Pets During 4th of July Fireworks or Storms

How well does your pet handle storms or 4th of July fireworks? Mine…not so good. This last storm was the type where there were no warning shots of thunder, so we didn’t know that the storm was right on us until we had that super loud, really long rumble of thunder that shook the house. So two seconds before the thunder, our 5 pound Yorkie, Cooper, was sleeping in a little ball on our daughter Lauren’s bed with her during the day, completely relaxed and enjoying the moment. But once that thunder clapped, all I heard was rapid scratching on the kitchen tile as Cooper was trying his best to scramble across the house in a panic. Under normal circumstances, he can run so fast it’s actually hard to track him with our eyes. But that’s not what happened that day. Do you remember Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner when they tried to run so fast they actually were suspended in the air with their legs running so hard they were frozen in one spot until they had traction? That was Cooper during the storm. His little legs were running so fast that he was literally suspended in one spot, spinning out of control on the kitchen tile. Once he had traction, his little body had actually spun at an angle and he bolted right into the kitchen island. After ricocheting off that, he did a Tokyo Drift through the rest of the kitchen and defied the laws of gravity as he took off with lightning speed through the living room. He went from spinning in one spot so long that I had time to say, “Cooper! What are you doing!?”, to taking off so fast through the living room that he reached some kind of supersonic speed that took him into an invisible stealth mode. We literally had no idea where he was, he went so fast. Thinking back, now I’m not sure if it was a long rumble of thunder or Cooper breaking the sound barrier that shook the house. He was so scared he hid somewhere and none of us knew where to look. I love it when people are going for walks with their dogs and they come across a mountain lion or bear, and the dog risks his life to save his family; it’s such a heartwarming story. My dog? The headline would read, “Family was attacked, but dog high tailed it out of harm’s way at warp speed and he’s totally fine.” Same thing in storms. Usually when there’s a storm coming, he’s hiding under the computer desk or behind the entertainment center and you can just see his little eyes poking out. He never makes sure we’re ok or warns us of impending doom, and you’d think he’d have a vested interest in our well-being considering we’re his food source every day. His overreaction that day was probably doggie nightmare material where he knew he had to run away from something bad but he tried too hard and actually wound up running in place for a full 10 seconds instead. It’s hard to say how we’d all handle a tough situation until we’re in it, but with Cooper now we know. We’re on our own, he’s outta here! We’ll have to hold him through fireworks every year. Have a safe, happy and scary free 4th of July!!