Dogs and fireworks 🙄

We're normally chilling out by the time the fireworks go off..Our normal approach is to "secure" the dog by having her under my legs. Stops her wandering off, scraping holes or peeing in the corner in fear and seemed to give her a sense of grounded safety - maybe?
This year, she's stone cold deaf, not a bother even though the fireworks have been on a different level than ever before.
One of the upsides of having a 14 year old doggo I suppose. If she still had her hearing, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that her previous firework stress woulve been her demise.

One is fine but the spaniel is a quivering wreck. The only way to make it even make it bareable is diazepam(sp?). Vet made sure we understood that this was not a recognised use for it and we he'd to sign a waiver. But at least the dog is not so bad she is very stoned and out of it but to my mind it's a lesser of two evils.

We drugged them one year but felt bad about them being kinda stoned!
One weird thing we have is a drying robe type thing for the lab. It’s like a coat that wraps around under her belly and velcros up tightly. For some weird reason she is less reactive when wearing that but it’s not a miracle cure.
Largely we rely on making sure they are very well walked so tired, then having curtains shit and tv loud.
The westie barks at anything that moves so stopping him reacting is futile at best!

Nothing is stopping them reacting completely though

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

That way your dog would soon get used to them and be fine around them come bonfire night, surely?

Luckily, our current dog is bombproof but the one before wasn't. Wife used to find a quiet cottage in the middle of nowhere for a weekend away with her sister and their dog. However, over the years, those holidays had to get longer and longer due to bonfire night lasting about 3 weeks.

Expect it to be worse this year. Seems lots of organised events are getting cancelled due to costs so expect more back yard events are random times.

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

That way your dog would soon get used to them and be fine around them come bonfire night, surely?

Hmmm, did you used to write Viz Top Tips Binners?

Dogs trust have various desensitising tracks to play, start of at a level that they can tolerate without distress and for a few minutes. Gradually increase the volume. Final stage is to do sudden increases in the sound.
We've been doing it with our 7 month old guide dog puppy and he (fingers crossed) seems unbothered so far but aware that the worst is yet to come

My parents alwaeput one of those silly Xmas jumper things on the dog, seemed to calm her down (like the robe thing)

due to bonfire night lasting about 3 weeks.

Diwali is about a week earlier I think and you tend to get fireworks for that too.

I'm trying to get ours to chill by making zero fuss at all when they go off. The last one was terrible. Had to go in a cupboard with doggy ear defenders on and relaxing scent thing

The other night we had a crazy MASSIVE single thunder clap out of nowhere, which caused ten minutes of running round the house barking his head off. 😐

Lived for 30 years near Aldershot ranges, so all our dogs became accustomed to random pops and bangs at all times. We were once walking at Hankley common one morning to be caught in the middle of a firefight - the dogs were pretty non-phased. Our sister-in-laws dog was always sensitive to loud noises but was fine when he came to stay with us because no-one reacted.

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

That way your dog would soon get used to them and be fine around them come bonfire night, surely?

Very on- message.
Deserves more credit 🙂

Reading this makes me realise how lucky we are - our Cocker actively likes fireworks!
While she is from a working line, we don't actually work her (i.e. she doesn't go on shoots) so perhaps a combination of bloodline and training from a very young age - she doesn't go mad at doorbell/hoover/lawn mower either.
Some dogs just seem to be more susceptible too. I feel your pain. It sucks for the dogs (and presumably other animals).

Might not work but someones response to a similar question on a local newsgroup:

"Maybe laughing and saying "They won't hurt you" will calm you pet down when fireworks are going off?
Don't think it'll work? Then why do dog owners do it to people that are clearly afraid of their dog jumping up at them barking their head off?"

Made me giggle but annoyed dog owners for some reason ...

We have two spaniels, the elder one loves fireworks and wants to go and investigate but the younger one is a quivering wreck at any loud noise. He’ll even run off shaking at small household noises, yesterday I emptied a small packet of AA batteries into a plastic pot and the noise sent him packing. He spent the night with his head under the wife’s pillow the other night when we had that massive thunder storm.

Might try those desensitising tracks ^^^.

One of our Border Collies is absolutely terrified of loud noises. If we can we go up to our caravan up in the Lakes as it is a bit quieter than at home. Last year we discovered that one of the Radio stations (Classic FM maybe?) has an evening of calming classical music on. I was sceptical but we tried it and it actually worked pretty well.

17yr old weatie is deaf as a post, does like to stand in garden and watch them though.

My Lab x Collie loves fireworks and will ask to go outside so she can watch them. She does hate the hoover though.

Dogs trust have various desensitising tracks to play, start of at a level that they can tolerate without distress and for a few minutes. Gradually increase the volume. Final stage is to do sudden increases in the sound.
We’ve been doing it with our 7 month old guide dog puppy and he (fingers crossed) seems unbothered so far but aware that the worst is yet to come

We did this with our Labradoodle puppy. He's 8 months now and the fireworks don't bother him even when they go off when he's out on a walk.

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

A bit like having a wedding venue nearby who don't give a shit! 🙂

Jumpers and coats seem to act as immobilisers for our 2, but not sure they're calmed down by them.

Our older dog is worried by thunder and fireworks, and we use adaptil chews, and they seem to help to some extent, makinghim a little less anxious. He'll be on one a day from middle of last week thro November 6 or 7.

Those saying that wrapping them up helps, my cousin had a thing called a Thundershirt for his dog that wasn't keen on loud noises. That basically did what you say, quite a tight jumper thing with Velcro straps. It helped him quite a lot.

Trade your dog in for a gun dog. They don't even notice the bangs.
Bonus is most of them make excellent trail hounds.

I’m trying to get ours to chill by making zero fuss at all when they go off.

I'm not a dog person but I've heard that this is the best thing to do. They follow your example so in making a fuss they conclude that there must be something to be making a fuss about.

The last one was terrible. Had to go in a cupboard with doggy ear defenders on and relaxing scent thing

That sounds awful. What did you do with the dog?

Last two didn't give a monkeys, this will be the first time for our current 6 month old but I expect him to be equally bombproof.

I've used the dogs trust tracks and also 'accidentally' dropped heavy cuttlery so he's fairly bombproof to loud alarming sounds. Zero fuss to loud sounds is the trick, he also doesnt run like heck to the door if someone knocks as we've never made it a big deal. Good tip someone told me is once they're used to the fireworks track grab a loud speaker and put it outside, on the window ledge for example. Jethro can tell the difference between sounds inside the house and outside so I think this is worth doing.

Cocker Spaniel in our house.  She's not keen on fireworks at all, seemed OK the first time around but this is her third year now and she's getting worse.  We're in SW London area so Diwali went off big style not too far off last week (it's a lot more constant but usually further off than fireworks night).  Dog hated it and reacts by running round and barking (last year she pee'd inside too), she'd had a herbal anxiety tablet and the Thundercoat on but they were of limited effect.  Ended up with her on the sofa with me with my fingers under her collar (or she'd jump down at every bang), also played white noise loud on the alexa.

Been sporadic bangs this week and she's been getting a bit better (familiarity I guess), we'll see how it goes into the weekend but I don't think there's a magic cure unfortunately.

Previous dogs went crazy with fireworks. Especially the Monday night summertime fireworks for the tourists to Weymouth. Current two are a lot more chilled.

Dogs in Ash, where I currently spend most of my time don't give a damn.
Living next door to a huge area of Army ranges with a lot of night time shooting gets them used to it.

These posts always sound very trite, particularly from gundog owners, but I got my Labrador used to loud bangs by playing sound effects off Youtube via the soundbar on the TV. Increasing the volume and remaining completely relaxed so she could hear them. Did the same with my son's Cocker who was taken to a clay ground when a bit too young and showed signs of nerves. He's so focused on working now that the bangs don't bother him.

Mine's not really bothered by fireworks, but it's a very different noise to gunshots. She barks and shows great interest, but no distress. She gets a bit clingy/unsettled when it thunders, but again, no great distress.

The last one was terrible. Had to go in a cupboard with doggy ear defenders on and relaxing scent thing

That sounds awful. What did you do with the dog?

😂

Turns out dogs aren't too partial to angle grinders either.
Mine comes with me to my workshop and without thinking a while back, I cut some rod off with the grinder.
Poor thing now won't stay with me and runs off downstairs to sleep in the toilet. 😐

My lab doesn't bat an eyelid at them. It's either because of his working heritage, or more likely because he lies next to me on the couch while I'm playing Call of Duty and is used to non stop gunfire and explosions

Mines a rescue mutt, so we didn't get the opportunity to train him from a young age. And it's not loud bangs, but even far off fireworks trigger him.

It probably doesn't help with Mrs Vlad making a huge fuss as well ☹️

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

That way your dog would soon get used to them and be fine around them come bonfire night, surely?

You sir are Patrick Thistle and I claim my five pounds!

At the risk of going off on a tangent I once took my dog to work on site where we were using a compressor. At tea break I shut the motor off and released the air tank, ehich makes a very lound and high pitched woosh for about 30 seconds. Doggo went flippin bonkers! Howling like a wolf and running round the building we were working on about a dozen times, howling and barking all the way round. Never seen anything like it.

Our old whippet started off life not fussed at all about fireworks then all of a sudden changed and hated them. You could not get through to her and it was clearly a physical toll going until she calmed down so we got diazepam, thankfully it was only one night of the year around us. She would be properly doped up and then get the munchies later on, she tried eating a rotting pumpkin in the garden one year.

We could sometimes avoid her hearing them by putting classic FM on loud but we are in an old stone house in a pretty quiet area, the shrill high pitched fireworks were the worst for her.

The current dog is not fussed and is now getting quite deaf so no longer have an issue.

We've had defensive barking and some concern from our rescue, I'm not sure if it's all out fear or she partly wants go chew their face off - which is her response to more things than just fireworks! Trick or treaters for example who got lunged at as we were bringing her back from the vets and they were passing. Don't worry though I had a firm grip on her lead and no children's faces were hurt.

Our greyhound seems fairly nonplussed inside. We've had him out and some randomly went off, wasn't overjoyed but equally didn't turn into a wreck.

As others say, acting calm will probably help, best of luck I guess.

@binners a crow scarer would probably be more cost effective and piss more neighbours off.

I'm torn. The fireworks stress my grey out something awful, but that's because she's been hit by one which then exploded next to her.

But then I'm comforted by the liklihood that some ned and its equally stupid offspring may maim themselves.

🤷🏻‍♂️

Rescue Collie/Whippet will be a bag of nerves, we make her a little tent style safe hidey hole,we just make sure shes done her plops and pees in daylight hours( not easy she’s agoraphobic too hates planes) the miniture Dachshound wont even flinch, hard as nails

Have you thought about letting fireworks off all year round in your back garden, randomly and without warning?

That way your dog would soon get used to them and be fine around them come bonfire night, surely?

I believe this is how the military trains animal they use. Firing guns, explosives etc to acclimatize the animal to the sudden noise.

Used to drive up to Dartmoor with the last dog. (16 years ago). Fairly quiet up there and used to get a great view of all the fireworks from up by Haytor.
Current dog doesn’t take much notice of them . With these things spreading out over a couple of days it’s handy he doesn’t react as you are never sure when someone’s going to set them off

My mum's dog (a Bichon Frieze/Shih Tzu cross thing) goes mad when fireworks go off, but not out of fear. The daft sod* want to be let out into the garden to watch them! He'll quite happily sit there for the whole display watching them intently and when one hasn't gone off for a few minutes just wander back in and sit back on his chair. Seeing as there are two wedding venues nearby that let the things off most of the year he gets to watch a few shows a month.

* doesn't do many doggy things. He grew up surrounded by cats so thinks he's one of them! Chase a ball? Play with a stick? Nope, much happier having his head rubbed and sunning himself on the window sill.

For dogs that are already nervous it’s best to create them a safe enclosed space they can hide in. Dog crate with a couple of heavy blankets over it and bed and blankets inside. Close the curtains blinds etc too and have some music on. Classic FM have a soundtrack from memory. Avoid walking them when it’s likely they might set them off.

Adaptil plug in pheromone dispenser can help as can things like the thunder shirt or tight fitting tops in some.

Try not to spend to much time reassuring them as this reinforces there was something to be worried about in the 1st place.

Drugs available from vets. You will most likely need to be seen before getting these. Just look at the list of drugs.

Diazepam/Xanax/gabapentin/sileo but not ideal given it can last weeks and few last long enough to not maybe need top up dosing if it goes on all night.

Then when it’s over start on desensitisation using stuff like the Dogs Trust soundtracks or Sounds Scary stuff to try and get them used to it.

Then campaign for silent fireworks instead