Police dog handlers tips: How to help your pet during an air alarm
The loud sounds of sirens during the air alarm and shelling scare the animals, they become stressed, in panic they begin to flee and hide. This can lead to serious injuries for them.
How to protect pets from excessive panic during anxiety:
1. Try not to walk your dogs during an air alarm. If it is necessary to walk the animal, or the anxiety happened when you are already walking, and managed to move away from home, take it on a leash.
2. Do not forget about the animal if you go to the shelter. Currently, animals are not allowed to be in shelters and bomb shelters. The Ministry of Internal Affairs is trying to resolve this issue — a draft document has already been developed. However, most storages are friendly to our pets. So you can talk to the people in the shelter, and ask to let you in with the animal. At the same time, do not forget - both your pet should be protected from others, and those around him. Therefore, it should be mandatory for dogs to have a leash and muzzle or carrier (if the size of the dog allows), for cats - a carrier, for other animals - a carrier or cage.
3. If the size of the animal allows, take care of chipping it. Do not forget about the usual addressees. It is better to choose those on which the engraving is applied, since the barcode is also not always readable, especially if the addressee itself is damaged or cracked.
4. If your dog is stressed during loud noises at home, consult your veterinarian about the use of specialized sedatives. Also, the stress can be helped by wrapping the animal with a tactile pleasant cloth - this is one of the elements of such a method as TTouch (titach).
5. Make sure that the dog has a place where the animal can rest peacefully. If you have small children and your dog is nervous when he hears loud noises or when he is in a small room, explain to the children that at such moments, excessive attention to the dog can be unpleasant.
6. In the anxiety suitcase, which is now in every family, put the pet's things:
- collar/harness and muzzle, a small bag of dry food, a bottle of water, a blanket on which you can put your pet, or wrap it;
- if your pet has chronic diseases and needs constant medication, put the necessary pills in the suitcase for 3-5 days.
7. Keep the animal's documents with your own.
National Police of Ukraine
