This will be my pups first fireworks night experience.

She has already shown signs of not liking the few 'early bird' fireworks.  Any suggestions on how I can make it a bit easier for her on the night and around that time?

Thanks.

I'm lucky with my dogs, their breeder played a noise/firework CD from when their ears opened.  The 2 14 week pups didn't have this, but I've been playing it to them since 8 and 10 weeks ... they're now on full volume so I'm hoping they'll be rock solid like the rest of them.
My first collie hated fireworks and gunfire, she had to be sedated. The stupid Crunchie advert just before Conation Street, at the time, used to set her off!
The main thing is NOT to console her if she does react, just stay calm and ignore any noises.  If there's a particularly loud bang that makes you jump and then her then just act all silly, "ooh what a loud noise, let's have a game" or something like that, in a really silly voice. You basically don't want her to have any confirmation that her first sense of fear is justified.
If you have another dog in the house that you know is fearful of fireworks then keep them separate if you can, the youngster will learn the response from the older dog. Have somewhere 'safe' that she can go to, such as a crate covered with a blanket, or similar.  I'd probably give her a few drops of rescue remedy daily in the build up to fireworks night ... wont do any harm and might just calm her.
Some people use DAPs in either spray or plug-in form (they simulate the pheromones given out by mum) - can't say they did a scrap of good with my first girl.
There's actually some really helpful advice here http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/information/poppysopinions/fireworks/
Good luck and I hope it all passes stress free, for both you and your pup.

> I'd probably give her a few drops of rescue remedy

Hiya is this the one by bach, the flower one?

Yes, can get it in Boots or similar.

Remy is already on Seren-Ums (you can get them in PAH) - he has been frightened of fireworks since his first experience of them as a pup, 5 years back now.  He's been on them since the 15th (when the fireworks went on sale) and will be on them - at full dose - until mid-november, if not the end of november.  Then again ready for new year's eve.

I have it at home already i use it for one of my children who has anxiety it works great when we fly etc, never thought about using it on the dogs how clever!

http://www.soundtherapy4pets.com/preparations-for-fireworks-night.php

Is this any help? :-)

Thanks very much to all, the replies and links were really useful.  I am just keen to plan ahead to try and make it as 'ok' as possible.  There have been loads of fireworks going off my way this evening.

I was mainly concerned as my other dogs have never seemed that bothered and perhaps i am a bit over protective, but, as soon as I saw signs of her worrying I got concerned.

Fingers crossed to a chilled out time.

I see on a show that wrapping the dogs body with a bandage helps to give that feeling of close contact and its supposed tp help them :)
Thats all I can offer on advice as we've been truly blessed with our dogs as they love fireworks and will even sit to watch the fireworks when there are some or we have them :)

And definitely don't react to her fear.
Made that mistake with my older dog, thought I was comforting her, but I was in fact reinforcing her negative reaction.
Just try and act totally as normal, as if the noise isn't happening at all.  Has made a huge difference with Tessie.

> Just try and act totally as normal,

I think thats why Mitz was so good and therefore Turbo as he is just her shadow with no mind of his own at the mo lol :-D
Not reacting when Mitzy was small and just watching the fireworks made her curious and want to get up to where we were to see!
I could almost hear her saying ' Come on life me up I wanna see what your seeing!!' and from then on after a few jumps but watching the lights she is fine and Turbo has followed suit luckily but his real test will be next month on his first November!

Thanks again for advice.  WHY are prople my way letting off fireworks every night?????

So, this is how is has gone.  Have tried completely ignoring her and not showing any affection etc when she is scared and given her the quite space, she loves her crate so I made it nice and inviting.  This did seem to help.

Normally my dog is not afraid of anything at all, really forward going. 

Got back from a walk last night and as we wandered happily down the drive a huge firework went off, she panicked, I ignored and tried to behave normally.  Her tail was under and she was bolting for the front door.  We came in and I acted as if nothing had happened.  She settled relatively wuickly, so, I though all had gone well.  However, this morning we went out on the drive, (she always has a little wee in the morning there) and she went out happily at first and then something seemed to click and she got scared again, looking up in the sky, getting nervous and wanting to rush back in doors.  There was no bang or noise to trigger this.

I was thinking about going back to the spot where she was spooked with her favourite toy and having a game or something??

Any suggestions would be really appreciated.  Cheers.

I would do just that, have a game at the same spot, but make sure it's at a time of day when there isn't an idiot likely to be let loose letting off fireworks, and maybe wait a little while.
My oldest dog got spooked by car headlights of all things on one of her first walks out as a pup (I assume I jumped), and it did take a little while to get her to voluntarily go out the front door in the dark.
Can you take her to a different spot for her wee for a little while - she might just forget the association given a few days.  Sounds as though she wasn't bothered once she got inside though.

Mine youngest hates fire works the other 3 are fine, not looking forward to the next few months

Need to look into some thing for her

I found the best way to deal with Dryms fear of fireworks was to take him to the display on the beach with me and the kids, he was so badly stressed in the house or in the car that he would often pee, he now comes to the beach and watches with the rest of us, I keep him on his lead and to be fair he is really more interested in any hotdogs that are going spare :)

He melts my heart, one evening during an overhead thunder storm he leapt onto my bed and dove under the covers he actually stayed there all night breathing on  my feet lol

Although we live in a sort of semi rural area the damn things are going off already, (sales should be limited to big do's only IMO, miserable baggage that I am).

Our Collie hates them and won't even go out for a wee, our garden is long and dark and between fields so the flashing and bangs are very obvious, we try to take the long trip up the garden about 8-ish before too many of them start going off, then later on just ignore her fears and let her do her own thing i.e. she decides for herself that she's not coming out.

The GR (stable old bird) is not bothered by them, and I'm hoping that the 2 plus year old Sheltie and the pups will learn from her.

We find that the best thing to do is to completely ignore the barkings when the loud bangs go off, understand their fears but don't acknowledge them.

It's far worse for our birds in the aviary, we have lost some to 'night fright' in the past, at least we can bring the dogs in.

i have 3 little dogs they hate fireworks ...

I was glad to see this thread - it's my little puppy's first Fireworks Night as well.  I'm not too worried about her in the house, but concerned that she won't want to go outside to wee if she hears them going off.  Anyone else encountered this, and can offer any suggestions?  Would it help if I stayed outside with her?

> Would it help if I stayed outside with her?

An absolute must in my opinion Miranda - and have her on a lead too in case she takes off with fear.  I try and get mine to relieve themselves early on in the evening before fireworks are likely to be going off regularly and find they are then comfortable enough to last through until most if not all have been set off.

One of mine actually seems to enjoy watching them and so the sound doesn't affect her at all - we overlook public parkland and so it's common for there to be a lot of mini family displays going on in front of us (not wanted by me I have to say but part of the price to be paid for a year round vista!).  Another is very worried by the ones that really bang but copes OK with rockets etc.  Try and avoid taking the youngster out when it's likely to be the worse time and keep blinds/curtains closed indoors with TV or radio on to damp down the sound etc too.

What has always worked for me is the sounds of life CD start playing it quietly from when ALL pups are young and either feed them or be playing a game that they really love. Years ago when I had a large garden i used to take my 4 collies in the garden with ALL their balls (we had lots with 4 dogs) and now when the oldest one (my only remaining original) hears bangs she wags her tail and starts looking for a ball so she has really positive association with them, I hope this helps.

Amanda x

Our Gizzy has been fine with fireworks it has been his 1st fireworks experiance

we have been practising everynight with fireworks in our garden leading up to the big days and he has been fine!!

we got to make our dogs strong some are frightend bless them

but making them strong somehow is good!

get the cd thats good aswell!!! on full volume

Well, I must say the Serene-Ums are making a heck of a difference so far this year.  Last year I didn't remember to put Remy on them until about a day before the fireworks started, but this year he's been on them since October 16th.  We haven't had that many yet (although of course I'm anticipating a lot tonight), but last night he was outside when a hefty one went off, he of course legged it inside but wasn't at all bothered after about 30 seconds, and he was that way for the rest of the night.

Fantastic!

Hi Nikita, what are Serene-ums? I've not heard of those before and are you in the UK?

Amanda

We were all ready for the Fireworks tonight. TV viewing planned, take away menus at the ready.  There was about 5 smallish thumps and then nothing.
Mind you it has been pelting down with rain all day so that may have something to do with it!!

Rain can be so enjoyable.

Equine Oxyshot has worked very well on my extremely firework phobic BSD(apparently the equine and greyhound oxyshots are the same thing).I've been giving him about 10ml,it works within a couple of minutes and lasts for about 3 hours.Hope that helps.Its supposed to be syringed down the dogs throat and not given with food but I haven't noticed any difference in effect when I've given it with a tiny amount of gravy and poured it into my dogs bowl.

> Hi Nikita, what are Serene-ums? I've not heard of those before and are you in the UK?

I am.  They are pills, you can get them in pets at home and sometimes other stores sell them too.  Basically they work by increasing the levels of serotonin (happy hormone) so the dog is more relaxed, and it certainly works for Remy - even last night he was much, much better than in previous years.  There's nothing nasty in them, no sedatives or anything like that so that's not a worry.

You can get them on ebay too but the postage tends to bump the price up a bit - in PAH they are a tenner a box (45 pills for large breeds and 60 for smaller).

There was about 5 smallish thumps and then nothing.

so far this year we've hardly had any fireworks! Normally by now it's been like living in a war zone for weeks! 

Thank God for rain and fir the credut crunch! 

Apprantly Haloween too is really helping too. People are increasingly interested in US style Haloween parties and dressing up going out and getting drunk and less in Guy Fawkes night. Hopefully that trend will continue!

So that's one good Amercan import then LOL

So far last night was the first...sure enough my boy barked and hollered, my girl looked at him as if to say 'why dont you be quiet'.
I am trying the dorwest valerian compound and will report back.

Karen

We don't seem (so far) to have suffered toom many fireworks yet.  I have 3 dogs.  My 9 year old Westie is petrified so I am not taking her out in the evenings at the moment.  The slightest bang and she spends the evening under the stairs!!  Our JRT is oblivious and doesn't react - and I can assure you he is NOT deaf!  But Isla our Sheltie pup had a bad experience the other night.  Husband took Pip the JRT and her out for a walk when a youth dashed out of a telephone box that he was walking by and hurled some fireworks at them.  Fortunately they didn't hurt them (husband and dogs) but since then I have noticed that Isla the sheltie is now reacting badly to any sort of bangs.  Shame as she is not a nervous dog at all.

Why do people want to do this sort of thing? - I wish the darn things could all be banned!!

Snowflake

Gosh snowflake what an awful story.  What kind of pr@t would do that?  Shame one didn't go off in his pocket??!!

That's horrible!

Karen :(

Some twit let some off in the road here about 5ish, most of the dogs in the area went off on one and upset Jake who then barked at them. Its not even 5th yet, we have had a few bangs at home but they didnt really notice as no other dogs barked.

I haven't invested in one of the CD's to desensitize yet because I have my doubts about whether it would work with my clever little Meg.  She was under the tv yesterday (her favourite place during fireworks has been in the corner behind the tv) and there were several big bangs on and she didn't bat an eyelid at them.  However one pop in the distance has her panting and worrying.  She knows the difference.  Divali was bad - because they had fireworks next door, but Halloween was the worst because there were fireworks all evening including some pretty solid thuds nearby about 10ish just when she had settled down.  When this is all over I am going to have to retrain her that the whole house isn't hers to run round in again (after nearly falling over her one night when we moved in)  She has been my constant shadow every evening since she first heard the fireworks.

Report it and complain to your MP. Ask for them to be banned from being sold to the public. We'll never get them out of the hands of rotters like this if we don't all voice our opinions. If everyone who felt they should be banned expressed their opinions officially we might have a chance.

Good Point, really easy link to use, thanks. I have aired my views and it feels quite good!

Tansy is absolutely terrified of fireworks. She was fine until a couple of years back she went out for a wee and one went off right above her head. She hides under the settee, trembles like mad and pants scarily for hours. The DAP diffuser was a waste of money, as were the "91% effective" anxiety drops. It is the panting that worries me. She is so stressed she seems to be about to die of fright. I want to cuddle her better, but I know I can't and she is ignored, and that really hurts.
I feel so sorry for the poor little thing .

im doubling the dose of Fagans valerium and scullcap tablets, he is already on max dose of the compound.   Last night was awful every bang or whizz sent him flying onto our laps (he is a 30kg setter ) we went to bed early and ended up letting him in the room with us because he wouldnt settle - then all he wanted to do was get on the bed everytime a bang went off. Thankfully they finished about 10pm, but I cant wait for these fireworks to end, this is the worst Fagan has ever been and he is nearly 5 years old.  Alfie on the other hand slept sprawled out on his back all night oblivious to everything !!! 

Does anyone else not walk their dogs round streets at this time?

After hearing that story on the news about the dog who was scared by a firework and ran out of his owners hand, onto the road and was then knocked over makes me shiver :( and also worry the same might happen to me cause they are so strong on lead if they wanted to go quickly Im sure they could!

I dont walk mine at this time of year after dark, but im lucky living in the sticks we dont get the pr@ts with fireworks letting them off before dark.  I walked with my mum yesterday near the town and fireworks were going off at 4.30 :(

Me again, fireworlks went off in my area today at 4 o clock when I was out with my dog......... It's so annoying.  I guess it is ignorance, as before I had a pet that was worried by them I had never really considered it.  I wonder how non-dog owners can be informed of the problems accociated with them?? I guess if there was one set time over this time of year when they were allowed, we could could prepare for one night of trouble.  Roll on New Years Eve........NOT!  It's the only year I'm not really looking forward to it.

Only the withdrawal of fireworks from sale to the public will stop folks letting off fireworks thoughtlessly.  If you could have heard some of the industrial bangs that were going off round here last night - you would have wanted ear plugs too - and this was past the bedtime of young children. This morning the roads are littered with rubbish - and the council have just completed a rubbish clean-up.  Do you think those folks will be out with their brooms cleaning up!  I very much doubt it- I will give them the benefit of the doubt and wait until sat am to see if anyone does the right thing.

Well I am INCREDIBLY lucky to have dogs that are not frightened of fireworks. I took the dogs out last night as we live in the middle of nowhere and didn't expect there to be fireworks. Managed to lock myself out of my house, with my OH away. Next door neighbours started having a big fireworks party with some really loud bangs etc - me & my girls were waiting outside for the locksmith for an hour with the fireworks right over our heads !! Thank goodness they are not frightened of them, I feel very very lucky today.

> Does anyone else not walk their dogs round streets at this time?

Mine have all been happy to be out and about with fireworks going on even though they will bark when they hear them going off from in the house.  Sometimes we have gone for walks to shut them up :-)

>> Does anyone else not walk their dogs round streets at this time?
> Mine have all been happy to be out and about with fireworks going on even though they will bark when they hear them going off from in the house.  Sometimes we have gone for walks to shut them up :-)

That is what I do too.

My Myka (nearly two) was fine with them until after Nov 5th last year when one drizzly night we were out and the real bomb blast ones were going off.

Since then she has been funny with heavy traffic in the rain, seems to have built up an unfortunate association.

Any particularly loud bangs she doesn't like and looks to the rest of us for a reaction, but the ordinary ones don't rattle her, but she hates lorries and busses and going out in the rain.

We have been so lucky with our 5, our Weims and our Ridgeback don't bat an eyelid, don't even seem to notice them, and our Staffy likes to sit and watch them to the extent that a walk can take ages if we are out and their are fireworks going off as everytime she hears a bang she sits down and looks skywards!  It is our Standard Poodle pups first Bonfire Night and after an initail bark or two she is also very interested in sitting outside and watching the show.

We had a terrible time with an ESS x BC we had though, she trembled, panted and shook her way through 15 years of fireworks and thunderstorms :(

Can someone who understands explosives and pyrotechnics Tell me if it is possible to have colourful pretty fireworks without all that noise, can they not be quiet/quieter?

That is so weird, I took my pup out earlier and she was really 'odd' with cars coming from behind us, it was raining.

Nice to know you're not alone?!

Turbo is still getting used to night time walks now the darker nights are pulling in.
He's used to summer evening walks and doesnt like the traffic rushing past in the dark with their lights on at all, he gets a little twitchy so I try to walk him in the light which is suprisingly hard come this last week full of cloud cover lol
Fireworks he is great with indoors and they dont bother him but outside on a walk he aint as fond of them but then again he is still only a pup (8 months on the 1st Nov 08)and its his first fireworks expierance ever so he isnt doing too bad :)
Mitzy dont care about fireworks, she loves watching them same as Turbo from indoors but I dont think they even wake her from her slumber when they go off lol :-D

Well, my six month old toy breed pup made it through bonfire night fine.  Looked a little alarmed at times at the noise, but as we didn't react, she didn't either.  Now we've just been invited to a relative's fireworks tomorrow evening (about an hour away).  As there are going to be a number of people there (and at least one large breed dog), we've decided to make her comfortable at home in her large pen, leave a light and radio on, and not take her along.  I know it's not ideal, but she has everything she needs (including pee pad), and has stayed on her own for 5 hours during the day without a problem.  I'm not thrilled about doing this, but feel being at home where she feels safe is better than what's on offer at the party!