Recently, I took my kids to a parade. What shocked me was the number of people that took their dogs to the parade. Dogs that clearly didn’t want to be there and due to the heat, shouldn’t have been there. I saw one person there with their dog in a thunder shirt. If your dog needs a thunder shirt to attend the parade, then your dog probably should be relaxing at home until you do a little more training. I also saw many dogs desperately looking for shade while their owners were oblivious to the fact that their dog’s feet were burning. And many dogs on flexi leashes that clothes lined people and one that jerked their leash free from their owner.
I know what the people thought. We’re going as a family to the parade and the dog would love to go and see friends and hang out. No one said, “I want to take my dog so they can lay on the extremely hot concrete, with the terrifyingly loud noises around us, with strange people coming and going and tripping on the dog.” I can guarantee, not one person said that. BUT…that’s exactly what happened.
For the most part, dogs and parades/festivals don’t mix. Dogs that do well in those situations have worked up to those situations over time. My husband asked if he should take his puppy for socialization…NO. I told him no because it’s too loud, too unpredictable and quite possibly the worst place you could take a dog for socialization. Socialization is about small, positive interactions repeatedly. This was a bombardment of the senses and most dogs aren’t prepared for that. We wanted to be close to the parade and for me, that was no place for my dogs…even the well trained ones due to heat and the unpredictable sounds.
Check out this little quiz to see if your dog is parade ready!
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