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On the Fourth of July every year, people across the United States get pumped for a day off, some hot dogs, and of course a great fireworks show.
Or at least, the humans are looking forward to it. While Independence Day is a fun holiday it can be a nightmare for dogs who are afraid of fireworks. There are going to be some anxious pups and worried owners trying to calm them down.
But one incredibly chill dog is proof that you and your dog can make it through the holiday worry-free.
On the Fourth of July in 2016, a 6-year-old golden retriever named Joey was frightened by the fireworks going on around his California home.
His owner, Emily Kuang, wasn’t surprised by her dog’s behavior.
“He’s afraid of cats and loud noises,” Emily told Buzzfeed News, describing him as “a big dog but also a big baby.”
Joey was so scared that he broke the rules by climbing into Emily’s parents’ bed. In an effort to calm him down, her mother put a pair of headphones on him to block the noise, connecting them to a Chinese news app on her iPad.
It worked like a charm, and Joey went from full panic mode to the kind of stress-free relaxation most of us can only dream of:
Who hasn’t crawled into bed, put on their headphones and zoned out?
Clearly Joey struck a chord with the internet: after Emily shared the video on her Twitter, Joey’s me-time has been viewed over 6 million times and shared over 116,000 times.
“My boyfriend’s sister retweeted it and she has a decent amount of followers, and it just blew up from there,” Emily said.
Luckily Joey didn’t have as much to worry about the next year. In 2017 Emily said the fireworks weren’t as bad.
Creating a safe, relaxing space for your dog is one of the tips the American Kennel Club suggests for handling your firework-phobic dogs. They also suggests desensitizing your dog beforehand to the sound of fireworks, playing white noise, and, of course, keeping your dog away from fireworks shows.
But they also remind pet owners that the Fourth of July has more missing pets than any other day, and recommend microchipping and updating their collar, just in case.
After all, nothing would spoil a fun holiday like losing track of your best buddy.
