Jennifer Lyon


Tuesday, July 5th, 2022
My Fireworks Wish

** I apparently didn’t know the date, and set this to post on the 5ht instead of the 6th. I’m laughing so hard at myself because I was having a day when I thought I was on top of everything!**

Another 4th of July done! We had a great day just hanging out in the pool and doing our thing. But we stayed home with Maggie. We won’t leave her alone with the fireworks. My work at the animal shelter gave me an up close and personal view of what the blind fear will do to dogs (and other animals). And it can happen if the owner is right there due to the extreme fear-adrenaline running through the terrorized animal.

Maggie did okay through the barrages of fireworks. We worked on managing her fear all weekend, which includes exercise. She stayed on the couch by us during the two nights of nonstop fireworks, and at least she wasn’t shaking. I was so happy to see that much.

Then today, Wizard’s phone beeped and she hid under my desk.

Sigh. The only time she does that is with sudden loud thunder. Clearly she was having some residual reaction. Wizard and I went directly into our calm routine while not comforting her terror. There’s a difference between calm support and reassurance and reinforcing fear — we want our dogs as confident as possible. Since it wasn’t blistering hot, I took Maggie for a second walk to distract her worry and keep her brain moving forward. Right now she’s sleeping under her chair, so it’s working. Maggie’s not bad enough for meds but I fully support doing whatever works best for each animal.

But dang, what do people suffering from PTSD do? I hope they have strategies that help them cope too.

I don’t want to stop peoples responsible celebrations, I just really wish we could confine the fireworks to only one night. My second wish is that idiots couldn’t get fireworks, but that’s like wishing cake and cookies were healthy and calorie free :-)

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday!

4 comments to “My Fireworks Wish”

  1. Silver James
    July 6th, 2022 at 7:55 am · Link

    You’ve been hanging around in my headspace again, haven’t you… ;) I thought I was ahead of the game and set up Tuesday’s blog early Monday morning. Then I realized I’d actually written today’s (Wednesday) blog. 🤦🏼‍♀️ The good news is, I didn’t have to worry about today’s blog. :roll:

    LG and I just grit our teeth and try to stay calm for the critters. A friend has noise cancelling headphones that he wears for the duration. Another one takes out his hearing aids and plays music–loudly. I get so angry at social media when someone says please be respectful with fireworks because Vets and animals and people jump in, call them “Karens” and berate them for not getting the joy of shooting off illegal fireworks in neighborhoods for four-to-five days surrounding the 4th. Here’s some statistcs from here for THIS 4th and past weekend:

    OCFD/July 4th 364 calls for service, 9 house fires, six car fires, 4 commercial building fires, 174 grassfires. 2/3 were caused by or suspected of being caused by fireworks. The majority of the other calls were injury vehicle wrecks (more than have involving alcohol) and fireworks injury calls. The rest were just run-of-the-mill sick calls, alarm calls, etc. The heat index on Monday (the 4th) was 105. Think about having to fight a fire wearing 40 lbs of bunker gear desighed to keep heat out, which means it keeps heat in. I’m surprised we didn’t lose a few firefighters to heat injuries. Kudos to the on-scene saftety officers for making sure that didn’t happen.

    Anyway, you’re talking my soapbox here so I know I’m preaching to the choir but if just one person chances on this and stops to think for just a minute instead of saying, “Here, hold my beer!” then the “noisy” holidays would be much calmer and happier for so many of us.

    Happy Hump Day. We’ve officially hit 100 a couple of days now with high humidity so I’m barely budging from beneath the fan and the AC. Stay cool and safe out there, witches! 🥵 (That’s the hot face emoji, Jen. ;) )



  2. Viki S.
    July 6th, 2022 at 2:46 pm · Link

    I know. It’s so hard on the pets. It really bugs me that people just keep blasting the fireworks off for days and days. They have no regard to anyone, skin or fur. And yes, I do think our fur babies suffer PTSD. Like Maggie, little things are sending Spunk running. He’s also hiding in places he never hid before.

    Around here 2 houses have burned down from fireworks set by little kids and one house by debris from controlled fireworks. I just saw that a huge fire in northern CA is thought to have been started by controlled fireworks debris. I think it’s best to only do them over water.

    Last night when I saw the post I figured that you might be busy with house stuff and sent it early.

    I hope Maggie is doing better. Spunk still is not.

    Sure hope you have a wonderful afternoon!



  3. Jenn
    July 6th, 2022 at 3:42 pm · Link

    Silver, LOL! Yep, we do tend to hangout in the same headspace. It took me about two hours to realized why my blog posted early.

    Yep, I’m sick of it too. I mean people calling those of us who expect others to follow laws and common courtesy “Karen.” I also feel bad for people named Karen, but that’s a different subject :-)

    I’m glad to hear some people have found ways to cope to get through it. Unfortunately, many have not. Or the fireworks come at an unexpected time, making the reaction to the trigger significantly worse. It’s much harder for the brain to identify and probably categorize unexpected booms and pops like that. I feel for everyone suffering.

    What makes me more insane is how much some of the offenders give lip service to supporting veterans. Really???

    We have a couple people around here shooting off highly illegal and dangerous fireworks that sound like mortar shells. And no, I don’t know how the firemen (and women) doing it in their heavy gear. I am a huge and grateful fan of fightfighters!

    Funny that you mention drinking and vehicle wrecks. A grocery store clerk was just telling Wizard and I that she’d never seen soooo much alcohol sold as she had this year. She said not just the amount of people buying, but the quantities they bought was massive. I’m not against alcohol, I’m against driving drunk and handling explosives (fireworks) drunk.

    Okay now I have to get off my soapbox, LOL!

    Sorry for the icky hot weather! Stay cool!



  4. Jenn
    July 6th, 2022 at 3:50 pm · Link

    Viki, Poor Spunk. I think most animal get scared. I really hope Spunk starts feeling better. Have the fireworks stopped? We just had a few last night.

    I hate that two houses burned down.

    We have huge problems with fireworks here, and probably other states too. And yet our town has a great fireworks show over the lake every year. That one is a professional show and much safer.

    I couldn’t figure out why my post went up right away until an hour or two later it dawned on me I put the wrong date in. Then I burst out to Wizard, “I’m an idiot and put the wrong date on the scheduler for my blog.” Wizard laughed. I’m so glad I can keep him entertained.

    Maggie is doing better today, I sure hope Spunk recovers soon.

    Hope your day is going well!



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