American Families and their pets! Tips for Happy Tails on July 4th!

We want everyone, including your pets to enjoy the holiday weekend!

From of all us here at North County Pet, we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy 4th of July! And we'd also like to give a sincere thanks to all of our service men and women who have given us our freedom and helped keep our country safe! As I remember my father whom served 20 years as a proud marine, and retired a few years before his passing, his words on this day would be, "Let's celebrate", and with a salute to the flag, he'd shout, "Semper Fidelis!"

In honor of this blessed day, NCP saluted the troops this morning as we crossed over onto U.S. Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton. We have several clients that are active in the military and we are proud to help care for their pets, as any! Thank you again, for all that you do!

Now down to the serious business of the weekend ahead! Many of the celebrations nationwide will inevitably showcase a beautiful display of fireworks to the awesome instrumental sounds of our nation's anthem and other songs related to this great country we call home! But let's not forget our beloved pets this weekend...they don't appreciate the awe inspiring sparks of fire crackling in the air high above, lighting our skies to almost daylight. They don't understand, and often this causes problems for owners and animal control everywhere. Take precaution and please consider some of the simple steps below to help prevent a serious situation:    

1. If you have pets that are not used to loud noises like pops, and bangs, then consider sheltering them from these booming sounds. Especially if you have plans on going out and leaving them home. If your dogs and cats are outdoors, bring them inside for the night. You may even have to go as far as crating, or keeping them in a more confined space since fireworks can still be heard inside a house. You may even turn on a radio with soothing music to distort the sounds of "gunfire". This will ultimately help reduce the stress caused by unfamiliar noises.

2. If your dogs and cats are indoors already, again you may have to confine them. If you stay home, and you can hear fireworks, you may notice odd behavior. Dogs will often try to squeeze into tight places they normally would ignore, and cats will hide as usual, or possibly not be bothered at all by the strange sounds. Dogs may start to shake (as if they're scared), pant heavily (nervously), whine (confused), and even shed tufts of hair quickly; these are signs of stress and should not be ignored. Comfort your pets as you would a crying baby. Reassure them that all is okay and that it will pass.

July 4th is the busiest time of year for Animal Control and Law Enforcement, mostly do to an over abundance of calls about missing pets, lost pets wandering and straying away from home, and injured animals. Some of the calls could be prevented if responsible pet owners followed the guidelines above! Please share and pass along to others to help spread the word.

In order to escape the stress, dogs will often dig out of yards, or jump fences they normally are confined by, but as an act of desperation adrenaline kicks in similar to how it does for people and next thing you know that 6 foot fence becomes an easy challenge. Dogs will often even chew their way through objects to get out! Thus, causing injury to themselves, or if after escaping there is the possibility of being hit by a car! You should understand your animals behavior and not reprimand them for doing something that comes natural. This will ultimately upset them more.  

We hope this helps you prepare for a wonderful weekend! Stay safe and God Bless!