Pet-care entrepreneur shares tips to help your pooch make it through Bonfire Night

An entrepreneur working in pet-care has shared the best tips and tricks to help your pooch make it through Bonfire Night. Ben Millar, co-founder of Postman Pooch, a delivery service for dog care items, has revealed the best ways to keep your pooch from having a night from hell in the lead-up to the loudest day of the year. In the video, Brandon Vickery, content creator at the company, suggests closing your curtains, as the flashes from fireworks may also cause anxiety for your pooch. The video also underlines the importance of keeping your garden secured, as many dogs will react to panic by simply running off. This is a particularly important tip as the fortnight of bonfire night is one of the worst times of the year for dogs going missing, with 2021 seeing a 34% increase in lost dogs during this period. You should also make sure that your dog has a safe space that they can freely access at any point, in order to make sure they feel protected. Keeping your dog distracted is also an important tip, but more important is to walk the dog before the night is in full swing, "a tired dog is a happy dog", Brandon says. Every year, alongside the fireworks comes a debate as to whether fireworks should be allowed, due to the suffering they cause both animals and people. Ben does not think they should be banned, but he does think that owners should do more to make the night easier for their pets. He also thinks that it should be restricted. "I guess my take on it is that there should be a five day window where people can set off their fireworks," he said. "That way rather than a dog having 4 weeks of suffering every year there's just a short window when people can set them off." Ben, who first proposed the video was inspired to make it by his childhood pet, who would suffer greatly with fireworks. He wanted to help owners with similar issues. "Having owned dogs all my life most dogs have always been petrified and howled constantly on nights building up to bonfire night," Ben said. "I had two dogs growing up, and one would run around frantically whenever fireworks went off, just speeding around in a panic." "We thought it would be an appropriate topic to help dog owners this bonfire night." "Their ears are much more sensitive than ours and loud noises or bangs are not a natural everyday occurrence," he continued. "So their automatic reaction is to run away from loud noises." "[The main effects of fireworks on dogs] are anxiety and stress causing their blood pressure and heart rate to rise," Ben explained. "This may cause injury to the dog when they try to escape, in some cases they may act out in aggression."