We are thick in the middle of the dog days of summer, and what better way to celebrate summer than a birthday party for America? Each year, millions gather across the nation to honor America’s birthday with cookouts, parties, parades, and fireworks. While these are all fun and games for humans, puppies may think otherwise.
Your puppy is gaining more independence each day, and July 4 is a great time to practice training techniques and the socialization skills they’ve been working on dutifully. However, don’t forget about your puppy’s safety and comfort during these patriotic celebrations.
Celebrating Independence Day with your puppy can be a fun way to get through the dog days of summer. Let’s learn how to celebrate July 4 with your puppy, safety tips for puppies on July 4, and war hero dogs that sacrificed their lives for Americans to be able to celebrate freedom.
July 4 Safety Tips For Your Puppy
Fireworks, hot grills, parades swarming with people – what could go wrong with a puppy? While July 4 celebrations are a great opportunity for your puppy to work on socialization skills and have fun, it’s a holiday that requires your complete attention when celebrating July 4th safely with your puppy.
Protect your puppy’s identity
July 5 is one of the busiest days for animal shelter intakes due to animals who have gotten lost or bolted away from home due to the chaos of fireworks, crowds, and other stressors. Before you go grocery shopping for those hamburger buns and watermelons, secure your puppy’s identification by following a few steps. First, microchip your puppy with updated information. Next, get your puppy a snazzy collar with your contact information. Consider using a GPS collar, but don’t forget to charge it! Lastly, keep your puppy secured, whether on a leash or in an escape-proof backyard while you’re home, and keep all doors and windows closed and locked when possible.
Address noise sensitivity issues
Fireworks, parades, and loud parties may be fun for humans, but to puppies, it can be a scary and overwhelming experience! Begin desensitization early by exposing them to fireworks sounds playing softly while giving them treats. Gradually increase the noise until they are familiar with the sound. If your puppy is still reactive and fearful, talk to your veterinarian about calming products or consider applying pressure from a thundershirt for puppies to provide anxiety relief.
Name a dedicated puppy minder
When you’re hosting parties or flipping burgers, you can’t be laser-focused on what your puppy is doing at all times. Name someone else as the official puppy minder whose job it is to keep an eye on your puppy to make sure they don’t knock over the grill, bolt out the open gate, steal the hot dogs off the counter, eat the sparkly decorations, wander into the fireworks area, or track mud all over the house. Puppies are curious and can get themselves into trouble in the blink of an eye!
Cool off your puppy
Speaking of hot dogs, scorching summer temperatures can cause a puppy’s health to decline rapidly. Sizzling sidewalks can burn their paw pads, dehydration in puppies can cause lethargy and organ failure, and heatstroke in dogs can be deadly. Beat the heat with these ways to keep your puppy cool this summer which are also fun for humans, too. Keep reading below for specific fun water-based activities for puppies.
Create a safe space
Puppies love interacting with other people at parties and can get excited by a surge in activity around the house. However, they can also become overtired or overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle. Provide a calm, enclosed space away from the party that serves as their little den of comfort. Play soft classical music, dim the lights, and give them a favorite toy or treat to let them regulate themselves.
Be ready to pivot
Sometimes the best-laid plans don’t always go as we wish. You know your puppy best, so look for clues that indicate discomfort, fear, anxiety, stress, and more. Puppy owners must always act in the best interest of their puppies above any plans you have made, especially when it comes to your puppy’s safety and well-being. For example, if you were planning on seeing fireworks or attending a parade with your puppy but he’s clearly not feeling it, then you have an important decision to make to alter or cancel your plans. You signed up to care for your puppy for life, and that sometimes involves putting our plans on hold to do what’s in your puppy’s best interest.
Celebrate July 4 With Your Puppy
Always consider your puppy when making any sort of holiday plans. Include your puppy in your itinerary with these dog-friendly July 4 activities to celebrate America in style.
Dog-friendly gatherings
Your area will probably have at least one dog-friendly July 4 celebration. These events will have activities like a costume contest, a parade, demonstrations, dog sports, crafts, and booths featuring dog-centric organizations. Always check the rules of the event before you go, as you’d hate to be turned away from a town celebration that is not dog-friendly.
Throw a dog-friendly Independence Day paw-ty
If you think a massive city gathering or parade is just too much for your puppy, throw your own paw-ty to celebrate America! Encourage your guests to dress up their puppies in their favorite patriotic outfits and accessories for dogs. You’ll see a mix of Uncle Sams, Statues of Liberty, and plenty of red, white, and blue. Take a lap around the block in a puppy parade. Serve dog-friendly summer refreshments, and don’t let them leave empty-pawed without a doggy bag of themed treats.
Make summer-themed treats
With temperatures soaring above 100 degrees in many parts of the country, puppies will enjoy refreshing summer treats for dogs. Using dog-friendly human foods safe for puppies, introduce seasonally fresh ingredients into your puppy’s diet for occasional treats. For a more festive approach, incorporate lots of red, white, and blue!
- Watermelon, blueberries, bananas, pineapples, and strawberries can be fed in small amounts by themselves as easy, convenient treats.
- Make pupsicles by freezing a mixture of plain yogurt and blueberries. Place into bone-shaped silicone molds or ice cube trays. You can also use various mixtures of peanut butter, coconut water, spinach, cucumber, pumpkin, bananas, and other ingredients that freeze well. These are great as-is or placed in a toy like a Kong for long-lasting, tasty fun.
- For dog slushies, mix seedless watermelon and coconut water in a blender and freeze for a few hours. Scoop out the slushie and serve in a bowl or pup cup.
Beat the heat with water fun
It’s an inferno out there in early July! Beat the heat by setting up a water-themed obstacle course in your dog-friendly backyard. Puppies can splash in a pool of water, run through a sprinkler, and try to catch the stream of water from a garden hose or squirt gun. You can even try to teach them to balance a cup of water on their heads for puppy party tricks to impress your guests. Keep cool towels to wrap up their paws and heads, and provide plenty of shade when they need a nap from all the fun.
Navy SEAL Will Chesney and Cairo
Patriotic Pooches
Members of our nation’s armed forces have valiantly served to protect the freedoms Americans enjoy, but that doesn’t pertain to just human heroes. Countless canines have given their all to protect and serve Americans and deserve respect and remembrance for the freedoms they helped to protect. Here are a few famous war dog heroes to remember:
- Sallie Ann was an American Pit Bull Terrier who marched alongside the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry during the Civil War. She fought in the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg and disappeared with her soldiers fearing the worst. However, she was found a few days later guarding the wounded and the dead. Sadly, Sallie Ann was shot at the Battle of Hatcher’s Run in 1865 and was remembered for her courage and unwavering support.
- Sergeant Stubby was a mutt who wandered into the training exercises of the 102nd Infantry at Yale University in 1917. He became invaluable to soldiers in World War I, detecting mustard gas, comforting the wounded, warning against incoming artillery, and even capturing a German spy.
- War dogs don’t always have to be big, intimidating dogs. Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier played a critical role in World War II running wire through an 8-in. pipe underneath a runway and performing other tasks humans could not do. Smoky also knew around 200 tricks and entertained soldiers at field hospitals.
- Cairo the Belgian Malinois worked with the US Navy SEALS to secure Osama bin Ladin’s compound during the famous, secretive SEAL Team Six mission that captured and killed the terrorist. He was the only canine on the mission that resulted in the death of this notorious terrorist to keep America safe from another 9/11.
Celebrate July 4 With a Pawrade Puppy
Do your July 4 celebrations feel incomplete without a puppy by your side? Pawrade can help fix the missing component of the perfect Independence Day gathering! We select reputable breeders through our rigorous selection process to keep out puppy scammers and puppy mills. We’ve done the heavy work of finding happy puppies for you so that you can focus on choosing the best-looking ingredients for your world-famous burgers. See which puppies for sale will fit your lifestyle today!
