I live with a rescue saluki who is extremely scared of fireworks.A couple of years ago he worked himself up so much he nearly went into shock and was passing blood instead of stools so we had to rush him to the vets and this was a day after the fireworks had ended.Over the past couple of years we have tried all sorts to try to help the situation,from ignoring it to giving him sedatives (which I'm not keen on),but nothing seems to work.
I know that no dog likes fireworks but I'm scared that he'll work himself up so much he'll do himself some serious damage.
I love my saluki very much and really need some advice on this topic.Please help.

Have you tried Valerian? It's something that works on a lot of dogs. However what I've found really works is a DAP diffuser - go and chat with your vets about it. I got one in May - and put it in, I refill it every month and will keep it in until after November. It has made a huge difference (we have weekly fireworks in the area throughout the summer).

It needs to be in 2-3 weeks before the event so if you've a specific time-frame you need to get it in that much earlier - it does need to be changed every 4 weeks even if you see liquid in it.

Hope this helps.

Wendy

hello,
could you tell me what a DAP diffuser is.
i have an 18 month old staff. last year he whined all throughout the fireworks, but he was so tiny then i cuddled him most nights.
however the past few days some fireworks have gone off and he is shaking quite badly. he runs behind the sofa, and when you pop your head round his whole back end is shaking, i was really worried the first time this happened as i feard it may be something serious such as epilepsy or something similar. but as soon as the noise stopped he was fine.

It's a plug-in diffuser that releases calming pheremones into the air in your home and help to calm the dogs. If you do a search on DAP or DAP diffuser on Google you should find lots of info. Also, be sure to ask you vet about it. It would very likely help, but you need to have it in a couple of weeks before it starts working

Wendy

Have you tried the cassette tapes they do of scary sounds like that? The idea is that you play them very very quietly at first (taking days over each stage) - so quiet that the dog doesn't react to it at all. Then as the days pass you gradually increase the volume, but never having it loud enough to upset the dog. Done properly the dog learns that ordinary life goes on when this noise is played (dinner, playtime etc) and so loses at least some of its fear.

What a brilliant idea, we got Buster on 15th November this year so have yet to face the fireworks ... I was just going to ignore them, maybe sit in the garden or something while they were on - but the tapes would be a good lead up to it. Nicki

Our knowlegable dog friend gives her dog a Kalms tablet on bonfire night - is this safe?

Take a look at www.soundscary.co.uk

( think that's right, or very similar, sorry i am going out and don't have time to check). They have CDs with fireworks noises on and also behavioural advice on how to de-sensitise which is what Jeangenie was speaking of.

Good luck, it's distressing isn't it?

Lindsay