Diwali 2014: How to Keep Your Pet Dog Safe and Calm During and After the Celebrations

Diwali may be a time for celebrations and festivity all around, but it can be a very traumatic time for your pets. Fear of fireworks is a fairly common phobia for dogs. They often find the loud, unpredictable noise and bright displays of light quite frightening.

So, it's the pet owner's responsibility to make sure that the animals feel safe and secure during the Diwali day.

Here are some tips to keep your pets safe this Diwali and ensure they don't get traumatised by all the noise and chaos around: (via Times of India)

Take your pets for a walk in the day time before the celebrations begin. Keep them as far away from the fireworks as possible.

It is better to keep them indoors throughout the celebration (not the roof, terrace or balcony) and also in a room which is familiar to them.

Shut all the doors and windows to lessen the noise and keep your pets supplied with food and water, possibly accompanied by someone who can comfort them as well. Or at regular intervals you can check in on them so they feel secure.

Use environment-friendly products like electric lights, diyas and lamps as they cause less pollution and no noise.

If your pet is prone to acute anxiety or distress, check for your veterinarian's availability beforehand, in case the need arises.

Your pets could manage to flee due to the fear caused by the noise, so make them wear a name tag with your phone number on it, so that someone can bring them back to you.

In most cases, pet dogs are a bit shaken up after the Diwali day when the noise subsides. So, here's what you can do to calm them down and get them in a better frame of mind:

"Take your dogs to some new, interesting places for a walk. It could be a sand pile, a site under construction or a parking lot. Let them sniff as much as they like. This has a tremendously calming effect," states a Bangalore Mirror article.

"If you have access to any place with a lawn, bring along some of your dog's favourite treats and scatter them in the lawn. Let him sniff it out. Five to nine minutes of this activity, and your dog will be exhausted."