Ruby and Sam are my precious dogs.
At about 7:00 PM, I gave Ruby a 2.5 mg of Melatonin. I used Benadryl in the past and it didn't help, so I'm trying the Melatonin. I will not use ACE. I rubbed Ruby's neck and shoulders with lavender oil. I put a calming collar on her. A calming collar is fabric filled with soothing type herbs. Also, gave her some Rescue Remedy, it's a liquid consisting of calming/soothing herbs. About 8:30, I gave Ruby another dose of Melatonin. The firecrackers started. She was freaking out. Sam was reacting to Ruby's stress. It started to sound like the war was in progress. I put both dogs in the laundry room with the aire conditioning running and turned the overhead exhaust fan on. The laundry room is right next to the kitchen. The exhaust fan over the stove sounds like a jet flying over. I turned it on, as well, hoping it might muffle the sounds of the firecrackers. It did, but not enough. Ruby was pawing at the door. I am currently reading 'Spoken From the Heart' by Laura Bush. I took my book and a chair in the laundry room and read, aloud, to my dogs. After a few minutes, they did settle down. I continued reading to them until my eyes gave out. As soon as I stopped reading, they started pacing. I got a quilt and put it on the floor and laid down with them. We all fell asleep. It was about 11:00. After about 30-45 minutes, my old body told me that I couldn't sleep on the floor. I got up and everyone else started pacing. I went to bed and left the dogs in the laundry room. My husband, very conveniently, fell asleep in the chair, watching TV. The firecrackers were still going, but the biggest part was over. Ruby started pawing at the door again. I let the dogs in the bedroom and invited them on the bed. Sam got up and laid down. Ruby got up and started pacing and walking on my head and all over me trying to get higher. When she tried to stand on the night stand, I put a leash on her and kept her by my side and didn't let her move. The firecrackers stopped about 1:00 AM. When Keith got up about 3:00 AM to come to bed, he saw us all in the bed and decided to sleep in the chair. This morning he told me that he 'had a miserable night'...........HELLO.....
I'm sure I will have a repeat of the same thing tonight. Maybe I can take a nap and read for a longer time.