hello folks,
been a while since I posted, anyway my female akita has become terrified of fireworks, when she hears them she literally tries to get on my lap and sits shaking and drooling excessively.

I hate seeing her like this so im going to buy a diffuser.

just wondering has anyone used one of these dap diffusers and if they work? how close should the plug in be to the dog?

any advice will be greatfully appreciated by me and Madison :)

I used one for same reason, found it had no effect,however its been recommended to me to use the collar instead.

Perhaps try using the collar (which I too have heard is more effective) in conjunction with something like Zylkene which can be given for short periods of stress.

why not get one of the 'puppy cds' that has firework noises on it?
You could play it regularly and quietly and then build up to a louder volume to get her used to it. could also be used in conjuntion with a dap collar or diffuser.

DAP has never done anything for any of mine.  Pet remedy diffusers have a much higher success rate from what I've read and heard.

There are plenty of supplements/remedies to help though, as well as management techniques - it's about finding what works for your dog.  It's too late to start proper desensitisation/counterconditioning work now with November just around the corner, you'd need to wait until New Year is passed now but you can get other things in place.

So, management techniques:

Making a bolthole - a crate covered with heavy, dark blankets; or blankets over two chairs, or moving a side table away from a sofa/chair arm and draping a blanket over that (be creative!).  Or, a quiet area such as the bathroom can be good - darker than other rooms and some dogs prefer to just take themselves away.  Ditto under the stairs or similar.
Not ignoring the dog - you can't reinforce fear, so don't be afraid to reassure your dog if they need it.  I find mine are much better if I stroke them gently and talk softly (although I do still avoid saying 'good girl/boy' or similar just in case).
Distraction - if the dog will respond, do tricks or basic training to keep them occupied.

And if needed, supplements (by no means an exhaustive list):

DAP diffuser/collar/spray (if it works)
Pet remedy diffuser (ditto)
Skullcap & valerian tablets
Valerian tincture (works faster, I find it much more effective)
Serene-ums
Calmex
Zylkene
Melatonin (my personal favourite - does not sedate, just takes the anxiety away so the dog doesn't care about the trigger and works within half an hour - 80% success rate in dogs)

Then we have the strong stuff:

Valium (diazepam) - I'm not keen, can cause dogs to get wobbly and hallucinate (although that isn't that common I don't think) but does help a lot of dogs.
Xanax (alprazolam) - much better choice for noise phobias, effective for that particular issue with much less sedation/wobbliness.  I use this for Phoebe on top of the melatonin, although with that I rarely need to use it these days.

It's all horses for courses, of course - it took me 3 or 4 years to get anywhere with Remy from the same level of distress you describe, and it was S&V tablets that finally started the process.  Valerian tincture really made a big difference for him, and these days I use melatonin as it works the best for him (likewise Phoebe, and my friends' dogs).  Zylkene is a good one to try but I'd be starting it within the next couple of weeks to give it time to take effects; everything else on that list is same-day effective, some faster than others.

Re. prescription (valium/xanax) - I avoid them if possible.  Phoebe is an extreme case with her noise phobias, they are many and varied and severe so she does have it in the cupboard but it's rare she has it now.  Strictly one-off use - these can be used for a couple of weeks but then the dog MUST be weaned off them as they can be addictive and prolonged use can cause an increase in sensitivity to triggers.  If I use a small dose for Phoebe more than twice a week she becomes more reactive.

With any supplement, always try it BEFORE any fireworks are happening - ideally in the daytime, when the dog is happy and calm.  This is to check for any adverse effects when the dog is not already struggling to cope with something else and infuriatingly, it is something that many vets do not suggest :-(

Now that's interesting about Melatonin do you use the human version (indeed is there a dog version) I have recently brought some from Holland and Barratt for my Dad.

Human version, there isn't a dog one but it isn't something you can actually get from H&B (prescription only on mainland UK) - what did you get?  There are products with some in I believe but it's not strong enough and usually has other stuff in so isn't suitable I don't think.  I get 3mg capsules from Jersey.

I bought some pet remedy spray and also a bottle of the pet valerian tincture, am I right in thinking that 2 teaspoon fulls per day is an adequate amount of the valerian?

shes literally sitting on my lap at the minute shaking and drooling all over me.

When I bred a litter of collie pups 8 years ago I played the 'sounds scary' cd to them every single day, every single meal time from about 3 weeks old. I gradually turned up the volume till all the puppies were eating happily during really loud fireworks. However the first actual fireworks night my own pup took one look at her terrified Mum and all that work was undone.

I've had no joy with DAP but Zylkene works wonderfully for my girls. I now start them on it the end of October for 2 weeks and they've went from terrified digging, frantically trying to hide to merely panting but staying at my feet :-)

I keep the dorwest valerian tincture in the car in case of thunder when out, but haven't really noticed a difference when I use it, zylkene is the only thing that has worked for mine.

In complete contrast the silkens take no notice whatsoever of even the loudest fireworks, neither did my borzois.

> I bought some pet remedy spray and also a bottle of the pet valerian tincture, am I right in thinking that 2 teaspoon fulls per day is an adequate amount of the valerian?

It all depends on the strength really.  I used the H&B one, 1ml of that was equivalent to 10 dorwest scullcap & valerian tablets (large dog dose is 6-12 of those), that is 500mg IIRC (not on the website so I can't check).  A teaspoon is 5ml ish.  But if the one you have is weaker then that could be fine - they vary so much, I bought a different one last year when H&B ran out and it was 300mg so I used a fair bit more of it.

ETA some dogs do do better on higher doses - but done carefully, of course, building it up and again, trialling during calm times :-)  My old rescue Soli ended up on 4-6ml of the 500mg stuff daily near the end of her life as she became much more stressy generally, she didn't respond at all at a lower dose but the higher made a big difference.

Saw this on the HB yesterday  http://www.hollandandbarrett.com/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=1430&searchterm=Valerian%20tincture&rdcnt=1
And wonder if this is the same basis as the one from dorwest

> am I right in thinking that 2 teaspoon fulls per day is an adequate amount of the valerian?

Just because I think it's funny, I left my collies in the care of my niece (a nurse!) while I was at a show in Germany with the silkens, she text me to say there was thunder in the distance and Gem was really distressed and I told her to give her some valerian tincture. I got a text a while later saying Gem was much better. I've never had much of a result with valerian and just use it because I hate to do nothing. Anyway, later it came out that my niece had applied the tincture to the back of her neck - thinking the dropper was for spot on applications! Don't know what that says about the efficiency of the valerian drops, the power of placebos (calm the human, calm the dog?) or the safety of her human patients :-) :-)

well ive now started increasing her walks, she usually gets walked once in the morning and once in the evening but now im actually taking her on my daily runs aswell.
last night she was so tired that she slept through all the fireworks and I was so relieved, gave her a syringe of the tincture aswell.
Just trying to find something that works for my girl.