Desensitising your dog to the sound of fireworks etc.

Every year, as autumn approaches, many dog owners brace themselves for the weeks of fireworks being let off in their area. For them, it is a time of year to dread, because their normally happy dogs turn into quivering wrecks! Gunfire, thunderstorms etc also cause these same dogs to panic.

Action plan.
Avoid the tempatation to cuddle and reassure your dog – the dog may assume that you too are fearful of the noise and will become worse! As pack leader, you have a duty to set an example for your dog to follow so you must stay as calm and unaffected as possible for him. Try to divert his attention! Open a pack of dog treats or start to play with his favourite toy. For dogs who like to ‘den’ when they are scared, provide an artificial den by covering a dog crate with a blanket or creating a makeshift den for him yourself! That way, your carpets and cupboards may be spared!
Desensitisation.
This can be successful but only if it is done with care. Play a sound effects CD* at a very low volume while normal family activity is going on. This may make your dog a little anxious but try to carry on as normal without reacting. It is essential not to mother the dog at all! The CD can also be played at low volume during a game with your dog and during your dogs’ feeding time. Very, very gradually, increase the volume over a period of days & weeks – as the dog accepts the noises, increase the volume just a bit. Do not try to do this too quickly! The mistake that people often make is to rush this therapy!
Homoeopathy.
Go to a health food shops and ask for ‘Rescue Remedy’. Put 5 drops in your dogs’ drinking water every day – it works for many dogs – but not all.
Sedation.
Each dog is an individual and some dogs may need to be sedated. Your vet can advise you on this course of action. Sedation is not a long term option as it can put a strain on his heart. There is however medication more suited to long term use with excessively noise-phobic dogs but this should only be used with the advice of a vet and canine behaviour consultant – it is not a magic cure!

*Sound effects CD available from Video Plus Direct, PO Box 190, Peterborough, PE2 6VW. Tel 01733 232800.

Written by Caroline Harrold

I love these little articles you're putting on the board Caroline, so full of good sense. For gundog work I like to start early getting a young dog used to gunfire starting at a very great distance and getting closer over the months rather than weeks. Also followed by the reward, a retrieve in this case.

Regards, John

Yep, I'm with you on this one John :-)

Isn't it strange how dogs that have been shot over all their lives and never had a problem with fireworks or thunder etc, become sensitive to such things in their old age. :rolleyes: Infact Badger is so bad now, that even the central heating igniting turns him into a jibbering wreck. Fire a gun over his head and he doesn't bat an eyelid!

Leigh x

"Every year, as autumn approaches, many owners brace themselves for the weeks of fireworks being let off in their area. For them, it is a time of year to dread, because their normally happy selves turn into quivering wrecks" !!

And whats worse, is that it isn't only for a couple of weeks in a year now. Hardly a weekend goes by without the darn things going off somewhere for some reason or other

Gawd I hate them :-(

Forget the Rescue Remedy ...John, pass the Malt!!

Twills

I've got a crate of it here Twills so if we get a bet wobbly after a few we can sit down to continue. In the mean time, I'll email you a glass or three.

Love J xx :p

Purely for its anaesthetic qualities of course ;-) Twills xx

Stand, Hic, by Twills, just pouring it into John's modem now!

J xx Hic,,, Pardon!

I bred my first litter this year.
I used the Blue Cross Sounds Familiar tape and played this
to them every day.
It was wonderful as it actually sent the puppies to sleep!!
No such luck now, but they aren't bothered by the noises on the tapes.
I am also very lucky that neither of my adult dogs suffer with anxiety
over Fireworks. They sit out in the garden watching them, we are also lucky
where thunder storms are concerned too.
But any one that whistle's my younger one growls....
The dog next door is not so lucky, he hates fireworks and thunder storms but is still
left out in his run. I do feel sorry for him.
I feel very sorry for all those dogs and other animals that suffer every year.

I can remember one day we took my veteran when she was younger to
a clay pigeon shoot. The Gun-dog people/gamekeepers laughed at a
Boxer being there, but she was one of the only ones not frightened
by the shooting of the gun. (I don't know what she'd be like now)
But she was fairly interested to see what was going on with the clays too.
Best Wishes
Kirstine

It is getting really bad with the firework celebrations now isn't it? As Leigh says, it is pretty much all the time up to and including New Year.

My pup's breeder went out of her way to de-sensitise the pups - or i guess the word is "habituate" really - to noises as they tend to be quite noise sensitive as a breed, so she sat with them for hours banging saucepans and dropping plastic bottles full of dried peas.

It seems ot have worked as Banya is not half so bothered about noises as my ohter 2 were; the other day, the Red Arrows flew over us, low down as they were just taking off, and you can imagines what a racket they make!!!

But Banya was far more interested in the dog we had must met! I was so relieved she didn't take fright and race off in terror.

Carolne, you have just reminded me to keep on with the "noise work" as she has not yet encounterd fireworks.

One tip i was given is to give a dog an empty plastic lemonade bottle, they are verynoisy when played with and just one thing we can use to help de-sensitise our dogs generally.

The trouble with fireworks is that it is so unlike a gun. Particularly with the large ones, instead of a sharp crack, which is over before the dog really has time to register, it's a lot longer booming sound. Again, with gunfire, all you need is a starting pistol and your dog can have a shot a day but with fireworks it's for a relatively short period of time that the dogs never get use to it. Also if your dog is born at the wrong time it could be nearly a year old before it hears one for the first time. Again, some owners expect trouble with their puppy and by making a big fuss of it when they hear one for the first time actively encourage the very response they were afraid of!

I'm starting to get a bit worried with Tyler. He's only 7 months so this will be his first time with Fireworks. He's already reacted badly to thunder by barking and gets a worried look on his face. I try to ignore him but it is so hard, especially when he runs and throws himself onto my lap. As he is only a baby, I just want to protect him. Fireworks around my area start beginning October and last until end January. None of our present dogs react to noisy things like fireworks or thunder except our rescue mongeral but as she was a rescue dog we expect it. We had a Rotti bitch that couldn't be left on her own if it was thundering otherwise she would scratch the door to bits trying to get out. However, fireworks she was alright with.

We already seem to have had a week of fireworks for some unknown reason. Luckily and strangly for collies my lot don't seem to have bothered about them. Gillian

I have had success using party poppers to get my dogs used to bangs. I must admit this was done as part of gundog training, but there is probably a way to use them in a gentle way to get a dog accustomed to the bang.
If you see a middle aged woman in a field throwing dummies and letting off party poppers, don't worry, its only me doing some training!!!
Lorna

Last year my neighbours had fireworks on the "wrong" day - normally they stick to the fifth. I hate fireworks and reluctantly decided I had better go outside and bring the dogs in only to find three of them sitting watching with great facination the fireworks going into the air. There is a building between where they were actually being set off and the dogs.

Needless to say they stayed outside and watched while I cowered indoors

Christine