Why you should anxiety-wrap your pets for New Year’s fireworks

DOGS experience New Year’s Eve fireworks the same way humans experience being caught in heavy artillery fire.

Dogs hear sound on a much larger range of frequencies than humans can detect, and their sensitive hearing picks up sound from significantly further away.

When confronted with loud, confusing noises that sound like bombs exploding, animals become fearful and confused.

The National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA) explained on their official website (https://nspca.co.za/animal-welfare/companion-animals/fireworks/), “Dogs can hear five times more acutely than humans, and cats about twice as acutely as dogs. A practical example is that a whisper weighs in at about 30dB, and a dog can hear that from almost three times as far away as a human can.

“Cats are even more sensitive than dogs to these soft sounds. This explains why dogs and cats are so scared by the sound of fireworks which, to us, does not seem so loud. They are, in fact, at least five times louder to our pets!”

Help your beloved pet cope with the noisy celebrations this festive season by using an ‘anxiety wrap’.

These wraps are available on the market, but it is easy to make your own by using a scarf or any stretchy piece of fabric.

The length depends on the size of the dog. The fabric creates slight pressure, like a constant hug, around your pet’s body without being constricting.

How to tie the anxiety wrap:

• Place the centre of the scarf or fabric across the dog’s chest, leaving two equal lengths on either side
• Cross the ends over the dog’s shoulders
• Next, cross those ends beneath the chest and bring back up, tying in a secure knot away from the dog’s spine