Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago our young GR ran away after being frightened by fireworks. He is back to normal as far as going out into  the garden but tonight the first day of the local oyster festival has ended with fireworks and he has run indoors into our living room and is lying down looking very apprehensive and jumping whenever a bang goes off.

Normally the fireworks are only at the end of the week long festival so tonight's display was an unwelcome surprise. We are just ignoring his distress at the moment as we didn't want to make a big deal out of it and so encourage his fear.

Next Saturday the display marking the end of the festival will be a lot nearer to our house and I would like to know what is the best way to deal with his fear. Should I just ignore it as we have done tonight or would it be better to sit with him in the conservatory and feed him titbits so that he associates the noise with something good?

If you have dealt with this problem before I would really appreciate some help
Thank you

not much help as i've never used one, but you can buy a noise cd for fireworks ect.. and they are meant to be useful. PAH do them and i have seen them on the web!
HTS's
Aly xx

I'm sorry to say that I borrowed one of these and it didn't work. Fireworks make a lot of noise that's outside the range we can here but audible to dogs. CD and cassette palyers don't reproduce all the sub- and ultrasonic frequencies that dogs can hear, so it doesn't desensitise them to the whole spectrum of sounds.

I'd agree - one of my girls is frantic about fireworks, but takes no notice of them on the TV or on the CD I bought to try and de-sensitise her.

I am now considering one of the Tellington Ttouch seminars - has anyone tried it?

As an aside, I find it interesting that her daughter takes no notice whatsoever, so has obviously neither inherited or learned the fear.

M.

Fireworks also produce flashing lights and probably even more frightening to dogs, the smell of the fireworks. If I was going to use a CD I would also desensitize the dog to flashing lights and the smell separately, then all three combined.

I have found with both dogs that are terrified and those that go on guard/get excited that ignoring is best.  The over excitement I deal with by calling them into the house and telling them to be quiet (reacting to their barking as at any other time).

Put the TV on extra loud, draw all the curtains and pretend everything is normal.  A stressed out dog won't want treats.

If you pm me your address I'll send you some fireworks noises on CD if you want. It'll be too late for this display but good timing to start getting him used to the noises before bonfire night> I used the CD with my litter, just playing it very quietly in the background while they were eating and gradually increasing the volume every other day. When my pup heard 'proper' fireworks she didn't bother at all :)

Our oldest Cavalier was bomb proof until the Millenium when a neighbour held a 1 & a half hour "bomb"fireworks party & now he's terrified by thunder storms, fireworks etc

I give him a 3 mg Melatonin tablet an hour in advance of expected fireworks & as soo as I hear fireworks thunder or he starts to get upset He seems a lot calmer & is able to sleep

I also turn up the radio/TV etc as well

I'd recommend a DAP diffuser to be kept on for 24 hours - IME it works very well to take that edge off the anxiety. I will cuddle my dog if she comes to me but otherwise act very normally (but be aware of dog's needs for example I wont leave her or shut her away).

I do give very tasty treats when a firework goes off and if out walking etc and there is a bang, again feed food treats and same if saucepans fall onto the floor. Or throw a ball or play tuggie, basically associate the noise with fun things. It really helps :)

My dog is now only bothered a tiny bit - ie won't go out if a loud firework has just gone off, but isn't trembling and shaking with fear and can sleep through continuous firework noise.

You may want to create a safe den for your dog ie crate covered with blankets near to the DAP but don't make the dog go in it.

DAP is available from your vet - be sure to read instructions! ;)

Lindsay
x

As you said oyster festival I take it you live in whitstable? I live in Deal and have a similar problem,these seaside towns are quite big on fireworks  and my poor dog daws has to have a cushion over his head whilst sitting on my lap,I turn the tv up and draw the curtains,but have to say ,after a couple of years he is getting better and only needs a 'security cuddle' for a while,so perhaps just time, will help.
Ash.

Yes we live in Whitstable really close to the beach so when the fireworks go off on Saturday at the beach he will not be a happy lad. Weighing nearly 40kg he is a bit big to sit on my lap : )

40kg! my skinny boy is half that,so yeah a bit big,just hope he,s not too bad,I remember when fireworks were only once a year.

He is a Golden Retriever and a bit on the lean side

I live in what is probably the firework capital of England and it's a nightmare. In my experience, once they've started to be scared of them they get worse and worse and when I know there are going to be displays I take mine out for the evening.

I've tried almost everything over the years and the only things that I've found that really help are melatonin (bought over the internet) and phosphorus 200c prescribed by a homeopathic vet.

Oddly, when we have left the dogs home alone and there have been fireworks they don't show any signs of haivng been distressed when we get back, so they seem to be worse when we're aroudn, although we try and ignore them unrtil they get to the point where they're in danger of trashing the place or harming themselves.

Ours heard fireworks for the first time during the world cup, and ran all over the house looking very anxious and worried - the second time, it was only a few, and she stopped suddenly when hearing & seeing them through the window, and I just told her 'it's alright' and distracted her. Being only a few that time she wasn't too bad, but still took time to settle down. It's the only dog we've had who's shown any worry over fireworks.

It would be easier to deal with if fireworks were only allowed on one night of the year, or even better, organised displays only.

I've seen Melatonin mentioned twice here now - how is the dose worked out for a dog ?

I give one as soon as I hear them or if I know there is going to be thunder/fireworks asap I use the 3mg ones

>I live in what is probably the firework capital of England and it's a nightmare. In my experience, once they've started to be scared of them they get worse and worse and when I know there are going to be displays I take mine out for the evening.

I live a few miles down the road from mm (yes we do know each other!) and being something of a pyrotechnologist myself, I started "firework socialisation" at 8 weeks with Nips who is now completely unbothered by them. But I suspect this is luck rather than training.

I actually quite like watching them myself and Harley never had a problem with them before the incident the other week. I think more of a worry than the fireworks ( which usually happen at night when he would be at home anyway) are the number of bird scarers in this area. We haven't heard one since this incident but as I walk in a rural area there are a lot of them about and whereas he previously ignored them I am a bit concerned that one will go off when he is walking off lead and he will just take off in fright.

As on that fateful night his recall was overtaken by instinct and he just disappeared into the distance running in a blind panic.

Chaumsong has very kindly sent me a CD with lots of loud noises on and we are using this to re-acclimatise him.