06/11/2024
So here’s the thing; you may think fireworks only affect dogs for the time they’re exposed, so that’s fine, right? One and done?
Since fireworks have gone on sale, we have noticed an increase in our dogs being abnormally stressed, anxious, and on edge, including well established daycare dogs.
Yesterday, was awful. Most of our dogs were grumpy, snappy, very on edge. Over half of our dogs I had to sit down with owners at the end of the day and explain their dogs were unhappy. We had dogs who are usually social butterflies we had to take down to 1 on 1 because it was unsafe to group them with other dogs.
I spoke to multiple other daycare facilities and asked them if they’re experiencing the same, every single one of them said yes. Dogs refusing to come out of kennels or crates, dogs snappy, hiding in corners, dogs having to be sent home, dogs panicking, even 16+ hours after fireworks have stopped.
Why? When dogs are exposed to stressors / stressful stimuli 2 of the hormones that are released are cortisol and adrenaline.
The first hormone that is released is adrenaline; adrenaline triggers the “fight or flight” response. Adrenaline can take up to 9 DAYS to return to baseline levels.
The second hormone that is released is cortisol; cortisol increases alertness, and puts your dogs on edge. Cortisol can take up to 3 DAYS to return to baseline levels.
Now think about the repeated exposure every night, their bodies still have heightened stress hormones - as an example, put it on a scale.
Night 1 - hormones increase from 0 to level 5. Drop to 3 the following day.
Night 2, hormones go from a 3 to 8, the next day they drop to a 5.
Night 3, hormones increase from a 5 to a 10
And so on.
PLEASE rethink the use of fireworks, the damage that is caused is significantly more than what you think.
