A Los Angeles doggy daycare is getting ahead of the Fourth of July boom by blasting fireworks sounds all day long — all in the name of keeping pups calm when the real explosions begin.
In a video posted to Instagram, dogs walk on treadmills, snooze, and making their way through obstacle courses all while fireworks sounds play in the background as part of a desensitization program.
The Culver City daycare, Dingo Doggies Campus, located at the corner of Obama and Jefferson boulevards, bills itself as a “school for dogs,” offering training focused on better listening, impulse control and respectful socialization.
“4th of July is right around the corner! So we have started fireworks conditioning for our pups! We play the fireworks sound track all day everyday and we have it playing in the kennel rooms for our boarders on July 4th evening to blend in with the real fireworks,” read the caption of the Instagram video.
Renée Bogaarts, the owner and lead trainer at the daycare, said that she’s obsessed with dogs and quickly “realized that dogs today, especially in big cities, aren’t getting their biological needs fulfilled which comes to the surface via unwanted behaviors.”
Her passion for service and love for dogs led her to start the Dingo Doggies Campus in 2014, she had told Voyage LA.
For many canines, Fourth of July fireworks serve as an incredibly terrifying trigger. This intense fear leads numerous dogs to flee their homes or yards. They face a significant risk of getting lost or being involved in road accidents.
To prepare fearful dogs for the Fourth of July, the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine advises starting training months in advance. The process involves counter-conditioning, replacing fear with relaxation and desensitization, which uses gradual and controlled exposure to triggers without causing distress.
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