Getting Ready for New Year’s Eve

The clock is ticking down to the end of 2011. It’s a time that we always look forward to with mixed feelings; it’s exciting that it’s the beginning of a completely new year…but here, as in many pet households, it’s also a time of dread because of the inevitable noise of fireworks. Our Irie hates fireworks (and thunder and gunshots) so we’ll be busy trying to keep her calm and quiet.

We were hoping that the fireworks would be called off this year because of the historic drought in our area. The Fourth of July fireworks were prohibited, and there was a lot of talk that New Year fireworks would have a similar fate…but some very welcome (although not adequate) rains last week meant that the fireworks are on for Saturday night.

So we’re getting ready. Here’s our plan:

• we’re reviewing theThundershirt, a wrap that, like swaddling a baby, helps relieve anxiety. We’ll be using it on Irie on Saturday night. Right now, we’re acclimating her to the Thundershirt and serving her treats on the shirt per their recommendations; we hold out the shirt like a tray with the treat on top. We’ll be back with a full review (and hopefully video) right after New Year’s to let you know how it worked on Irie.
• we’re renting a movie. We’ll be renting a movie to watch on New Year’s Eve and we’ll turn the volume up just a bit to hopefully drown out the sounds of fireworks.
• we’re taking our evening walk early. We always walk before dark but on Saturday night we’re moving up our usual walk even earlier, just to be safe.
• we’re making sure both dogs are wearing their tags. Both Irie and Tiki will be indoors and wearing their collars and tags. Many dogs bolt out of the door on New Year’s Eve so it’s definitely time to keep those tags on your dog!

What will you be doing with your dog on New Year’s Eve?

About Paris Permenter and John Bigley

DogTipper publishers Paris Permenter and John Bigley are a husband-wife team of full-time writers. The couple has authored over two dozen books and 2,500+ magazine articles.

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