Clay Shares His Thoughts On Fireworks And Dogs

Independence Day is Monday and I have been asked what my plans are and more specifically what I plan on doing with Pepper that day. When it comes to dogs and fireworks many people have many opinions on what is acceptable.Here is what I can say for sure about what I plan on doing.I think I should mention that I am not the kind of guy that would ever preach about what people should or shouldn't do with their animals. Often times on the radio you will hear me suggest things but only as an aside. I frankly hate when people push their philosophies on me about how to do things.

I got Pepper for one specific reason. To hunt her. She is not a "registered" lab in AKC so I am not able to use her in competitions like field trials or hunt tests. ( I welcome any chance to use her for exhibition events) She is 7 months old and I have worked every single day training her to be as good a hunting dog I can make her. By the way..she is darn good!

However, she is not fully acclimated to the gun fire or loud noises. She does well with thunder and actually has no problems with thunderstorms at all. Fireworks can be rough on any dog. Many times this time of year dogs get 'freaked" out by all the bangs and booms. I simply can't afford for her to get "gun shy" at this point. My plan is to keep her as far away from fireworks as I can so as to not expose her to something that may "ruin" her chances at being a properly trained and adjusted gun dog. This means I may have to kennel her in the house with the windows and doors closed and the radio or TV on low. Sounds kinda crazy but like I said I have worked to hard to allow her to get gun shy because of fireworks. Besides, I doubt she even knows what she is missing!

Have a safe Independence day and remember to keep your dogs safe!