@WakeUpCall – Prepare Your Pets for 4th of July Fireworks

Amy talks with animal trainer Heidi Herriott about getting your pets ready for fireworks.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right now, let's say good morning to internationally known animal
trainer Heidi Harriet. Heidi, good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Good morning, Thanks for having me on this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Thanks for starting your day early with us today. So
the booms have already started. Fireworks started going off on
my neighborhood on Saturday night. Of course they're going to
hit Fever Pitch on Friday. And while I love the
sound and sight of the rockets red glare, animals hate it.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
Some animals do. But if we think back, fireworks aren't
new and pets aren't new, but it's become epic proportions
of people getting worried about it and having a lot
of anxiety. And I always tell people, if you told
me two weeks ago you know your pet's going to
react to fireworks, I can guarantee you they will because
they're really taking their cues from us. So this is

(00:47):
a training thing. We could train our way forward. There
of course, thundervests and drugs and stuff, but that just
masks the problem. We want our animals to look at
us when they're not sure what to do. So if
you're not tipping it set up and looking at you
to say, oh my gosh, this is scary. What should
I do? Then we could train our way forward. So
we have you said, yours have already kind of started,

(01:10):
but we have a couple of days before what might
be the crescendo. So put on YouTube and play fireworks,
Play thunderstorms. I'm in Florida, we have thunderstorms. Same thing.
Play a metal lower volume and up the volume a
few minutes at a time. Do a little training. But
put your dog on a leash, don't let them scurry,
and just feed on their nervous energy. Keep them with you,

(01:32):
stay in their brain, have them roll over, sit, stay like,
run through their repertoire, play fetch. Put on something that
calms you down or it gets you in a calmer state,
because your dog is going to really bounce off of that.
That's what's important.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Okay, And Heidi, that's so interesting. So you said that
as we get more nervous about what Howard, dogs or
cats are going to react, they get more nervous because
they're feeding off of our emotion.

Speaker 2 (02:01):
Absolutely, we're the leader of the pack and we're not
necessarily you know, we get more emotional. Now it's okay,
you find it's okay. And when I'm helping my clients.
It's always a quick fix. It's the reinforcement of the fix.
So just get in the habit of being much more. Hey,
look at me, Rover, Hey, Fluffy, look up here, look

(02:22):
at me. Give me your eyes. We're good. We got
this and that's the way forward. So yeah, but roleplay
it between now and then, you know, put on YouTube
and keep them with you. A big takeaway here. It
is the biggest day for lost pets and escape pets.
So please, even if your dog loves the backyard with
a fence, don't put them out during the fireworks. Even

(02:44):
the best trained pets, bring them in, keep them calm, right,
keep them safe, because you don't want them to get
away on you. That's that's a big deal.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Yeah, and if you obviously they still have to go
to the bathroom during the fireworks. So you're saying, just
don't let them out in the backyard, like them out
on a leash and let them do their things.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Would ahead of time. You know, most dogs can hold
you know, a few hours at a time, so you
haven't been okay, yeah, so but there's a point where
as long as you have them on a leash. But
I mean, like if they just love to go in
and out of their dog door. Like my dog during fireworks.
I just closed that door. But you know, I'm still

(03:24):
gonna take them out to Boddy. But in the morning,
I'm going to get some good exercise for him and
I And you know that that we're really relying on
the drugs. And again occasionally it's fine. I'm third generation
entertainer and I've had my animals all over the country.
County fairs love their fireworks. My animals look up and go, oh,
here we go again. And because I'm giving them the guidance.

(03:47):
And whether you have an older dog, young dog, cats,
you can teach an old dog new tricks, a shelter dog,
any of those. Don't give them a new story and
move forward and get them to look at you. That's
the secret behind all of the training.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
Okay, So remain calm and carry on. And I love
the idea of getting the YouTube's and just play those
for a couple of days and let them, let them
get used to that sound and let them see you
being calm too. Heidi Harriet, internationally known animal trainer, such great,
great advice. And we have a few days to get ready.
Even though they've already started here, but I think we can.

(04:22):
We can do it all right. Thank you so much,
have a great day.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Thank you.