
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It takes time to overcome childhood trauma, but as is often said, love conquers all. Of course, eliminating fireworks works!
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You might want to consider going on Amazon and purchasing some doggie downers. I live close enough to Disney where I can hear their fireworks celebration every night.
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Not to mention the potential for fires.
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I wouldn’t mind fireworks if they were ONLY on July 4 and New Year’s, but that’s not how it is. Every freakin’ idiot has to start lighting them weeks before for practice or something and it’s nonstop noise and annoyance every night. So, now I hate them. Plus it’s too much of a pain in the ass to see a professionally done show, since apparently you have to camp out for the whole day to get a spot, not to mention parking. Fuck fireworks.
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Fuck fireworks indeed!
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My granddaughter feels the same. We have about 2 weeks of fireworks here in July, not much on NYE.
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If only they can invent fireworks with all the prettiness but none of the noise. Maggie doesn’t like them, but saying that, this time she slept through them…… proof that her hearing isn’t as good as it was. I sympathise, and know exactly how helpless you feel when you cannot comfort a distraught pet. We used to put on the DVD Battle Los Angeles as it was full of bangs and gunfire, which Maggie got used to.
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You might also want to look into getting one of those anxiety wraps for your dog so she can better handle stressful situations.
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We have a “Thundershirt” for our dog. Doesn’t help much, if at all.
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Or a cave/den situation. That’s what we do for our dog (and my partner is the one she goes to for comfort, cos the boss has to go ‘out there’ and deal with it!).
Sometimes, I’ve considered the drugs, but that’s not a good option for her because she’s excellent at spitting them out, throwing them up (often on my foot), or allergic!
We curse fireworks, backfiring cars, and other similar noises.
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Thunderstorms, too.
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Yes, them too. But there’s nothing we can do about them.
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True. Fortunately, where I live, thunderstorms are few and far between.
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Agree, fireworks can even cause the death of animals just from the shock. Owners remember their pets, but do others? Who is that considerate? Yep, there are some. Because I recently read about silent fireworks. Way to go.
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Silent fireworks, like children, should be seen and not heard!
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I guess they produce only a very low voice, considering all the pets and ailing humans.
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So good to see this from a different perspective, I guess it’s not all about celebrating. Great job!
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Thanks.
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When we set off lots of fireworks in the neighborhood we lived in while my children were growing up, we had neighbors with dogs. Not only did they never say anything about their dogs being bothered (much less terrified), they [the humans]* actively enjoyed joining us. If they said anything about their pets, it was simply that they left them at home. It’s good to know about this, however.
And I believe times have changed. People in general used to be more hesitant to share their discomfort about matters that didn’t seem to be major moral issues. For instance, there was a time when it was hard to ask someone not to smoke inside… or, when I was pregnant, to ask someone not to smoke in their own car with me in it (we settled upon cracking the window).
* I don’t mean to be controversial, but there were a few dogs that hung out with us at times. This whole topic is very eye-opening.
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Some dogs aren’t bothered by fireworks, but every dog we’ve ever owned has been and most dog owners I know have the same experience with their dogs.
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Not to mention the trauma it can trigger for those with PTSD. Silent fireworks sound good to me!
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