Of course, not everyone likes fireworks. Small children are often upset by the loud bangs and bright explosions in the air, for example.

And as many pet owners know, dogs aren’t usually big fans of the traditional 4th of July celebration; the thunderous claps have terrified many a pup.

But why?

Well, researchers recently tackled this subject and then published their findings in the Applied Animal Behaviour Science journal … and the results are a bit surprising.

As animal behaviorist Corey Cohen writes in his Path of Friendship blog, nearly 45 percent of dogs have a true-blue firework phobia:

“When our dogs are exposed to sudden loud sounds, there is a release of adrenaline and an increase of the hormone cortisol, as well as changes to their amygdala, hippocampus, and parts of the frontal cortex of their brain.

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They keep everything they know is deadly to dogs far out of their reach.

Many dogs would prefer to eat what their humans eat, of course; hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks and potatoes.

Some dogs even love green salad stuff.

But, if you do your research, you know even things that are considered healthy for us humans can kill a dog pretty quickly. Especially small dogs.

You have to keep a running list in your head of all the do’s and don’ts of allowing your pet to eat human foods.

Bananas and strawberries get the green light. Avocados, grapes, and raisins get a brilliant flashing red light.

Unfortunately, most foods don’t come with any warning labels telling you how very dangerous they can be for your dog. You have to do the research!

But even if we know something is bad for our dogs, that doesn’t mean that they won’t still try to eat them.

The smell of chocolate can drive a dog nuts (the same as it does for me!) yet even a small bit of chocolate can kill a dog.

Peanut butter is another common human food that can be toxic to dogs. Some brands contain xylitol, a chemical sweetener…and therein lay the demise of one poor pup named Luna.

A very sad family learned the hard way that xylitol can find its way into almost anything these days:

They left their golden retriever, Luna, alone in their house while they were running errands.

This was something they had done since she was a puppy, never with any ill effects.

They thought they had their house dog-proofed, with anything dangerous well out of her reach.

And Luna was a good dog; she rarely went about eating everything in sight.

But still, being a typical dog, Luna got hungry, so she wandered around their home looking for something to eat.

Tragically, those hunger pains ended up literally being the death of Miss Luna.

She happened up on a container of Ice Breakers lemon-flavored chewing gum and this was very bad news indeed.

While eating regular gum isn’t usually fatal for dogs, this sugar-free type contained xylitol.

Luna’s family had no idea that their pooch had gotten into the pack of Ice Breakers gum—nor did they know what would happen to her after eating it.

But, after munching on only a couple pieces, she became very sick.

By the time her family returned home, she was obviously in great distress.

Different dogs show different symptoms, but there was no way anyone could miss seeing how very sick she was.

They raced her to an emergency vet; as soon as the vet heard what she had eaten, he checked out the ingredients label.

When they saw the word xylitol, their hearts sank. They knew the news they were going to have to give the frantic family would break their heart.

Xylitol causes liver damage, and it is irreversible. There was no way that even the most heroic measures could save Luna’s life.

Sadly, the death from xylitol can take a long time and is very painful, so they would have to tell Luna’s family the worst possible news:

They were going to have to make the decision to humanely euthanize their dear sweet friend.

More and more cases around the country are popping up; dogs that owners thought were in a dog-proofed environment finding even very small amounts of xylitol and dying.

Please do your part and forward this story to your social media groups!

Tell your friends to be sure their pet can’t find anything with xylitol in it: Peanut butter, chewing gum, sugar-free candies…it can be hidden in almost anything.

Condolences to Luna’s family for their great loss. May it make their sorrow a little less, knowing that Luna didn’t die in vain.

Indeed, her story may save countless lives by warning other pet owners!

Source: Honest to Paws

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