Speaker 1: Right now, let's say good morning to internationally known animal
Speaker 1: trainer Heidi Harriet. Heidi, good morning.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Thanks for having me on this morning.
Speaker 1: Thanks for starting your day early with us today. So
Speaker 1: the booms have already started. Fireworks started going off on
Speaker 1: my neighborhood on Saturday night. Of course they're going to
Speaker 1: hit Fever Pitch on Friday. And while I love the
Speaker 1: sound and sight of the rockets red glare, animals hate it.
Speaker 2: Some animals do. But if we think back, fireworks aren't
Speaker 2: new and pets aren't new, but it's become epic proportions
Speaker 2: of people getting worried about it and having a lot
Speaker 2: of anxiety. And I always tell people, if you told
Speaker 2: me two weeks ago you know your pet's going to
Speaker 2: react to fireworks, I can guarantee you they will because
Speaker 2: they're really taking their cues from us. So this is
Speaker 2: a training thing. We could train our way forward. There
Speaker 2: of course, thundervests and drugs and stuff, but that just
Speaker 2: masks the problem. We want our animals to look at
Speaker 2: us when they're not sure what to do. So if
Speaker 2: you're not tipping it set up and looking at you
Speaker 2: to say, oh my gosh, this is scary. What should
Speaker 2: I do? Then we could train our way forward. So
Speaker 2: we have you said, yours have already kind of started,
Speaker 2: but we have a couple of days before what might
Speaker 2: be the crescendo. So put on YouTube and play fireworks,
Speaker 2: Play thunderstorms. I'm in Florida, we have thunderstorms. Same thing.
Speaker 2: Play a metal lower volume and up the volume a
Speaker 2: few minutes at a time. Do a little training. But
Speaker 2: put your dog on a leash, don't let them scurry,
Speaker 2: and just feed on their nervous energy. Keep them with you,
Speaker 2: stay in their brain, have them roll over, sit, stay like,
Speaker 2: run through their repertoire, play fetch. Put on something that
Speaker 2: calms you down or it gets you in a calmer state,
Speaker 2: because your dog is going to really bounce off of that.
Speaker 2: That's what's important.
Speaker 1: Okay, And Heidi, that's so interesting. So you said that
Speaker 1: as we get more nervous about what Howard, dogs or
Speaker 1: cats are going to react, they get more nervous because
Speaker 1: they're feeding off of our emotion.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we're the leader of the pack and we're not
Speaker 2: necessarily you know, we get more emotional. Now it's okay,
Speaker 2: you find it's okay. And when I'm helping my clients.
Speaker 2: It's always a quick fix. It's the reinforcement of the fix.
Speaker 2: So just get in the habit of being much more. Hey,
Speaker 2: look at me, Rover, Hey, Fluffy, look up here, look
Speaker 2: at me. Give me your eyes. We're good. We got
Speaker 2: this and that's the way forward. So yeah, but roleplay
Speaker 2: it between now and then, you know, put on YouTube
Speaker 2: and keep them with you. A big takeaway here. It
Speaker 2: is the biggest day for lost pets and escape pets.
Speaker 2: So please, even if your dog loves the backyard with
Speaker 2: a fence, don't put them out during the fireworks. Even
Speaker 2: the best trained pets, bring them in, keep them calm, right,
Speaker 2: keep them safe, because you don't want them to get
Speaker 2: away on you. That's that's a big deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and if you obviously they still have to go
Speaker 1: to the bathroom during the fireworks. So you're saying, just
Speaker 1: don't let them out in the backyard, like them out
Speaker 1: on a leash and let them do their things.
Speaker 2: Would ahead of time. You know, most dogs can hold
Speaker 2: you know, a few hours at a time, so you
Speaker 2: haven't been okay, yeah, so but there's a point where
Speaker 2: as long as you have them on a leash. But
Speaker 2: I mean, like if they just love to go in
Speaker 2: and out of their dog door. Like my dog during fireworks.
Speaker 2: I just closed that door. But you know, I'm still
Speaker 2: gonna take them out to Boddy. But in the morning,
Speaker 2: I'm going to get some good exercise for him and
Speaker 2: I And you know that that we're really relying on
Speaker 2: the drugs. And again occasionally it's fine. I'm third generation
Speaker 2: entertainer and I've had my animals all over the country.
Speaker 2: County fairs love their fireworks. My animals look up and go, oh,
Speaker 2: here we go again. And because I'm giving them the guidance.
Speaker 2: And whether you have an older dog, young dog, cats,
Speaker 2: you can teach an old dog new tricks, a shelter dog,
Speaker 2: any of those. Don't give them a new story and
Speaker 2: move forward and get them to look at you. That's
Speaker 2: the secret behind all of the training.
Speaker 1: Okay, So remain calm and carry on. And I love
Speaker 1: the idea of getting the YouTube's and just play those
Speaker 1: for a couple of days and let them, let them
Speaker 1: get used to that sound and let them see you
Speaker 1: being calm too. Heidi Harriet, internationally known animal trainer, such great,
Speaker 1: great advice. And we have a few days to get ready.
Speaker 1: Even though they've already started here, but I think we can.
Speaker 1: We can do it all right. Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: have a great day.
Speaker 2: Thank you.