A different Independence Day tradition

Our Ceilidh was always dancing

Our Ceilidh was always dancing

The Fourth of July holiday is an interesting blend for dog people – happy celebrations with friends, family, food, etc. And dread of nightfall and the noise it brings. Fireworks are terrifying to many dogs and we’ve read numerous tips in the last week about keeping dogs safe/happy/calm during the fireworks. We’ve also seen mentioned that this holiday is the worst for dogs escaping and getting lost.

We’re lucky in that our current pack doesn’t really care about the noise. We had a few inconsiderate, law-breaking neighbors who set off some disturbingly loud fireworks close to us and the dogs did all jump up and start barking. We jumped, too. And every car alarm in the neighborhood went off – so the dogs were justified in their alarm.

We did have a dog, our Boston Terrier girl Ceilidh, who was frightened by fireworks. She was kind of a special-needs girl – everything was new for her every single day. And most everything was frightening. She was also incredibly brave and, even though she was scared, she trusted us enough to always try to do what we asked, even training in obedience and agility. Ceilidh had two speeds – full and off. She was a sweet little girl, but it was no surprise when we lost her at only nine years old – our veterinarian commented that a spark as bright as our Ceilidh burned too fiercely to last.

In the years we were lucky enough to have Ceilidh, we developed a routine for the Fourth of July. We would be sure all the dogs were tired from play and training. (Making dogs use their brains for training is just as, if not more, exhausting than a long run or good fetch session.) Then we would hold a movie marathon – the loudest, most raucous movies we could think of. If it was a particularly noisy year, we would hold our marathon in the basement to muffle the noise even more. We made sure to take the dogs out to potty before sunset – and not again until we were sure all the local, scheduled fireworks shows were over.

We’re keeping the tradition – this year our stand-out movie selection was Independence Day. Fitting, don’t you think?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *