Image via Leigh Prather/Shutterstock.com This article about dogs is republished here with permission from The Conversation. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors. The Fourth of July can be a miserable day for dogs. The fireworks make scaredy-cats out of many canines. That’s because dogs, like humans, are hardwired to be afraid of sudden, loud noises. It is what keeps them safe. Some dogs, though, take that fear to the extreme with panting, howling, pacing, whining, hiding, trembling and even self-injury or escape. And, unlike humans, they don’t know that the fanfare on the Fourth is not a threat. Dogs hear the fireworks and process it as if their world is under siege.