Across our nation on July 4th, American families celebrate the day with traditional cookouts, parades and fireworks displays. But at my house, the highlight of the day is watching my Pit Bull, Spike, enjoy his bottle rockets!
Spike came to us five years ago, after his original owner was jailed and, ultimately, deported to his native England for felony drug trafficking. A beautiful white Pit with golden eyes, Spike was put up for adoption at the kennel where I worked, but because of his aggressive personality, we could not find a home for him. It was determined by the veterinarian who owned the kennel that if we could not find an adoptive family by a certain Friday, Spike would have to be “put down”.
Of course, Friday came, and when no one else would take a chance on the dog, I ended up bringing him home with me, where he quickly became a much-loved member of my family. We soon learned that, like my other two dogs, Spike had a fear of thunderstorms and would hide in my bedroom closet whenever he heard the first rumbles in the distance. We assumed he would be afraid of any type of loud noise, but we were wrong.
On the first Independence Day after we adopted Spike, my husband bought some bottle rockets to shoot off in the yard. I reminded him how it would frighten the dogs, but he promised to just shoot off “a couple”, and began setting up a “launcher” on the patio. A piece of PVC pipe about three feet long was stuck in the grass and he loaded the first rocket and lit it with a match. The wick burned down with a muffled sizzling sound and the projectile launched with a BOOM!
Before the explosion had died, we saw Spike streaking out the back door, legs stretched out like a racing Greyhound, eyes turned to the sky, barking crazily. He attacked the falling sparks as though they were living things, leaping and snapping his jaws. When that was over, he turned his attention to the piece of PVC, grabbing it in his mouth and yanking it from the ground, as though trying to destroy the source of the pyrotechnics. My husband began chasing him, trying to retrieve the piece of pipe, but we were both laughing so hard, his efforts were useless.
When he finally did replace the “launcher” and set off another bottle rocket, the whole performance was repeated and we laughed ourselves silly. No matter how many rockets exploded, Spike continued to chase them and try to steal the PVC pipe, his eyes wide, tail wagging, barking hysterically. Eventually my husband replaced the three foot section of pipe with a six foot piece, buried much deeper in the dirt, thinking the dog couldn’t possibly remove it. Wrong! It took a little longer, but Spike managed to wiggle the piece back and forth until he was able to wrench this one from the ground as well. The sight of him racing across the yard with a six foot section of pipe waving and bobbing like a tightrope walker’s pole in his mouth made us laugh so hard we lost our breath and tears squirted from our eyes. The ends of the pole caught on trees and shrubs as he ran, sometimes making him stop short and fall down, but he would leap right back up and take off again.
Now Spike’s bottle rockets have become a favorite part of our Independence Day activities, and we always make sure to have a few on hand as the holiday approaches. After the barbecue has been eaten and the sun goes down, we gather in the yard to set off our little pyrotechnics show. And when the first rocket is launched with a WHOOSH, Spike is there, determined this is the year he will capture one of those noisy creatures and show it who’s boss.
Of course, we’ve learned that if we want the show to last past the first launch, we have to set up the PVC pipe on the OTHER side of the chain link fence!
Note: These activities may be repeated for New Year's Eve or other "Pyro-Friendly" holidays.
Spike came to us five years ago, after his original owner was jailed and, ultimately, deported to his native England for felony drug trafficking. A beautiful white Pit with golden eyes, Spike was put up for adoption at the kennel where I worked, but because of his aggressive personality, we could not find a home for him. It was determined by the veterinarian who owned the kennel that if we could not find an adoptive family by a certain Friday, Spike would have to be “put down”.
Of course, Friday came, and when no one else would take a chance on the dog, I ended up bringing him home with me, where he quickly became a much-loved member of my family. We soon learned that, like my other two dogs, Spike had a fear of thunderstorms and would hide in my bedroom closet whenever he heard the first rumbles in the distance. We assumed he would be afraid of any type of loud noise, but we were wrong.
On the first Independence Day after we adopted Spike, my husband bought some bottle rockets to shoot off in the yard. I reminded him how it would frighten the dogs, but he promised to just shoot off “a couple”, and began setting up a “launcher” on the patio. A piece of PVC pipe about three feet long was stuck in the grass and he loaded the first rocket and lit it with a match. The wick burned down with a muffled sizzling sound and the projectile launched with a BOOM!
Before the explosion had died, we saw Spike streaking out the back door, legs stretched out like a racing Greyhound, eyes turned to the sky, barking crazily. He attacked the falling sparks as though they were living things, leaping and snapping his jaws. When that was over, he turned his attention to the piece of PVC, grabbing it in his mouth and yanking it from the ground, as though trying to destroy the source of the pyrotechnics. My husband began chasing him, trying to retrieve the piece of pipe, but we were both laughing so hard, his efforts were useless.
When he finally did replace the “launcher” and set off another bottle rocket, the whole performance was repeated and we laughed ourselves silly. No matter how many rockets exploded, Spike continued to chase them and try to steal the PVC pipe, his eyes wide, tail wagging, barking hysterically. Eventually my husband replaced the three foot section of pipe with a six foot piece, buried much deeper in the dirt, thinking the dog couldn’t possibly remove it. Wrong! It took a little longer, but Spike managed to wiggle the piece back and forth until he was able to wrench this one from the ground as well. The sight of him racing across the yard with a six foot section of pipe waving and bobbing like a tightrope walker’s pole in his mouth made us laugh so hard we lost our breath and tears squirted from our eyes. The ends of the pole caught on trees and shrubs as he ran, sometimes making him stop short and fall down, but he would leap right back up and take off again.
Now Spike’s bottle rockets have become a favorite part of our Independence Day activities, and we always make sure to have a few on hand as the holiday approaches. After the barbecue has been eaten and the sun goes down, we gather in the yard to set off our little pyrotechnics show. And when the first rocket is launched with a WHOOSH, Spike is there, determined this is the year he will capture one of those noisy creatures and show it who’s boss.
Of course, we’ve learned that if we want the show to last past the first launch, we have to set up the PVC pipe on the OTHER side of the chain link fence!
Note: These activities may be repeated for New Year's Eve or other "Pyro-Friendly" holidays.
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