Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Securing Your Pet’s Safety in an Emergency

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Week 3 of Kathleen Gage’s BlogPaws community challenge.

One of the best things about going to BlogPaws Conference, is the ability to connect with sponsors. I loved talking to the different sponsors to find out how they’re helping animals in the community. One of the sponsors of BlogPaws was Hills. I stopped for a chat at the Hills booth to talk about their hydrolyzed diet. (More on why we might need THAT in a future post.)  

While I was there, I learned that Hills has a program that helps pets when disaster strikes. You can read more about it HERE.

In our swag bag we received a post card from Hills with tips for securing your pet’s safety in an emergency. The tips are listed in bold, while my comments are in italics.

*Use a microchip or collar ID. Personally, my dogs are microchipped, but when we travel we also use a collar. Both my online information (from the chip) and the tags on my dog’s collars use my cell phone. I am basically never far from my cell phone, and when we travel, it’s definitely the easiest way to reach me.

A decal on the door let’s emergency personnel know that I’m inside.

*Put a rescue decal on the door or window.  This is more for an emergency that occurs when you are not home. We have decals on our front door, and the bedroom window. In the event of an emergency where you are not home, first responders will know to look for your pets. (Side note, I periodically use a Sharpie and freshen that decal up.)

*Know where to look for your pets, in case of evacuation. Typically my dogs are on the couch, and if they are freaked out they seek one of us out. But if your dog or cat tends to head for a bedroom or bathroom, look there first. Knowing where they will be, will save you time.

*Know where the closest pet friendly place is for you to go. While I think the tide is slowly changing, a lot of shelters still don’t allow pets. One of the BlogPaws sponsors was Red Roof Inn. All Red Roof Inns will allow one dog, while some allow more. I believe LaQuinta’s also allow pets, but I’m not sure of their policy.

*Carry a picture of your pet. I don’t know about you, but I have tons of photos of both dogs on my cell phone, and I rarely go anywhere without it. If your pet is lost or separated from you for some reason, you’ll be glad you have the photo.

*Take a pet carrier or crate with you for safe transporting. Obviously this is if you have the room in your car, and your pet is comfortable in the crate. Otherwise I suggest a good seat belt system for the car, and a double-clip harness for the leash.

One of the things I noticed when visiting the Hills website, is they also suggest having a “Go” bag. A “Go” bag is a bag you have stocked for emergencies. In a future post, I’ll list their suggestions, with some tips of my own.

Putting a little thought into how to handle an emergency, or evacuation will help make the situation less stressful for everyone involved.

Many thanks to Hills for these awesome tips.

4th of July – Lost Pet Prevention Month

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Did you know that July 5th is the busiest day of the year for animal control officers? It’s true. So many pets are lost on the 4th of July because they were frightened by fireworks and escaped their yards or collars.

Pets and War Vets

Pets, frightened by the noise from fireworks have been known to break out windows, or break down doors in their desperation to escape. Once they are on the run, it can be very difficult to find them again.

Animals, like most of us, work on the 3-F’s system. Fight, Flight or Freeze. Once an animal is in Flight mode, it can take a long time for them to stop running, even when they do, they sometimes don’t immediately recognize their owners.

Those of us with pets frightened by loud noises know the best way to keep your pets safe is to not leave them alone.

My dogs were never afraid of fireworks or thunderstorms until recently. We had an incident two summers ago where the smoke alarm went flooey and ever since then, Sampson shakes and pants with fear with loud noises.

She lays on the floor one time. ONE TIME, and she complains about dust. She should see her housekeeping from my perspective.

She wasn’t here and I got scared.

We live far enough away from the town Fireworks display to not hear the noise, but that doesn’t stop our neighbors and others in the area from putting on their own displays. In particular we have a neighbor two houses up, that always has a 4th of July party and around 9:30, they start with the street fireworks. (Thankfully, the woman across the street from him will call the police if it goes past the 10:00 pm noise cut off.) Still it can make for a very stressful time for Sampson.

Here are some tips for how we help keep Sampson as stress -free as possible during the 4th of July.

  • We stay home. While I realize that isn’t an option for everyone, it just works for us.
  • We keep the windows closed and the air conditioners running, to help buffer the noise from outside.
  • We also turn the TV on and keep it fairly loud.
  • Sampson and I will likely retreat to a bedroom, where I can calm and reassure him if he needs it.
  • I’ve recently added a Calming Chew to Sampson’s supplement routine. It works fairly well with thunderstorms, so I’ve got my fingers crossed it will work just as well with the fireworks.

Here are some general tips that can help keep your pets safe over 4th of July (or anytime there are any types of celebrations.)

  • Keep your cats inside.
  • If at all possible, try and get your dogs outside to potty before the noise begins.
  • If you have to take them outside during the celebration, make sure they have their collar with contact information on it. Even if your yard is fenced in, consider taking them out on leash.
  • Even if your pet is micro-chipped, make sure they have a tag with your name and phone number on it. Remember,  a vet will need to scan your pet in order to get your contact information. Many vets will not be open during 4th of July celebrations.
  • Speaking of scanning, consider using a scannable ID tag, like the ones made by PetHub. This tag can be scanned by anyone with a smart phone (they even say the older phones can do it too), giving someone instant access to your dog’s profile and also your contact information. The tags cost a little bit more than the ones you make yourself at the pet store, and there is a moderate annual fee for the tag, but considering the heartache it can save you, it’s a good value if you ask me. (They have a monthly or annual fee, for whatever fits your budget.)
  • Make sure your dog’s collar is snug and not able to be slipped. Even better, consider using a harness with attached tags vs a collar.
  • Secure any areas in your house (windows, doors) or yard (gates or weak spots) where your pet could escape from.
  • Some pets might be content with a stuffed Kong, (Delilah probably would.)
Did someone say Kong?

Did someone say Kong?

Make a place they feel safe.

  • If your pet is comfortable and feels safe in their crate/kennel, considering securing them in there. You can place a light blanket or sheet around a wire kennel, to help your dog feel safer.
  • Take a small room (bathroom or larger closet) and make it a safe area. Add a blanket, a bowl of water, a radio or fan for noise control.

There are other options, such as Rescue Remedy, plug-ins that emit pheromones, Thundershirts to name a few. If you have a pet that has a sensitivity to noise, try different things to find what works best for them.

Knowing your pet and what bothers and comforts them, can help you plan for stressful events and ultimately make them less stressful for you as well.

Heart Like a Dog is working with PetHub for Lost Pet Prevention month. While we are being compensated for this post, the thoughts and opinions expressed are our own, and are shared here because we believe in keeping pets safe in all situations. That being said, we never share anything that we don’t believe or use ourselves.

 

 

Keeping Your Pets Safe on 4th of July

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Our town fireworks took place last night. Thankfully we live a far enough distance away that the noise registers as a quiet, BOOM! Luckily for me, Sampson and Delilah are rarely bothered by loud noises. A couple of weeks ago we had a clap of thunder in the middle of the night that literally shook the house. Delilah barked once and I don’t think Sampson even moved. (Although he has been known to run outside to bark at the sky with particularly loud boomers.)

Fireworks in our neighborhood are an entirely different matter though. Often times the neighbor two houses over has a raucous party and lights off firecrackers. Fireworks THAT close to home can really set my dogs off.

I’ve been following our local animal control’s Facebook page and discovered that July 5th is the busiest day for shelters. Why is that? Because so many pets are terrified of the noise and chaos and get scared and run off.

I think this goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. Don’t bring your pets around fireworks. A spinning, wiggling, sparkly firework could possibly tempt an animal in a game of chase, which could result in severe burns or worse.

Below is a list of a few extra precautions you can take to help keep your pet as safe as they can be this 4th of July.

  • Even if your pet is micro-chipped make sure they are wearing a collar with your name and phone number on it.
  • Try and keep your pets inside when fireworks are taking place. If they must go outside to potty, go outside with them. If possible make sure they are on leash.
  • Run the air conditioning (or fans) along with some loud music or play the TV loudly to help dull the noise.
  • Have the number for your local animal control readily available. (You don’t want to be trying to look something up when you are in a blind panic.)
  • Have a current picture of your pet handy, just in case.
  • Don’t leave your pet alone if you can help it. If you must leave them alone, consider making a nest for them in a small area of your home, one where they cannot hurt themselves and consider leaving the air conditioning and music on in there to help muffle the noise.
  • If you have tried all of these and nothing is helping, consult your veterinarian to help find something that will work for your pet. There are many natural as well as prescribed solutions that might help.

And remember, it’s not just pets that don’t care for fireworks, some combat veterans have a real problem with loud noises, especially those that sound like gun fire.

To help spread the word, Sampson and Delilah made a little public service announcement.

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You can help us spread the word by sharing this post on your social media platforms, or if you’d just like to share the photo, you can grab it on our Facebook page.

This is the Thursday Barks and Bytes Blog Hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like a Dog. Grab the badge and the linky code and join us!

While Barks and Bytes is for everyone, we request only blog posts be linked up and as a courtesy to other hoppers, please add the code to your post or link up to Linda or I.

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