This is my dog, Loco.

He is a sweet dog, but soon after we adopted him, we found out that he has storm anxiety.  It’s mostly the flashing light that freaks him out, but the loud noise doesn’t help either.  He would get up in the middle of the night, sit by us as we slept, shaking the entire bed until we woke up.  My husband would take him into the master closet and stay with him the rest of the night, away from the scary lightning.  Eventually, we had to incorporate a thunder shirt and our vet prescribed medication to help our sweet pup calm down.

New Year’s Eve is tomorrow night, a night when people will be setting off fireworks.  Dogs, especially like Loco, don’t really understand what fireworks are all about.  To them, it’s incredibly loud noise and flashing lights.  To them, the world must be ending.

As you know, I’m a big fan of the infographic, and I found this great one by thatpetplace.com that gives some great tips on how to take care of our pups during these kind of celebrations, especially if they have a tendency towards anxiety.

One thing to add, if you do go out, be careful driving through neighborhoods.  Dogs that have freaked out and escaped from their homes may be roaming the neighborhood.

There are different schools of thought about what to do if you find a lost dog.  Some will say to call animal control and to not approach the dog who may be aggressive in its high anxiety state.  Animal control will have the skills and equipment to be able to get the dog home.  Others will say that if the dog approaches you, you should take it in and find the owners on your own.  If you are able to safely catch the lost dog, you can bring it to a 24 hour vet emergency clinic or a local shelter to check for a microchip.  Also, there are Facebook groups dedicated to lost pets, as well as checking your neighborhood group for posts about lost pets as well.

Tomorrow night, we are staying in and having some neighbors over.  Loco will be outfitted in his thunder shirt before the festivities begin, probably with a treat to distract him.  If all else fails, we have the meds to help calm him down, but we try to use those as a last resort.  Hopefully, this will help Loco have a great evening, and help all of us have a great start to the new year.

Have you had to deal with doggie anxiety in your pup?  What measures do you have to take with them?

Have you ever found a lost dog?  Were you able to connect them back to their family?  Any tips or tricks that worked for you?