i am dreading bonfire night and all it brings to my nervous g.s.d.
my male g.s.d. doesnt bat an eyelid, but the female goes mental. she runs in and out of the room and hiding under the table. we try everything to console her to no avail. last year the bangs just went on through till march. i can take the dog for a walk and he doesnt get affected at all. even the loudest bangs. but my poor girl makes my heart break. with her fear.why are two dogs so different. i have heard of people buying bang music to play to the dogs. im not convinced. the bangs are so loud and my neighbours have a party. what can i do to help my precious girl.

I'm having the same problems with my male, female is fine. We have been completely ignoring him when they go off (they have been for weeks round here) and he has cut his barking down to a quarter of what it was. There are loads of posts on fireworks and different herbal remedies etc. to try. Put fireworks in the search box. I know of bachs rescue remedy, serene-um.

Try making her a nice cosy den, so that she has some where to go when she bolts that will make her feel more secure.  THat is why she's trying to hide under the table at the moment.
Don't make too much of a fuss of her, and just keep the curtains closed and the TV on loud.
Sorry, I can't really give anymore advice, as it's too late to try one of the CD's or a DAP plug in, as these have to be used a few months before the fireworks season.
Good luck with your girl :)

Sorry to hear your dog is so stressed.  One of our dogs could do without it, she goes under the bed.  We used to try and coax her out but decided in the end to just let her do her own thing and found she was much more relaxed just being left by herself. The other dog however is allowed to sit on the settee with the curtains open because she loves watching them :)  and does a kind twirl when a really big bang happens.  Good luck!

Mine doesn't like them - he barks like mad.
Fortunately they haven't been nearly so bad this year - I've hardly heard any (last year we had had a month of loud bangs and barking by this time). Maybe the government's action has had some effect after all.

Hi guest,

I have had lots of GSDs in my time and have found that bitches, for some reason seem to be more sensitive, I am probably wrong :)

One of my "bombproof" bitches, several years ago used to have very adverse symptoms on and around firework night and we started off giving her Bach flower remedy, which seemed to work to begin with. (loud bang CDs do not help as the dog not only hears the noise but also senses it and feels it through the body, rather like an earthquake IMHO) so we resorted to a mild sedative that we got from the vet, not ideal I know, but it kept her calm and she got peace, this doesn't solve the fear problem but sometimes you can only alleviate the symptoms in cases like this, never solve them. And if this brings the dog relief from her distress then that can only be a good thing.  HTH

I own 2 GSDs and they hate the fireworks, they are quivering wrecks, tried that plug in thing , didnt work, I noticed earlier when out for a walk they were keen but as soon as they heard the fireworks in the distance they headed for home, one of them gets right under the bed, I have found that if I put them in their cages they seem much better.

I was in vets yesterday getting pups weighed and noticed they had CD's of fireworks and various noises, 16 tracks, sounds like a good idea, play quietly and increase volume as dogs get used to it. Cant make any other suggestions as I have bombproof labs :)

Didn't anybody read my post?

Dogs DONT just hear the noise, but FEEL it too! And NOT ALL dogs have cages to retreat into :) Anyway, dogs need gradual densensitisation and this time of year IMHO is TOO late to introduce it.

My apologies, I went into unread posts and for some reason only last two posts came up and as I havent been in to the forum for 4 days, I will admit to not reading all the posts.

The cd's are called sounds scary. Although sedatives from the vets mask the symptoms it doesn't really remove the fear, but if the fear is really intense it can make things easier for you to deal with. Many people swear by seren-ums which are about a fiver for 3O and can be given like pills. Others like rescue remedy and dap diffusers. However the most important thing is that you must not sympathise or pay any attention to her if she is acting scared. Although it is hard, she will interpret it as its all right to be scared. Close the curtains and turn up the tv so that she can't hear them and let her hide.

I own three dogs, My two younger dogs are fine. But Poppy the older girl  who is coming up to 8 years old is terrible at this time of year, (well all year round, as they never seem to stop letting off fireworks these days). We use Natural remedy up until the day before Bonfire night, Where we then have to go to the vets for tablets that make her sleep right through bonfire night and although there still going off the next couple of days they don't effect her as much. I will be getting the CD that some of you have mentioned, i know its too late now for bonfire night but will get her used to them for Newyears eve!!! Personally i think fireworks are a waste of money that just bring distress to our much loved pets.

Jenna and Co.

I hate fireworks - all my dogs are SOO sound sensitive anyway and this time of the year is a nightmare - all 6 of them are reduced to quivering heaps - I do give Skullcap and Valerian to them all and it helps a tiny bit but to be honest they just suffer so much it makes me mad 

Yesterday I found the remains of two rockets IN my chicken run - luckily the chooks were alright but can you imagine the fuss if I went over to their house and chucked stuff into their garden or allowed my dogs to howl loudly every night from October through to December !!

Can I just add that some dogs do just get less nervous as they get older :) My Aussie used to be absolutely petrified at the fireworks - her first year (she was 6 months) she leapt over our garden gate and ran for it (fortunately only into the field next door) when there was a loud bang. She also hated thunder and even aircraft going over head (we live near Stansted). The previous two years we have had difficulty getting her out into the garden after dark for several weeks during the firework period. However this year she seems calmer and hubby actually managed to walk her last night despite several bangs (she did stop , but continued walking without a problem). So although some dogs may have a continuing problem, some do just become used to it over time :)

Daisy

Hi on a lighter note i was also dreading the fireworks with having a 17wk old pup but last night when he was out doing his be quicks a huge rocket lit up the sky all he did was sit down and look as if to say ohh yeah what was that even when it exploded still no reaction so hopefully with my tv turned up a little for the other dogs it may pass unnoticed this year

i also hate this time of year, 3 out of my 7 dogs have to be given seren-um and i find that they help but always have to top them up and give them extra, it was good last year as we had a bitch with 7 new babies and she is one of them who is so terrified, that we were also able to give her the seren-um while she was nursing them, but they should be banned and i think a lot of people will aso agree

Polly,

Have you got a clicker??  This is a perfect training opportunity.   I'm doing this with a pup at the moment, every time we hear a firework I click and treat.  Pups getting really excited about fireworks now :D   The first one we heard was in the back garden (also doing be quicks :) ) really sudden and very loud, we both jumped and I clicked by accident, instead of bolting pup looked a bit uncertain and then came for the treat :D :D  We've had quite a few further away but the training goes on :D

Well done you Dill, If my dogs were scared of fire works,i would be following your method as it would be as what i would try myself  :) I am lucky that my pair ar'nt scared of fireworks..but bless him --my poor knookie (GSD) would crawl the walls and even in his grave;i worry about the bangs going on around him......silly me x But i now worry for the dogs next door,.............perhaps having no children, I'm over protective with dogs .But my heart bleeds for them...........................!  :(  :(

I first did this a few years ago with my first pup, the dog I had before that was a rescue and was terrified of fireworks, it was the first dog I owned that had a problem and I want to be sure none my dogs are ever that scared.  What I'd really like is to have a total ban on fireworks except for organised displays, but I can't see it ever happening.
One positive side to this type of training is that my older dog isn't scared by any loud noises - even a pneumatic drill at close quarters was seen as fun!!

I did something similar some years ago Dill, with my elderly BSD bitch; gave her a treat every time there was a bang.

It did really help; only thing i would have reservations about is that if a dog was very scared it could interpret the click or the food as being rewarded for being scared...but i do feel this kind of training has some place, definitely :) :)

We use  a DAP now, helps  a lot; have found it also helps to not catch my dog's eye which i was terrible at, each time there was a bang. Dogs pick up on humans reacting to it even subtly but if we can lead by example it helps too.

Trevor - we had a perspex roof on our shed damaged last year by a rocket :(

Lindsay
x

hi
My staffy pup buddy is absolutely terrified of them as is my adult bitch daisy.i have started using bachs rescue remedy but not sure of trhe correct dosage for dogs, has anyone any ideas as i have just been giving them a couple of drops per day!!:(