You might love the sights and sounds of a good fireworks show but that might not be how your dog sees it.
The Fourth of July can be a rough day for some our furry friends, so we checked in with Huckleberry, a chocolate labrador who lives on Normal Hill in Lewiston, for his thoughts on the holiday:
Inland 360: Huckleberry, what do you like about the Fourth of July?
Huckleberry: Oh, man, there’s plenty to love. Everyone’s around all day and I just go from one person to the next. And, there’s food everywhere, all day, and lots of it drops on the ground because they’re walking around talking and eating. It’s stuff like hot dogs and hamburgers and chips and half-eaten ice cream cones and, inevitably, someone always brings that creamy macaroni salad, and cheese cubes and nachos and …
Inland 360: Ok, we get the point. What do you think everyone is celebrating?
Huckleberry: You know, I don’t know. I’d say dogs, because it’s all our favorite stuff, people and food and playing outside. The whole day is great, until it starts getting dark and then (shivers).
Inland 360: What happens then?
Huckleberry: It’s those -- those things that explode the air. The bang-crack-booms. People call them fireworks, but I’ve seen fire and, I’m telling you, that’s not fire. And they’re not lighting them off because us dogs like it. We don’t.
Inland 360: What don’t you like about fireworks?
Huckleberry: Well they’re loud, for one. I mean, people are loud -- babies and the teenagers, especially -- but they’re not loud like fireworks. Fireworks are scary loud. You feel them inside. And the people, they get weird about them, like when the cat brings a live bird in the house; you know it isn’t going to end well for anyone. The people try to tell us it’s OK, but you guys are wrong about a lot of things. No offense but, if it was just a loud noise, that’d be one thing. All us dogs, we know there’s more to it than that.
Inland 360: More to it? What do you mean?
Huckleberry: That’s just it, man, we don’t know. It could be the earth caving in or maybe the squirrel revolution is beginning -- you know how sinister those things are, right? And have you noticed how many more there are these days?
Last year there was a rumor going around the neighborhood about a feline takeover led by an cat overlord named Mittens -- that’s why we all panicked, I mean, we all know what a mess we’d be in if cats ruled the world. It ended up not being that, not this time, but that’s the thing -- we don’t know what the noise means, but it’s not good.
Inland 360: We’re lucky to have you watching out for us. Is there anything we can do to help you out on the holiday?
Huckleberry: Stop the fireworks.
Ok, that’s probably not going to happen, so we’ll keep finding ways to cope. We take to our bunkers: beds and couches with good floor clearance. Basements, those are good too.
True fact, did you know grapes, raisins and avocados can be toxic for dogs? That’s what my vet said, but I don’t know the difference, so maybe don’t drop those things.
More bacon always makes things better. Don’t know if that helps, but you know I gotta ask.
Inland 360: Thanks for your perspective, Huckleberry. Best of luck to you this Fourth of July.
Huckleberry: Thanks, I love to talk to people. If you need me on on July 4 I’ll be locked in the basement, unless someone carelessly leaves the gate open, then you’ll find me on a grand tour of the garbage cans of Normal Hill, which never ends well for anyone either but I can’t help myself, kind of like you guys and fireworks.
