It's ten of ten, which means the FOUR sets of "official" fireworks that can
be heard from my house (ranging from 12 to about 4 miles away) are going
into finales, and some eejits in the neighborhood are setting them off as
well.
Brenin is under my feet shaking all over, Morag is running from side to side
of the house (depending on which set is banging loudest) growling and
barking, and Val (my sister's JRT/Chi) is alternating between running in
circles panting heavily and baying along with Morag....

Official fireworks are bad enough, but the genius(es) who decided to make
fireworks legal for sale in MD ought to be tarred & feathered IMO. GRRRRR.

"sionnach" wrote in message
...
It's ten of ten, which means the FOUR sets of "official" fireworks that
can be heard from my house (ranging from 12 to about 4 miles away) are
going into finales, and some eejits in the neighborhood are setting them
off as well.
Brenin is under my feet shaking all over, Morag is running from side to
side of the house (depending on which set is banging loudest) growling and
barking, and Val (my sister's JRT/Chi) is alternating between running in
circles panting heavily and baying along with Morag....

Official fireworks are bad enough, but the genius(es) who decided to make
fireworks legal for sale in MD ought to be tarred & feathered IMO. GRRRRR.



I guess I'm lucky, neither of mine care much about fireworks. Gracie is
sleeping beside me and Merlin is downstairs with his daddy. The very first
time they heard them, years back, Gracie looked at me a bit worried. I told
her 'it's okay', she gave me her 'are you sure?' *look* and I told her
again, 'it's okay.' She then put her head down and that was it. Neither
of them are bothered by thunder either. We set off fireworks last 4th.
This year we are saving ours for next week-end. We've been working on a
couple projects here to take advantage of the long week-end. So we decided
to do the fireworks next Saturday. Everybody around us is doing theirs
tonight, though. A huge storm is about to bear down on us, so that should
wrap it up pretty quickly.

In article ,
"sionnach" wrote:

It's ten of ten, which means the FOUR sets of "official" fireworks that can
be heard from my house (ranging from 12 to about 4 miles away) are going
into finales, and some eejits in the neighborhood are setting them off as
well.

We just had the official ones on the Mall to deal with. They didn't
seem to bother Peanut as badly as they did last year, though...he
climbed up on the window sill when the humans moved over to the window,
but got down quickly when he heard the boom noises. Maggie came over
and hopped up on the couch (the back of which faces the window) and
watched with us for a while, but I have no idea what she made of it all.
Then she turned around and curled up on the couch. Buddy came over,
too, but seemed totally uninterested in what was going on outside.

We had no idea how David's dogs were going to react because they've
never been here for the fireworks before, but it didn't seem to really
bother either of them.

Brenin is under my feet shaking all over, Morag is running from side to side
of the house (depending on which set is banging loudest) growling and
barking, and Val (my sister's JRT/Chi) is alternating between running in
circles panting heavily and baying along with Morag....

Toby howled through the fireworks the one year he was here for them...
after that we boarded him (and Fidget) for the day. (They never
bothered Fidget, but pretty much nothing bothered Fidget.)

Official fireworks are bad enough, but the genius(es) who decided to make
fireworks legal for sale in MD ought to be tarred & feathered IMO. GRRRRR.

I agree with that, for a number of reasons. Someone is setting off some
kind of small firecrackerish thing outside, which just sounds like heavy
rain against the windows and doesn't seem to bother any of the dogs,
although I'm finding it annoying.

OT: we had WETA on while we watched the fireworks, and noticed the TV
lagged the live ones by about ten seconds, I guess so they could bleep
any unexpected profanity or body parts.
--
Bright eyes/burning like fire, * * * * * | Kevin Michael Vail
Bright eyes/how can you close and fail?* |
How can the light that shone so brightly | . . . . . . . . . .
Suddenly shine so pale?/Bright eyes* * * |* . . . . . . . . .

"sionnach" spoke these words of wisdom in
:

It's ten of ten, which means the FOUR sets of "official" fireworks that
can
be heard from my house (ranging from 12 to about 4 miles away) are going
into finales, and some eejits in the neighborhood are setting them off
as well.
Brenin is under my feet shaking all over, Morag is running from side to
side of the house (depending on which set is banging loudest) growling
and barking, and Val (my sister's JRT/Chi) is alternating between
running in circles panting heavily and baying along with Morag....

Official fireworks are bad enough, but the genius(es) who decided to
make fireworks legal for sale in MD ought to be tarred & feathered IMO.
GRRRRR.



I just got home from the fireworks. We took Tuck. He played on the
playground and was in hog heaven with all the kids until the fireworks
started, then he watched the sky in total intrigue , carefully studying
each one. He's never seen fireworks before and it was definitely an
impressive occassion for him.

Perhaps if you allowed your dogs to see them, it wouldn't be so scary?

"diddy" none wrote
:

Perhaps if you allowed your dogs to see them, it wouldn't be so scary?

Seeing has nothing to do with it - it's about sound, and in Morag & Val's
case, it's also about people running around.
In Brenin's case, it's a phobia relating to his puppy days; anything that
sounds like a gunshot upsets him, as does the smell of gunpowder. He's also
the only one of the three who reacts to thunder, although not to the level
he does to gunshot-type sounds.

In Morag's case, it's simply that she's a BCoid who wants to watch the
perimeters. We're not sure about Val, but she spent her early puppyhood
living in a homeless camp; as for the barking, she's simply being a good
JRTx and joining with Mw's guarding & barking.

And I wouldn't dream of attempting to deal with the issue by taking any of
them to public fireworks; it would not only be cruel to the dogs, but rude
to the other humans.

diddy none wrote :

Perhaps if you allowed your dogs to see them, it wouldn't be so scary?

I did that with Sam when he was a tyke, and his fear of thunderstorms and
fireworks got progressively worse every year. My current two are
unaffected by storms or fireworks, thank goodness.

tiny dancer wrote:

We set off fireworks last 4th.
This year we are saving ours for next week-end. We've been working on a
couple projects here to take advantage of the long week-end. So we decided
to do the fireworks next Saturday. Everybody around us is doing theirs
tonight, though. A huge storm is about to bear down on us, so that should
wrap it up pretty quickly.

Fireworks are legal in your community? Here only sparklers are
allowed in the county, although that doesn't stop a lot of folks
from annoying their neighbors all night with their illegal
noisemakers. Someone across the street must have bought a
truckload, judging from the sounds coming from that back yard.
And we're in the midst of a major drought; I hope I don't hear
firetrucks roaring by later on tonight.

FurPaw

--
The plural of anecdote is not proof.

To reply, unleash the dog.

M Healey wrote:

diddy none wrote :


Perhaps if you allowed your dogs to see them, it wouldn't be so scary?


I did that with Sam when he was a tyke, and his fear of thunderstorms and
fireworks got progressively worse every year. My current two are
unaffected by storms or fireworks, thank goodness.

I'm sitting here at home having had an almost constant barrage since
about 1:00 this afternoon. after a week of fireworks every night. Sigh.
The little whistly things aren't too bad, but somebody has some huge
ones that sound like a cannon going off.

The dogs are mostly fine, though Viva's a bit unsettled. In her old age
she's gotten more sensitive to that stuff. me though, I'm sick of them
and ready for the holiday to be over already.

"FurPaw" wrote in message
news
tiny dancer wrote:

We set off fireworks last 4th. This year we are saving ours for next
week-end. We've been working on a couple projects here to take advantage
of the long week-end. So we decided to do the fireworks next Saturday.
Everybody around us is doing theirs tonight, though. A huge storm is
about to bear down on us, so that should wrap it up pretty quickly.

Fireworks are legal in your community? Here only sparklers are allowed in
the county, although that doesn't stop a lot of folks from annoying their
neighbors all night with their illegal noisemakers. Someone across the
street must have bought a truckload, judging from the sounds coming from
that back yard. And we're in the midst of a major drought; I hope I don't
hear firetrucks roaring by later on tonight.

FurPaw


Yeah, they are legal. Wal-Mart has them here, but my daughters got theirs
at the big fireworks tent set up outside the shopping center. They had most
of theirs 'buy one get one free' today. Lot's of people here though, go to
South Carolina to get theirs. In S.C. the really big ones are legal too. I
don't know that much about fireworks. The ones we had last year went up in
the sky, big booming and all, so I'm not sure what's different/better about
the South Carolina ones. We never really bothered at our previous house,
because our neighbors across the street always had fireworks. So we'd just
go over and watch theirs. LOL, I remember one 4th I really didn't feel like
going, so I already had my robe on, ready for bed. My neighbor called to
see when we were coming and I said "I was tired, already undressed, etc."
Well, she just wouldn't let me off the hook. I had to zip up the robe, find
the sandles, and mosey on across the street so they could get 'em going.
;-)

My son in law wets down the far end of the yard before he starts setting
them off. And then he keeps the hose close by, just in case. But even with
last years drought, wetting down the yard first worked fine. We line up
lawn chairs for all the kids along the edge of the patio, so it's all done
safely and all. The kids had a great time. They are expensive though. For
just a simple show, it runs at least a hundred dollars. And that's nothing
really special or more than say 30 to 45 minutes worth. I saw a prepacked
lot at Cosco a couple weeks ago for $250.00. Didn't want to spring for that
much though. Besides, it's better to choose your own. You can just pick
the good ones and not waste your money on the duds.

td

"sionnach" wrote in message
...
It's ten of ten, which means the FOUR sets of "official" fireworks that
can be heard from my house (ranging from 12 to about 4 miles away) are
going into finales, and some eejits in the neighborhood are setting them
off as well.
Brenin is under my feet shaking all over, Morag is running from side to
side of the house (depending on which set is banging loudest) growling
and barking, and Val (my sister's JRT/Chi) is alternating between running
in circles panting heavily and baying along with Morag....

Official fireworks are bad enough, but the genius(es) who decided to make
fireworks legal for sale in MD ought to be tarred & feathered IMO.
GRRRRR.

Muttley doesn't particularly like them, but all he does is stay close to me
and crawl part way under the bed. I had planned to go to Baker Park, in
Frederick, for their big celebration (as I have the past several years),
but dogs are not allowed on the 4th, and the weather seemed unsettled, so I
decided to stay home and mow the lawn, while Muttley watched from a safe
distance. It rained a little, but I thought it might clear up, so I put him
in the car and drove to a hill behind the library where the fireworks from
Oregon Ridge can be seen, and usually a small neighborhood crowd gathers
for a picnic. But there were only a couple of teens setting off some
firecrackers, and the rain got worse, so I went to Popeyes and got some
chicken and shrimp, which I shared with my dog at home. More drool on my
shoe while he waited to be fed a few small morsels.

Maybe growing up in the "hood" Muttley experienced the sounds of drive-by
shootings and other city noises, so they don't freak him out too much. But
coyote howls and the cellular barking communication network of the
neighborhood dogs - that gets him fired up.

Only the non-aerial and non-explosive types are legal in Baltimore County
and most of MD:
http://baltimore.about.com/od/living...ireworksmd.htm
http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/New...fireworks.html

But most people will push the envelope and get more powerful pyrotechnics
from nearby states (particularly, I think, the Carolinas, PA and WV), and
the laws are laxly enforced. For a list of all states and their laws:
http://www.americanpyro.com/State%20...statelaws.html

I sometimes wonder, when I hear loud bangs, especially at other times of
the year, if they are firecrackers or gunfire. Years ago, I heard such
sounds, followed by the sounds of projectiles ripping through the leaves of
trees a few feet above my head. I think there were some drunk rednecks at a
party nearby who were trying their trigger fingers at skeet shooting with
imagined clay pigeons. Shotgun pellets can travel a long way, and it was
time to hunker in the bunker.

Paul and Muttley