sorry-wrong board, but i can't delete it?

have to have a rant...... Just tried to take the dogs to the woods-last time we went successfully, as in actually had a walk, was 3 weeks ago-tried going the following evening and Teka wouldn't go beyond the car park for some reason, so had to leave her in the car while i wizzed Bu round for 15mins (poor girl had to listen to Erasure !) Anyhoo, we get out the car, and i ask her to go find my friend, and she bounds out of the car and chases after Bu, then a sodding firework goes off-a corking banger! Well she shot back to the car and circled it staring at the boot-had to be left in the car again. Poor thing. Its taken weeks of non eventful visits to get her to get beyond the car park, and because of selfish twits, all the hard work's been undone:( Luckily theres no fireworks going off round here so i should be able to take her out later. Hopefully-she's not had a poo since before 8am this morning, and she's had her brekkie and dinner since then And, in my bid to get the dogs tucked up in the car tonight, i took my glasses off and rested them on the speaker in the boot, got in the car, drove off, realised i wasn't wearing my glasses, pulled over to get them, only to find Bu's fat backside on them! They're now even wonkier that what they were (i'd had them only 3 hours and Rich was playing footie with the dogs, tried to volley the ball.......at my head, hitting the glasses arm, sending them across my face breaking both nose thingies, bending both arms, and losing a lense  I managed to continue standing talking to the neighbour like nothing had happened, even though i was wearing 'glasses' across my face.....)

Oh how I sympathise with you

After a lot of success the past couple of weeks with walking past distant birdscarers and Harley not going into a blind panic I really thought we were getting somewhere. Then tonight a neighbour has had fireworks in the garden and we had a terrified dog again.

He was sitting in the conservatory when the first one went off and has spent the last two hours pacing and panting. He was doing so well up until that point and I had a masterplan ready for the next four weekends when fireworks will be going off all night long - lots of very loud TV and all curtains closed - but the ones tonight took me by surprise :rolleyes:

I really wish they were limited to only certain weeks of the year so at least you could be prepared for them and not be taken by surprise.

Am now dreading the nights from now until New Year's Eve.

Aaah, poor Teka. I can sympathise munkee...

Just back from walking my two.  As we were nearing home, a wee toerag across the road ran up to a wheelie bin (that had been left out for emptying in the morning), tossed in a fire  work and then legged it.  The lid blew off the bin as the firework exploded and the bin tipped over....all of which happened about 30 feet from where OH and I were with the dogs.  My boy, true to his Rottie roots and ever the guard dog, was on full alert and barking his head off at it. They don't seem bady affected by the experience and I hope there is no lasting damage as they've not been bothered by fireworks at all up til now.

Oh. and *ouch*  with regard to the glasses....I know how much they cost!! But I did have a laugh at the image of you standing there with your glasses spread across your face :D Sorry! :P

eeeyuwy we back onto playing fields,and watched s four teenagers thought it hilarious to throw fireworks into the poo bins,the best part of this though was the bins were fairly full,and we heard a loud bang and four kids running around shouting ughhhh,poo and other oo we've just been covered in muck words,me and potential house buyer were outside crying with laughter,
Wendy

it was a funny picture apparently-the funniest was the fact i carried on talking as if nothing had happened wearing a whopping red mark on my face. I'm still wearing the same glasses now-i'll be buggered if i'm going to change them after a few hours! I've told him he's buying the next pair (due march, which i'm rather excited about becuase i'm getting bored of these ones after two years....) :D

Fireworks were going off here last night for Diwali, and what did my two do?............yup, rushed outside and watched the fireworks :D  :D Couldnt get them to come in again so I wrapped up warm and cooked a plate of sausages for the three of us...

Sounds like that is the answer: Sausages!!!!! My German Shepherds loved fireworks but a couple of the collies didn't or thunder, they were only better when they went deaf with old age. Sadly not with me any more but the three that are left don't react at all. The new baby hasn't experienced them yet but the air show didn't phase him or thunder. So, maybe if he does get worried I will also cook sausgaes seeing as I like them to. Especially Walls pork and sage flavour. Yum. :-)
I sympathise with you all though if your dog doesn't like noise, its a dogs worst nightmare.:-(

I am dreading the fireworks. They have already started in my area too, I have 3 pygmy goats who are terrified. They live in a paddock with my chickens. I have a neighbour (no children) who must spend £300+ on fireworks, he invites all his mates & they are going on for at least 4 hours. I can lock my chickens away, but the goats are not normally locked up, they are free-range. I have to lock them in, but they are really, really frightened, I can hear them jumping about in their shed. My big dog (GSD) is not deaf, but he doesn't bat an eyelid, he never flinches. My little terrier does get quite stressed. I find it easier on the night of his party to lock her in her cage & cover her up. She seems better in her little hidey-hole.
My other problem is our 2 horses & donkey in the paddock the other side of the pyro-neighbour. They too aren't normally locked up, they come & go as they like in the stables. I worry when they are locked up that they will panic & kick, so they have to have the radio on loud. I think fireworks are an absolute waste of money, people seem to have money to burn.

I've just had to abandon the last walk of the day because of local idiots - they're only letting off one or two fireworks an evenings at the moment, but I can't risk a walk - if we're out while one goes off I'll be dragged home and have a worried dog all evening.

Had no problem with fireworks but huge thunderstorm at the moment which the weather people didn't tell me about!!
Becky

We had a talk tonight at out training club about firework phobia given by a veterinary nurse and one of the things she suggested that might help are dog earplugs which can be bought from vets or pet stores or you can make them yourself out of rolls of wrung out dampened cotton wool.

However you must make sure they are not pushed too far into the ear and you must remember to remove them afterwards. Take care that it is not so thin that it falls out or so thick that it hurts to put them in. A pair of old tights can be fitted over the head to hold them in place.

One of the other things that was suggested was to feed a large stodgy carbohydrate meal late in the afternoon if you suspect there might be fireworks that evening. Pasta, mashed potato or overcooked rice are ideal ( if your dog can eat these) as it can apparently make the dog feel sleepy and calmer.

Haven't tried any of these things and am just passing the ideas the veterinary nurse suggested. :)

I think I'll have to try the pasta and mash for Rambo. On Sunday night we had a group of kids decide to blow the phone box up with an industrial firework! It is only over the road from our house and parts of the box were thrown 80 yards.  I have never heard anything like it, Rambo was scared silly and ended up falling off the bed. We've never had a lot of trouble with fireworks in our area but I'm wondering if this is just the start of it.

There was a mentioning of a firework blowing a phone box up in our local paper. Nicki was this the one near Mough Lane?

Luckily our two are not frightened of fireworks, Mum's dog is petrified.

I can hear the fireworks going off near us now. I'm out on my own with the girls tonight & hate it when I have to go on my own. Some of the kids are idiots, they threw one directly at a woman and her dog last year.

Hi Pipkins,

Yes it was the one on Mough Lane. It's a good job nobody was on Broadway at the time.

Nicki

Its hard to take in thats it is only round the corner my labs would have gone bananas.  We live back to back with Stoneleigh Park in Oldham and it is horrendous every night even into the early hours and with the puppies holly is so distressed.

Tell me about it.Had it been rush hour the damage would have been much worse.