Prep for 4th of July at Home
Greetings, all pet owners! Hope you guys are safe with your pets, wherever you all are.
Ok, so a little bit of a disclaimer here...I actually don't know what July 4th is looking like this year. With the country slowed down by the Covid-19 pandemic and some states and cities hesitant to speed up reopening due to recent surges in positive cases, it's anybody's guess as to how Independence Day celebration this year will look like.
Hopefully with a healthy dose of social distancing and practicing good hygiene, we can overcome these hard times together. But, with Independence Day approaching in a few days, we're left to ask the question: how will we celebrate this year's 4th of July with our pets?
There are already a lot of ideas concerning the 4th of July celebrations outside with social distancing, but we'll be focusing more on bringing the festivities indoors. Cause there isn't anything wrong with bringing the party inside if you just take care of the few steps!
Order Some Patriotic Costumes for your Pets!
Nothing else shows your love for your country than dressing up your pets in your favorite Uncle Sam outfits! There are currently a wide assortment of costumes available on Amazon, but I want to focus my attention to these 3 outfits:
Captain America Costume (cause let's be real, we ALL need a Captain America right about now...)
Besides looking super cute and Instagram-worthy, they are all made with soft fabrics, and your pets should be super comfortable in them for the party. Get your kids to film clips of them running around in these outfits, and who knows? It might end up on the viral section in TikTok!
Fourth of July Decorations for the House
If you're going to dress up your pets, why not dress up the house a little too? Little hanging stars, fireworks decoration, and some confetti-filled balloons could go really well as backdrop for your pets' photo-ops (especially the fireworks one if your pets might be afraid of ACTUAL fireworks going off that evening...more on that in the next post). Just be sure to order them soon since the holiday weekend is coming up reeeeeeaaaaaaal soon!
Craft Some Homemade Frozen Dog Treats
For most places in the U.S., the heat wave should be hitting most American households by the July. We have ACs and icy drinks to help cool us off, but we can also take care for our pets by crafting some neat peanut butter & banana frozen doggy bites, or even frozen "pupcicles" made from chicken/beef stock!
Finally, Deck Out your Backyard in an Epic Obstacle Course for your Pets
I did say "for your pets" in the title, but let's be real; with a full belly with BBQ off the grill and a couple drinks later, their human caretakers might get a little adventurous too! Fill them with everything from ball tosses, potato sack races, ring tossing, to a full bike course setup if you're a dude dad and are feeling particularly ambitious. Add some sprinkler action to it to cool everyone down during the summer heat, and I guarantee you your pets will have the time of their lives!
But Protect your Loved Ones' Hearing from their Archnemesis: FIREWORKS!
This is by far the biggest concern for pet owners on July 4th. Loud POP! noises outside might terrify them and make them panic, and they might end up running outside and become further disoriented. This puts them in ACTUAL danger like approaching vehicles. Keep them in the house and make sure the doors are closed so they don't accidentally dash out without you seeing them. Also, swaddling in anxiety wraps or tight blankets has a similar effect on pets as babies — it calms them down to actually limit their movement and holding them close to you.
Of course, these are just a couple suggestions we have to make your 4th of July celebration a memorable one, but if you have any more ideas, we're all ears! Email us, or share stories/pics/videos of you partying with your pets! If you share them on Instagram, make sure to tag us at @arcapetlove so we can feature your adorable pets in our future posts.