Ahh, independence day, the one day when Leo's interests and Panda's are at complete odds with each other. Leo regales me with stories from his childhood that prove that the fates love drunks and children. When the words, "made our own" and "fireworks" are strung together, I can only shake my head and be glad he has, allegedly, grown out of that phase.
While California and Oregon seem to have similar limitations on fireworks; namely that the general public can't buy things that go flying off tither and yon, Southern California is far more flammable than Portland and I think people are more reluctant to send sparks about the kindling that is their back yard. Additionally, we now live in a quiet little suburb where there is very little nightly traffic. Throughout the neighborhood, one could hear and see the assortment of volcanic light displays and sparklers, individuals were setting off in the street.
So while this was not Panda's first 4th of July, it was definitely one of her worst. Add to the noise, the relatively warm temperatures (close to 90) and it made for one unhappy dog. Thea, on the other hand, seemed a little put out by the loudest noises but was otherwise indifferent to the whole thing.
And since lots of people will be posting fireworks today, how about some cute dog shots.
Aw, poor Panda baby. I used to love fireworks, but since my family's gone to the dogs I'd rather stay home and inside with treats and a beer and a good movie and an early bedtime. When a big one goes off I use the good dog voice and dole out treats like we WANT big explosions. Big explosions mean biscuits/beef liver/chicken jerky & Mommy's On Crack and Happy About It voice. Yay.
Oh, poor doggers!
The last time I was in West VA (my dad's family lives there) we had some homemade fireworks as well... not a lot of pretty sparklers, but by golly, they made some great noises! ;)
Panda and Thea are just too adorable for words! :)
oh, very cute dog shots! Adorable.
Thanks for the doggy pics! You might just be horrified by what happens around here on Independence day. Not only do many things fly randomly and go boom but it's considered completely acceptable to allow such things to happen around and into the bay. I think they'd rather clean up afterward than take the risk of fire.
What cute pix of the girls! Thanks for sharing them.... Of course my dog and my parents' dog have gotten old enough that their hearing loss makes them no longer afraid of fireworks. We still keep them inside so the sparks don't scare them, but they don't even hear most of the bangs when they're inside the house!
The Z is also not a fan of the fireworks and spent much of July 3 and 4 huddled on the floor with M. M and I were not big fans of the festitivies this year, given how insanely dangerous it is to set off explosives in the midst of so much potential fuel. I'm glad that its over, though I do miss the fn displays in Chicago.
Hiya, I have nominated you for the Rocking Girl Blogger award in my latest post.
It's really interesting to see the spots developing ...
My pup didn't seem phased by the fireworks, until I went to pet her, and she was TREMBLING. She put on a brave face, but spent the prime time in her little cave next to our bed.
I'm lucky in that my dogs are not much daunted by loud, scary noises. Well, Jasper wants to bark at most of the pop-bangs and zizzle-zizzle noises, but we worked on that last night, with lots of little treats given out when a band happened and he DIDN'T bark.
Poor Panda!
Aww, poor Panda. All the dog pics are great, but that last pic of Thea is just too sweet.
Thea and Panda are the cutest duo! (Thea has freckles!)
Our GR Sophie couldn't care less about loud noises (thunder etc). I think it's because she spent the first 7 months of her puppyhood in SW Ontario where there are almost daily heat storms in the summer, and became desensitized.