Tomorrow is Canada Day, and for many Canadians it’s a time to celebrate by setting off fireworks or watching a fireworks display. While this can be great fun for the family, it can be scary for your pets.
Both large-scale and at-home fireworks displays can be especially frightening environments for dogs and they may behave unpredictably. Your dog could experience a severe panic attack and run away or hurt itself trying to get away from the noise. Your dog may also decide that the fireworks noises are a threat and try to “attack” them, resulting in serious injury from the explosions or it may ingest the fireworks, causing critical illness.
This doesn’t mean that you have to avoid fireworks at all costs, but there are some precautions you can take.
Keep Your Pets at Home or Inside
If you’re setting off fireworks at home or in the park, keep your pets inside. The same goes for attending a fireworks show – avoid the combined stress of a large crowd, an unfamiliar area and fireworks and leave your dog safely at home.
Familiarize Your Pets to the Sounds
This may sound silly, but some pet owners have found it effective to play fireworks sounds at increasing volumes as the date approaches. This will make the sounds more familiar to your pets, which will give them less reason to worry. If you really want your dog to feel good, try a Pavlovian-style trick by taking it for a walk or feeding it whenever you play the sounds. This can significantly increase the likelihood that fireworks noises won’t upset your dog.
Tire Your Pets Out
This is an experienced pet owner trick. Everything is less dramatic when your pets have spent all their energy having fun with you earlier in the day. Take your dog for a walk, to the off-leash park or any other energetic activity so that when the time comes, your dog is too tired to have much of a reaction to the fireworks noises.
Life can be unpredictable, and you never truly know how your beloved pets will react in these situations. As much as we want to avoid accidents, they happen — which is why pet insurance through Petline Insurance arranged for by Hudson’s Bay Financial Services is a great asset. Pet insurance reimburses you for up to 80 per cent of the cost of care and veterinary services if your pet becomes ill or is injured in an accident.
Three levels of coverage are available, with rates starting as low as $16.031 a month for dogs. Plus, earn up to 4,0002 Hudson’s Bay Rewards points.
Happy Canada Day, everyone!
1 Rates and product details are effective as of January 1, 2016, and are subject to change without notice. All plans are subject to the terms and conditions of your Policy and Documents of Insurance. Premiums vary by breed and where you live.
2 Earn 2,000 Hudson’s Bay Rewards points when you purchase a Basic Care plan; 3,000 Hudson’s Bay Rewards points for an Enhanced Care plan; and 4,000 Hudson’s Bay Rewards points for an Enhanced Care Plus plan. Points will be issued in equal increments after every six months when you use a valid Canadian-issued credit card to pay for your premiums and will not be pro-rated. Offer valid in Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, and the Yukon.