Christopher Wilson, a matchmaker at the adoption center for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined Cheddar News to discuss ways how to keep your dog stress-free amid fireworks during the July 4th weekend.

<div class="block">Christopher Wilson, a matchmaker at the adoption center for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals joined Cheddar News to discuss ways how to keep your dog stress-free amid fireworks during the July 4th weekend.</div>

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Cheddar Paws: Keeping Pets Safe and Calm During July 4th Fireworks

Baker. You have a special guest over there. Yes, we do. Especially for the Fourth of July weekend. Coming up guys. That means fireworks. That could be fun for vacationers but not so fun for our furry friends. So here to make sure that we take care of our friends is Christopher Wilson over at A S PC A and pet handler Michelle also joining us, but we have to introduce this guy right here. This is T Bone. Christopher. Tell us a little bit about T Bone. Yeah, this is our buddy T Bone. He's about five years old. He's a mixed breed. Uh He came to us through the NYPD on a suspected cruelty case. Um but he doesn't let that stop him. He's as sweet as ever. So sweet. I mean, he has given every person here kisses. He it seems incredibly gentle. Yeah, I mean, just look at him. He's a gentle giant. Um We know uh a lot of our friend, furry friends really get anxious over the Fourth of July. My dog in particular stays under the couch the whole night. Why are some of it? Why is it such an anxious time for them. Yeah, it could be, you know, it's the fireworks. It's the loud noises. It's the flashing light. It's something they're not used to. So it's important to just keep them calm. Uh, give them like a nice safe space. Something that, a place where they're comfortable, uh, give him a nice bed. I know my dogs love peanut butter so I give him a treat. Yeah. Fill, fill a toy with some peanut butter. Keep them nice and calm. I actually had to walk over because I wanted to meet him because he's been kissing you baby. Such a gentle guy. How do you prepare your pet for these loud noises at home? What can you do to make them feel better? Definitely turn on. You could turn on some music, uh, keep it quiet, some, you know, some white noise in the background. You could draw the shades and the curtains so they can't see the flashing lights outside and just make them sure that, you know, reassure them, keep them comfortable. And what about, don't, what should we not do when they're really scared on Tuesday? You don't want to really like hover over them and, and, and kind of it can make them feel a little more scared, a little more anxious. You just want to use calm reassuring tones, let them know you're there. Make sure the harness is on tight, the leash is on tight so they can't wiggle out if they get scared and like I said, just keep them nice and calm. He, he is so calm because he knows treats are over here. That's why he knows, he knows where, who's a butter in his bread and it's been so hot. There's been extreme heat across the country. How do you know if your pets dehydrated or you need, it needs water? That's very important right now. Um, you wanna just make sure you monitor, read the body language if they're excessively panting or shaking, having trouble walking, having trouble standing, even having seizures. Um, you want to contact your vet immediately, get him into shade better yet, you know, get him into a place with some air conditioning and always have water on you on walks. Yeah, I noticed that yesterday when I walked Martin just because of the temperature outside and the air quality, he got tired much quicker than, than normal. Um, ok. How again, how can people get in touch with you guys about, uh T bone and all the other amazing things that you guys do at A S PC A? Yeah. So the best thing to do is go on our website. It's a S PC A dot org slash adopt. Um, has all the cats and dogs buy it. It has uh, links to like if you're not in New York City, it has links to um, other shelters in the country and, and fill out an application. I know and who would make a really good family for somebody like T bo uh someone who, you know, is willing to take him for walks, willing to have some play time with him, play fetch with them and with kids. Yeah, he, he participates in play group at the PC A. So he has lots of dog friends. Yes, I think you need another dog. I think I was gonna say T Bone and Martin will get along so well. Uh, thanks again to our friends over A S PC A and of course you can check out their website A S PC A dot org slash adopt for more information on how you can foster or adopt one of their adoptable animals. Like T Bone right over here T BO. And let's get you a family.