I've gone my entire life so far having zero issues with fireworks, except for one unfortunate situation where the roman candle we lit fell over and started firing towards us.
In the last couple of years I've seen more and more people petitioning to ban them for the benefit of animals and PTSD sufferers. I'll admit I'm guilty of dismissing these campaigns as people being overly sensitive but this year with the arrival of my rescue dog Max, I suddenly and fiercely find myself understanding why so many people hate fireworks.
My thoughts used to be "it's only for two days a year" November 5th (I'm in the UK and we celebrate something called Guy Fawkes night), and New years eve.
Surely all you have to do is make sure you're prepared for those nights, right?
Right?...
Max on what used to be his favourite walk
We knew that Max had issues with loud noises very early on, we live in rural England and farmers regularly use pyrotechnics to scare off birds from their fields. Every time one went off Max would try and run home, no matter how far away from home we were.
With some training and reassuring we managed to stop him reacting so severely and he went from bolting on the lead to being a little jumpy until he calmed down. This was before November however.
As a result we had to start driving Max further and further away to find parks away from inconsiderate neighbourhoods
Something that I never realised about November - December is how often people set off fireworks out of what must only be boredom.
In preparation for the ordeal that Nov 5th was going to be, and because fireworks were available for public sale all winter we set a strict rule of no night walks for Max to ensure we didn't come under fire mid-walk.
Sensible right? Setting off fireworks in the middle of the day seems a bit of a waste of money. Sadly people in my town appear to be idiots.
Even before Nov 5th we were hearing screeching and loud bangs going for a walk at 10am. There was even a time that we had barely stepped outside the front door and we were greeted by a firework. There was nothing I could do that day to get Max back outside.
Needless to say in the winter months Max was showered with gifts like his pull ring and sheep's horn
The big day arrived and it honestly wasn't that bad. We turned on the TV and played some music, Max was unphased by the small display miles down the road and we were thankful that it was behind us.
Knowing when the fireworks were going to be was essential for preparing for them and because we could prepare their effects on Max were minimal.
However it wasn't behind us at all. Fireworks went off at completely random times for the next few weeks and it made life a living hell.
Bonfire night? New years eve? Nope, this was Nov 10th
Now that new years is behind us, supermarkets have stopped selling fireworks to the public and we have 11 months to desensitise Max to loud noises as much as we can.
Sadly Max wasn't the only one suffering during this time. Our neighbours dog who was so scared of fireworks that in the past she had fits from the panic, passed away the night of Nov 4th, something we don't think is a coincidence.
So please, if you're going to set off explosives in your neighbourhood, please do it during the events they're meant for.