Hamish our almost 1 year old Cairn terrier was absolutely terrified of the fireworks last night. He was padding up and down in the house between all the external doors and going to the top of the 4 stairs in our lounge very nervously. We turned the radio, then television volume up. We tried to distract him with various toys, bones etc to no avail. I turned his bed into a den with blankets hanging over it and a hole for him to get in and out but he was too preoccupied with what was going on outside to get into his bed.
He is hardly barking at all this morning and very subdued which is really unusual and he still won't play with his toys, again very unusual as he is normally such a busy and fearless little dog into EVERYTHING.
We took him out briefly last night to relieve himself but that was the only time he went outside.
We are dreading tonight as we are due to go out with friends but really don't want to leave him if he is going to be so frightened.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can get our old Hamish back and help him cope with the noise of the b.......fireworks tonight.
A

Relief................. Hamish is back on form. Causing mahem and chaos as usual. Really good to have him back to normal. We are still worried about tonight though.
A

I'm sure that he will be OK :) Do as you did last night - leave TV or radio on loud and also leave a light on and the curtains pulled so that he can't see the flashes etc. Some dogs are actually better when their humans aren't around. Maybe restrict him to one or two rooms just in case he tries rushing around.

Good luck :)

Daisy

Thanks Daisy
A x

I don't feel it is a good idea to go out and leave a dog alone during fireworks season though. I know of a dog who was left and it was terrified, desperately tried to get out the patio doors and scratched them all in panic :(

Lindsay
X

We had no choice about going out as we had organised the event but I certainly won't be going out at this time of year next year.
Hamish wet himself before we left, literally just peed where he stood, no cocking his leg or crouching. This was after 3 loud fireworks went off behind our house.
We have just got home and the poor little dog is a nervous wreck I picked him up when we got home and could feel his heart banging like mad and he let out a big sigh of relief.
A friend has just told me she gives her dog prescribed (by the vet) tranquillisers. This has got to be the way to go in future. I can't bear to see my little dog going through this again.
A

Crue;l as it might sound though try not to reasure or console him, as he will then feel he has reason to be afraid.  You need to act as normal as possible, and ignore all signs of his fear.  TYhe more normal your actions are the more reasurring your strong presence will be.  Also it has been mentioned that he may get a lot of comfort in having an item of clothing you have worn for comfort.  Ideally something like an old T shirt you have slept in so it has plenty of your scent.

A lot of dogs will take itmes of their owners clothing like shoes and coats to their beds when their owners are out, and it is for comfort that they usually do it.  Avoid tranquilisers if you can, they often hae a worse effect than the thing inducing the fear, as they incapacitate the dog, but he is still afraid, and this can make them more afraid.

As hard as it is please don't fuss over him when this is going on.  This will only reinforce the behaviour as he will think you are praising him for his fear.  Much better to ignore it and go about your business normally.  We have the opposite problem here, ours bark at the bangs.

Thanks for you replys and help lucytia and Brainless. Again my little dog is very subdued this morning. Poor little dog. It's such a nightmare for him.

Andi,

He's subdued because he's exhausted, poor guy.  My one Cairn ignores fireworks completely and my other one barks at them like mad unless I distract him with something (a Kong stuffed with cheese worked).

I know how terrible it is though to have a dog afraid of fireworks.  A dog I had Moxie (miss her more each day, over two years since her death) became terrified of fireworks after we boarded her one November.  She shook and drooled from fright.  Nothing would console her.   I would do as you did, get out a crate and drape it so it was dark.  It seemed to be better than having her agitated and trying to get away from them. 

Don't be surprised if you little guy is now afraid of thunder.   Once my Moxie was afraid of fireworks the next Summer she was afraid of thunder too.

Stacey

Hi Stacey,
I tried the (give him something scrummy to eat ploy) with a marrow bone filled with doggy biscuits and peanut butter. It diverted his attention to a degree which I suppose is better than nothing. As you say the fireworks seem to make them nervous of all loud noises, he is really jumpy now, more so than ever before. Poor little chap.
Nice to hear from you again Stacey,
A