Community Corner

Keep Your Pet Safe This Fourth of July: Lost Dogs Illinois

Tips for keeping your dog happy and healthy during the summer celebration season — plus what to do if you lose your pet.

By Susan Taney, Lost Dogs Illinois:

Noisy parades, loud music and fireworks — these summertime rituals are all great fun for people, but they are traumatic and dangerous to their pets.More pets run away from home over the Fourth of July holiday than any other. And with many towns holding fireworks displays throughout the summer, summertime runaways are becoming more and more commonplace.Many dogs experience similar phobias during thunderstorms or when loud music is being played. Your dog may show the following signs: shaking, drooling, howling or barking, finding a place in the house to hide, and loss of bladder or bowel control.Lost Dogs Illinois offers the following tips to keep pets feeling safe and secure when during fireworks or thunderstorms.

  • Take your pet for a walk or play date before the fireworks start. This allows your dog to exercise, release energy and, of course, go “potty”.
  • Keep pets indoors. They may even feel safer if they are placed in a smaller interior room with a radio/tv playing.
  • Close your windows. Dogs, in particular, can try and get out of the house by pushing out the screen.  Dogs have been known to bolt through screen doors so keep your inside door closed.
  • Resist the urge to take your dog to the local Independence parade and festivities.  Loud, crowded activities are no fun for your pets.
  • Check your fence line for loose boards or openings that your dog could slip through or dig out of.  We suggest during these activities, you even keep a leash on your dog even in a fenced yard.
  • Make sure your pet has a license and a readable, up to date identification tag on his/her properly fitted collar and consider having a microchip identification inserted into your pet.
If your dog does accidently escapes, please follow our 5 Things to Do if You Have Lost Your Dog. LDI wishes everyone a safe holiday!


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