Overcoming Challenges: Celebrating The 4th Of July With A Fearful Dog

My favorite holiday is right around the corner! You can keep your Christmas and your Thanksgiving; move over Halloween and Arbor Day. Independence Day, that's my day! I'm already donning my American flag Crocs. That's right, I'm head to toe in red, white, and blue. The 4th has always been my favorite holiday. As a kid growing up in Colorado, my pops made sure we did it right: tank wars, BBQ, pop bottle rocket fights, day drinking, and overall dumb decisions. It was absolutely the best time in my childhood, being around my dad and a lighter. 

Covert Black Ops

Growing up, we still had our fair share of crazy firework antics. But fireworks became more and more difficult to get. You could forget about getting them legally, so we used to do covert black ops missions to Wyoming and other states that had legal fireworks to bring back home to Colorado. After a while, we would skip the fireworks and start going to Red Rocks every year to see the best band ever, Blues Traveler, play. It became quite the tradition—the epic day of independence and the fortune we spent on fireworks. 

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Scaredy-Cat

After my pops passed, and having moved up here, I wanted all the epic memories I had with him to be shared with my friends and new family up here in the Tri-Cities. That's what I did and continue to do. My only issue this year is that I don’t think I can do fireworks. All because of the old man, Cashy boy, our 150 lb, 6-year-old “scaredy-cat", Newfoundland/Great Pyrenees mix. He is a towering black blob of fright when the 4th of July comes around. We have tried everything from a little 420 blazing on him, prescription drugs, to finding a cocoon of solitude with no luck. This year I'm going all out with the purchase of dog hearing protectors. He will look silly frolicking through the yard looking like he is late for a skeet shooting meet, but if it works, it works. I hope you have a safe and fun 4th and please make sure your pups are safe too. 

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