pet connection

This week’s Pet Connection offers advice for the Fourth of July, from our Dr. Marty Becker and Gina:

The best defense against Fourth of July problems is a good offense. Professional trainers and behaviorists start socializing dogs and making every potentially negative experience — such as fireworks and thunderstorms — into something rewarding. If a negative experience comes with tasty treats, then your pet is going to at least tolerate it, if not welcome it. This works best when started as a puppy, but don’t give up hope if your dog is already an adult: New behaviors can be learned.

One way to help your pet is to expose him or her to commercial recordings of thunderstorms or fireworks, and play them at increasing volume. Play the recordings at a low volume — recognizing how acute a pet’s hearing is — and give praise and treats. It’s a party! As the volume and duration are increased during subsequent sessions, give them really tasty treats so they have the expectation of a repeat treat. Initially, play the recording for five minutes, eventually leaving it on during daily activities as “normal” background noise.

That’s not going to happen with just a few days to plan, so make a note for next year, and get ready to cope with this year’s racket.

Provide pets with safe, secure hiding spaces inside your home. Dogs and cats who are comfortable in crates can find them a good place to ride out the noise, especially if the crate is put in a quiet, darkened part of the house. Whatever you do, don’t just throw your pet outside. A terrified pet can find a way out of the yard and, once out, will just keep running. The Fourth is a sadly busy time for emergency veterinary clinics, with a steady stream of pets hit by cars, and for animal control facilities dealing with an influx of lost pets.

If you know your pet becomes totally unhinged by fireworks noise, talk to your veterinarian before the holiday about an appropriate medication to calm your pet. Make sure you understand the dose and how long before the evening falls to give the medication. You might also ask to learn some acupressure points that will help to calm your pet.

They’ve also listed a few products that can help with the calming. Do remember to check the label, though: As A Dog’s Life blogger Nancy Freedman-Smith pointed out recently, the popular Rescue Remedy’s “pastille” version is made with Xylitol, which is toxic to pets.

According to Veterinary Pet Insurance (VPI), the second most dangerous plant for pets is … marijuana! Check out the entire list of problem plants, drawn from the insurers claim records for 2008, here.

In “The Buzz,” Dr. Becker and Mikkel Becker Shannon write about churches where dogs are welcome:

As churchgoers enter the sanctuary every Thursday at the Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church in Omaha, Neb., some may sniff their fellow parishioners. An occasional sharp note may even cause a woof to waft through the sanctuary. But this is forgiving audience: It’s full of dog lovers who join at least two other U.S. churches, in New York and near Boston, that allow dogs at regular weekly services, according to USA Today.

Want more? Read the entire Pet Connection for this week, or download the page (PDF) as it went out to our newspaper clients.