West Michigan's Morning News
Pets and Fireworks
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If the loud noises of the 4th of July, well, two weeks, I think, is a long period of time, what options are out there to help? Well, it really starts with not sensitizing them to it, and it's the hardest thing I know, we want our pets to go absolutely everywhere with us. So we take them to fireworks, we take them to large gatherings, and we slowly but surely make them scared and sensitize them to those things. My first thing that I always tell folks is when you have the youngsters, just don't take them out. Leave them at home when you go to the fireworks, when you go to the big festivities, and then you can at least put off the timing for the fears and phobias, but noise phobia is a real thing. I think we got a precursor to it last week with the thunderstorms. We had a lot of dogs that really struggled, and those same dogs are going to come back the next week or two and really have problems. So as top parents, we have to say, what can we do to keep things to a minimum to keep our dogs calm? And now is absolutely the right time to think about it. You guys are very smart to talk about this. Dr. Marshall, I want to talk about something else that I relate to Fourth of July to or summer in general with dogs, and we had a negative experience with this, especially when Rudy was younger, and that is water. Whether you're taking him to like a dog beach, right, because it's warm, or you've got a pool, poolside, what are the etiquette things that you need to be careful with? Because we found out Rudy like fell in one time, and you just assume, oh, doggy paddle the dogs. Rudy wasn't doing too well. I mean, he was going down. And so I just wanted to throw that out there because you have to be careful. It was a really good point. Not all dogs swim well. Not all dogs like the water. Everyone has the lab or the golden story where the dogs just jump in, and you can't get them out of the lake, the river, the stream, the pool. But many, many dogs are fearful of water or just plain don't know what to do. So you're absolutely right. Don't just throw your dog in and expect them to come back to you. So we really, especially in the situation of a dog beach, not only is it a wonderful thing for a lot of dogs, it's a stressful environment socially. It's stressful for the dogs. There are lots of pets, lots of people. There's water that they may not know how to do. You are 100% correct. Know your dog, know the situation, and don't expect them to just love it first time out or ever. Sometimes just don't like the water and don't expose them to it. If you've got a pet that's cool with the sound of fireworks, you might think it's all right to have them out on the porch. But a lot of dogs will chase stuff that flies away. And that's super dangerous too. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Just keep them inside. Dogs are going to chase down. The the the sparklers are going to jump at the kids with the sparklers. They're going to go after even the tiny little fireworks that you have. What do they do? They investigate the world with their mouth. So they're going to eat things. Every year we have this happening. We have pets eating the remnants of the fireworks, and there's still a lot of chemicals in there. We don't want in their stomach. And then there are also dogs that will go after the not yet exploded fireworks. Every year we have problems with dogs actually chewing on things before they should. So just keep your pets away from the fireworks. Put them in an interior room where they can't see, they can't hear it, they can't see the boomers. Turn on the radio so they can't hear it. If you have a dog that you know is noise sensitive, now is the time to be talking to your veterinarian about what medications or supplements can we use to decrease that stress level before it happens. Almost all of the meds that we give need to be on board hours before the noises start. So keep those things in mind. Today is the day to call your veterinarian and talk through it. There are lots of things we can do for you to help you, but we need to talk about it now, not on July 4th. Dr. Marshall, we always appreciate your visits. Last 30 seconds here. And I just noticed something. Rudy just turned 10 this month. And so he's getting older, but he loves to go on walks and maybe even more so they knew he was younger. But I'm just curious, as your dog gets older, what do you recommend as far as so you don't overdo it with them? Oh, I love the older guys when they go for a go for a walk. We don't want to take that away from them. This is something that they've gotten used to. And if we want to maintain that muscleness and maintain their health, maintain their weight, keep the exercise going. Let them help you to learn how far they can go. You know, we have a lot of dogs that have been running with their owners for years and years and they can still do it, but they can't go as far and they can't go as fast. Just be aware of that. As it's hot and humid, the older they are, the less able they are to manage that too. So when it's this kind of weather, if you've got an older kid, they just can't go as far. So we have to help them to not do it, but really, you know, go in the morning, go in the evening, don't go in the height of the day just like you would with a regular in shape, younger dog. But our older kids absolutely can still exercise. And if they get painful, wouldn't they get painful? Talk to your veterinarian about how to manage that as well. Dr. Kirsten Marshall, Bridges Animal Hospital. Always great stuff. Thank you.