The fourth of July is celebrated in the US as Independence Day. And it's probably my dog's least favorite holidays. I think she'd even rather be boarded for a week than have to deal with the fireworks that go off around July 4th. Last year, we had plans to go out, so we locked her in the bathroom and turned on the radio to try to drown out the noise. Usually she gets locked out of the house when we leave because she's pretty bad a chewing things up when she's bored and there's just too much stuff within reach. I also gave her a sedative but didn't tell my husband until a couple days later when he said she did really well. So this year, he wants to see how she's going to react without using the sedative, but we'll be going to my neice's birthday party, so we're not sure whether we'll be able to take our dog along. So she might end up being locked in the bathroom again. She gets really freaked out by the fireworks, especially the screaming ones. She curls up in a corner or she gets clingy and won't leave my side at all. Or she does both if she can.
I know that my husband means well, but he's always been the type who toughens up to get through things. Our dog just can't understand all the noise and stuff and she gets scared. I don't think that it's something that she can "get over" or even get used to since it's not a daily occurence.
I'd really appreciate any suggestions and your opinion on whether I should slip her the sedative or not.

Independence Day is hell on animals, especially dogs. This would be the one day of the year I would leave the precious pooch in the safety of your locked bathroom, because as you say, there's no way a dog will build up a tolerance to something that only happens once a year. Further, there are simply too many unknowns. She could get so spooked you lose control of her, with pooch ending up lost and at the mercy of the fates. Why put her through the torture and yourself through the potential loss of a beloved pet when you can take a very simple step to prevent it?

The temptation to share this holiday with your pet must be tempered with common sense. I've been in your position before and believe me, it's better safe than sorry. The experts back up this sentiment. Visit the Humane Society for more on this timely issue.

Hi,

I know what kind of a problem you might be facing and I too go through the same every year for I have 2 cats and 2 dogs so the trouble increases even more.

But I never give them the sedatives for I have found the best way to keep them happy. I close the windows and the doors to my place and all the 5 of us sleep in my room. I rent a movie for the day and then watch it with them. Every time they get scared I just hug them or let them sleep on my lap or something. It works great. It used to be a bit difficult with my German shepherd as he was so big but he learnt to adjust.

So at that time of the year I usually let my cats sleep on my lap and the dogs sleep on my side. See if that works or you can sedate them but remember that when you sedate them they get really scared for they are so sluggish and cant understand what is going on at first so keep your pet with you until it relaxes completely.

We survived the 4th of July!
Thanks for your helpful comments. We decided to do a bit of a trial run on the 3rd and brought her to my in-laws for dinner without giving her anything. She ended up freaking out at the first bang and clawed the door, so I took her home straight away. We made up her bed in the bathroom, gave her a pill, turned on the radio and stayed with her until she started calming down and the drugs started taking effect. Then we went back to the in-laws to visit with my husband's sister who's in town for the week. Honestly, if she wasn't visiting, I would be snuggled up with my dog all night. I hate seeing her scared like that. Anyways, we pretty much left her inside all day on the 4th and stuck to the whole routine, I gave her one sedative a few hours before the sun went down. She did fine, didn't scratch up the door or anything! The only problem we had was that she didn't want to sleep alone when we came back home, so I plopped down on the bathroom floor and stayed with her until she fell asleep.