CBD and Pets for the 4th of July

With the 4th of July right around the corner I am lowkey stressing, while it’s one of my all time favorite holidays it’s certainly not my dog's favorite. Those beautiful fireworks that fill the sky with sparkling lights scare my furbaby more than anything. 

When the fireworks started going off around us about two weeks ago I knew I had to do something. Poor Jake starts shaking and looking for the closest thing to hide under, usually our coffee table or the bed, the moment the loud noises start. My heart breaks for him, he doesn’t know those loud noises aren’t harmful to him. After the first night of fireworks I went on the hunt for a solution, something to calm his anxiety without pumping him full of prescriptions that will just knock him out for a few hours. I try to find healthier and more natural ways to treat things first and our vet supports that, so when she told me to look into CBD for my furbaby I was thrilled. I’ve used CBD products for years, and have given Jake a few random treats with it when I’ve gotten samples from places, but with no big testing or research on animals ,I’ve been a little hesitant to try it. Once I started asking around I found out a lot of people were concerned about that too, now they all swear by it. I did a ton of research on my own before going out and buying anything, I wanted to make sure I knew everything I could about it before purchasing something. If you’re in the same boat then I'm here to share what I found out and what I ended up doing for my Jaker’s. 

The first place I went to was the American Kennel Club, they have always had dog’s health as a top priority, once on that site I discovered a lot about CBD in dogs and what they are working on. CBD in dogs reacts very similarly as it does in humans, as all animals have an endocannabinoid system like we do. Since the endocannabinoid receptors are involved with the Central and Peripheral Nervous System they have an effect on pain-sensation, appetite, and mood, making these the perfect receptors for helping to relieve pain, nausea, and anxiety. When noises such as fireworks or large gatherings of people happen near dogs it can be triggering, causing stress, fear, anxiety, lack of appetite, and in some serious cases, seizures. The AKC Health Foundation is even sponsoring a study with Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine to evaluate CBD in treatment-resistant epileptic dogs. Since the AKC is sponsoring this study it’s easy enough to connect the dots that they clearly support CBD and know it has benefits that can help furbabies in need. Knowing that the AKC is supporting CBD moving forward made my decision way easier, Jake won’t have to suffer on the 4th of July, or the periods before and after that fireworks are booming around us. 

Now that I felt better about giving Jake CBD I needed to find the perfect product for him. When I spoke to the vet about dosage and side effects she told me to start at a low dose to be on the safe side, and if we needed to increase it we could. As all vets do, she gave the run down of any side effects to look for like increased thirst from lower production of saliva and possible drowsiness as we are helping Jake’s anxiety. These are also the reasons she said to start low, as high doses can show side effects. The last advice my vet had given me was to make sure I bought a high quality product, something that is grown organically, with no additives, and from a reputable brand.

Between the support from my vet and the support of CBD from the American Kennel Club I knew this was the answer I had been looking for to help my poor Jaker’s get through the 4th of July. 

Now that we’ve been using the CBD for just over 2 weeks I can say that I love what it does for Jake. When a firework goes off near our place he jumps a little bit from the loud noise but isn’t afraid, it’s more of a ‘what was that’ jump versus him starting to shake and hiding under something. We have multiple people setting off fireworks around us every night but Jaker jumps a little or quickly turns his head to see what it was, then keeps on playing, and after the first boom he doesn’t even notice. Our extremely happy dorky dog is back to playing non-stop instead of being miserable. It's amazing knowing that such a simple thing has helped him so much, even after the 4th we will keep giving him the CBD treats, living in an apartment in a huge city has lots of noises everyday, now if something that normally would trigger him happens, we won’t have to worry about him taking cover under the bed. 

I know there are plenty of pet owners out there that have issues like this as well, and if you haven’t tried CBD then I highly recommend it. It sucks seeing your furbaby upset from anything, and having such a simple solution is lifesaving, no more anxiety from your pet helps alleviate your anxiety about your pet, at least if you’re anything like me!