So…how’d you do? How’d your dog do? After the big day, where are you with regards to fireworks? Did you do a great acting job? Were you able to pull off the “no big deal” routine? We were.

Elsa is afraid of fireworks, she wasn’t always but as often happens it came on as she got older. So over the past few years we’ve been working hard on our performance. We’ve played ball, done some serious food reward training and generally ignored the fireworks. We always stay home during fireworks; there would have to be something pretty amazing to get me to leave my dogs alone on a fireworks night.

So…Elsa was scared and because most of the big displays were cancelled, there were more backyard fireworks. This meant, more often, MUCH longer length of time and CRAZY loud every once in a while. It was bad and very hard to deal with. It is much easier when the city displays start and end in about 45 min. This went on all night with a huge boomer around 4:30 in the morning (WHO DOES FIREWORKS AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING).

But, she did pretty good for the erratic and unpredictable nature of the neighborhood wild ones. We ignored, watched a movie and let her do her thing. The fireworks started early in the day so our routine had to change. Because this was an ongoing thing, like all day and all night thing we just ignored and went about our business…which worked pretty well.

We left one of the doors open a crack so she could go out and in at her leisure. She would come out with us, sit and relax and then head in if it got too loud. We never changed a thing and continued to talk, watch a movie and basically do our thing. This really helped her and although she did pace and pant, it was not crazy like it use to be. It was very manageable.

Even at our late bedtime, it continued. Elsa was up on the bed, down off the bed, up, down, up down until the wee hours. She finally calmed and only slightly stirred even with the huge boomer at 4:30 in the morning. Remaining calm is the way to help your dog.

As for Mr. Riggs, this was his first big fireworks day as an adult. He did amazing and I hope that he remains as “whatever” as he was last night. We did our best to give off the “who cares” vibe and it worked. When it was insanely loud he sat up and looked at us. We continued to talk or watch our outdoor screen without acknowledging that a huge boom with light show had just occurred. He lay back down and went to sleep.

Well, so much for July 4th. But being that everyone was letting them rip in their backyards last night, I am sure we are in for more tonight. We’ll be ready. Love to hear how you did.