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Celebrating the Holiday with Your Pet Including your pet in your holiday celebrations is usually a great idea, but you might want to avoid the fireworks. Speaking of Pets
July 4, 2009 by Mindy Norton I saw an ad inviting everyone to have a blast at the Fourth of July Celebration.

That's a clever turn of phrase, since a "blast" can refer to having a really fun time and also to an explosion, like fireworks.

It surely seems that the bright bursts of color have come to represent the holiday and the fight for independence that gave birth to our nation.

Animals also are a part of our American heritage.

In colonial times they were work animals, hauling goods, plowing land, carrying passengers.

They helped humans hunt for food.

Along the way they became our friends and companions, and remain so to this day.

Even the horse, once so vital to our country (think of Paul Revere's ride) is now mostly kept for recreational riding.

A lot of Americans today keep dogs and cats as pets, enjoying their companionship.

So it's not unexpected that we would want to include them in our uniquely American holiday – Independence Day - which usually includes lots of outdoor activities, like barbecues, and the fireworks that light up the sky after the sun goes down.

Unfortunately, what for us is a time of fun and celebration can become a time of terror for our animal friends.

Their ears are much more sensitive than ours; to them, the sound of exploding fireworks can be painful and frightening.

A dog that may ordinarily be calm around crowds of people could become very anti-social if panicked by the intense noise.

If you plan to take your pet with you to outdoor events, make arrangements to leave before the fireworks begin.

If you decide to attend without your pet, don't go away and leave it outside unattended.

Every year, shelters receive a number of rescued pets who managed to get out and run away in an attempt to escape the noise.

The best approach might be to stay home with your best friend and watch the fireworks on TV.

After all, that's why you have a pet, for the companionship.

So celebrate that relationship by spending time with each other, a great American tradition, when you're speaking of pets.