I Finally Found Something to Help My Dog Who is Terrified of Fireworks!
If you have pets, chances are you may have a love/hate relationship with the 4th of July. I love fireworks, but I hate how much they scare my dog! Recently I found something that helps!
I have two dogs, George (brindle) and Wrigley (tan). George is super laid back, and doesn't care about anything, when fireworks happen he just shrugs them off and continues chewing on his bone or goes right back to sleep, nothing really bothers him. However my dog Wrigley is the complete opposite.
Wrigley is terrified of storms and fireworks. If she can get under the bed, she will wedge herself under the bed, and just shake. I hate it. It makes me feel so sad, because when she's like that there's no calming her down or comforting her. I can also tell when she's been scared when we've been gone because she's a good dog, she doesn't get into stuff, however if it happens to storm while we aren't home, or if fireworks go off while we're gone, we can always tell because we will come home to every single couch cushion flipped off the couch and onto the floor, something will be torn up, and usually the blankets in a basket we have on the floor will be strung across the room, like she had tried to curl up under them, and usually we will find her hiding in the bathroom or in a small space. That's how we know she's been scared.
I've tried everything and nothing seems to work...until now! Recently, Pet Food Center heard me talking about Wrigley on air, and they wanted to help, they said they had a suggestion for Wrigley, and at this point I've been willing to try anything.
They gave me a bottle of NaturVet Hemp Quiet Moments, it's a calming aid. They recommended it specifically for her issues. I like it because it says on the bottle, give 30
minutes before stressful event. On Friday night we were home after Putt Fore Life, so I decided to give her the recommended dose, and just see how she reacted, so I could monitor to make sure she didn't have any issues with the pill. Right off the bat I liked that the pills are treats, getting her to take pills is a whole other battle, and these she takes like treats! Her recommended dose is two so I gave her two.
Within about 15 minutes she was sitting on the couch noticeably sleepy. We even had some friends come over, and she was excited to see them, and then normally she would be in everyone's face wanting attention, but this time she got up was excited to greet them, then went and laid down. I heard only a few fireworks in the distance, so they weren't very loud, and she didn't even react. She pretty much just slept the whole night.
Now that I had monitored her and saw that she was not going to have a reaction to the medicine it was time for the true test, Saturday night. Saturday night we were going to be going out to dinner, and I knew there would be some fireworks, so right as we were about to leave I gave her the medicine. I left the TV on loud as I always do when I know there's going to be fireworks, and I closed her off into just the living room/kitchen area.
We got home a few hours later, and NOTHING WAS MOVED! The couch cushions were all in place, the blankets were folded in their basket, and when we walked in, she was just standing up to come greet us, because she had been sleeping. I was relieved that the fireworks in the neighborhood hadn't traumatized her like normal.
So far I'm really pleased with how this has helped her. So if you have a dog like Wrigley, follow these firework tips here, and check out Pet Food Center they have a knowledgeable staff, and were able to recommend something to me that finally works!
I think this picture says just about everything you need: