I'm already pissed off about fireworks and they haven't even started yet.

[LuckyCharms]

I hate 'em.

Why is it in this country especially? Make big noise, watch things go boom. At least the official fireworks have an end to them, but then you have all of the drunk assholes in the neighborhood lighting them up at 4:00AM.

They scare my dog to death. Also, what about the veterans who struggle with PTSD having to listen to that shit?

Sometimes Melatonin works for my pup, sometimes it doesn't. I really don't want to have to resort to using heavy duty dog tranquilizers.

What I usually end up doing is giving him some Melatonin, playing my music at an unreasonably loud level in my small home office with the windows closed, and rocking with my dog in the recliner. That usually works to some extent.

I fucking hate fireworks.

[rampartc]

1. i am not a fan of fireworks

even less of the idiots shooting guns into the air.

[onecaliberal]

2. They scare my puppy too. I am not a fan either.

[nocoincidences]

3. I really hate loud sharp noises.

And no, I never had any traumatic experiences with noises as a child.

It's just that my reptilian brain knows that is NOT a good thing and sets off my autonomic nervous system and my blood pressure shoots up...and so on and so on.

Just like my dog and cats react.

I live in a neighborhood where the person right in back of me is very fond of fireworks and I spend the evening worrying if anything has landed on my roof.

We have vets and active service members in our neighborhood, and I doubt they are loving it either.

[LuckyCharms]

4. I understand completely about the noises...

so I'm sorry that they bother you like that, as they do me.

I've developed a terrible startle response as a side effect to some medication...it's not any fun.

[stopwastingmymoney]

5. I hear you

Try living in a place where half the damn town burned down a couple years ago.

Fireworks are illegal in the city limits but that doesn’t stop them.

People get really hot about it, as you might imagine

[magicarpet]

6. Show them who is da boss,...

Get a shoulder fired heat seeking anti-aircraft grenade launcher. Show them who's da boss of the neighborhood.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. I like them in parks. I don't like them in neighborhoods

where they are fired off by drunks all night, scaring dogs.

[ProudLib72]

8. The 4th of July is my least favorite holiday

And I'm Jewish, so I have a LOT of holidays.

It's basically an excuse for everyone in the country to act like assholes. Plus, it's not limited to a single day. No, they will be acting like assholes for the next month.

[Harker]

9. They started here in the immense high school

that is Western PA. Tosca the world famous (okay, Pinterest celebrity) Siberian Husky spurned a peanut butter treat and thundered upstairs to fret.

I lost interest pretty early in life when a firecracker or cherry bomb at a ZZ Top concert cracked open my left forearm. I don't want to remember the bottle rocket exploding in a girl's ass crack as she sat watching Tommy Bolin play.

I, too, hate fireworks.

[redstatebluegirl]

10. We have a neighbor who is a vet.

He has really bad ptsd, his wife told me they have to double his meds because of them so he does not really get to celebrate with his family. He came back from Afghanistan really messed up, so damn sad.

[2naSalit]

11. We seem to like to remind everyone what a war mongering country we are.

We celebrate our freedom with sounds that simulate war zones... I have a big problem with that. I hate the noise, I have PTSD and they get me all kinds of messed up for a couple days at the very least.

[hay rick]

12. Thunder shirt. Benadryl.

My wife and one of our cats hate fire works. My other bit of unsolicited advice is not to borrow misery from the future. "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

[LuckyCharms]

13. I tried the thundershirt.

My dog is afraid of the sound the Velrcro on it makes. Seriously.

[Brother Buzz]

18. Seriously, we have that Velcro problem, too

But we do a bunch of dry runs putting to coat on and taking it off, coupled with encouraging words we know she loves, she's starting to get used to it.

Last year we doped her with CBD oil which seemed to help, and we will try it again this year, but we are a whopping block and a half from the public fireworks so the whole house shakes. Fun times, NOT!

[Ron Obvious]

14. And right in the middle of the hottest, driest days of the year too

Fireworks on Dec 31st, I can live with, but the fire risk is immense this time of year.

[littlemissmartypants]

15. Totally agree, LuckyCharms. The noise is torture and the fire risk is real.

I am lucky to have been spared from losing everything in a July 4th related fire. I had moved out of the condo in the middle of June. The others living in the remaining units were devastated. Thank heavens no one was hurt. The start of the blaze was attributed to some improperly deposed of fireworks. It was horrible, a four story building with twelve units, burned to the ground.

[Laffy Kat]

16. Oh gosh, me too.

This year, since I got the puppy, I'll have to stay home and endure it. I'm not sure who it bothers more, me or the puppy. My older dog was born deaf, so it's never been an issue for her. It REALLY bothers me. I do have Xanax just in case. I certainly won't be sleeping with the windows open tomorrow, or even tonight. I will use the a/c and fans, fans, fans for white noise.

[VarryOn]

17. hope none of you are neighbors! JK

My son and I just spent $82 on fireworks. However, I did steer him toward showy ones rather than loud ones.

My city limits fireworks shooting to the 3rd and 4th. I dont mind a couple days' of noise. My dog doesnt. Wue pt him inside with the Thundershirt and Benydryl

[Kali]

19. we used to have two dogs that loved fireworks - the heeler would chase and bite them

heelers are nuts anyway, but they both loved the whole scene of our 4th of July parties. One of our current dogs hates any kind of noise like that. she doesn't even like power tools. vacuum? forget it. runs out the door if I start putting things in the blender.

we don't shoot off fireworks around the house anymore mostly because of her, but I still love them. love the colors, the packaging, the funny translated names of the Chinese products, the chemistry, the noise, the smell. blowing up stuff is FUN!

I understand the problems and fears some people and their pets have, but I and a lot of other people really enjoy the couple of days a year we have to play and watch. I hope everybody gets through it OK.