Fireworks - again ...

[faitaccompli]

I know there are other posts on this. But I am being driven insane by the selfishness of people where I live. In the past two weeks we have had 9 official displays, and 6 big garden fire work parties. Not including the countless back garden mini displays.

I have a dog, we don't have a garden (long story) and she is walked 5 or 6 times a day - some 2 hour walks and other 10 minute wee breaks. Some idiots in our road have decided that back garden fireworks are not sufficient, and they are now letting them off in the front gardens which are on the road that we walk down. This is the third day where we have walked past a house just as they are letting of fireworks in the front garden and my normally sane and happy dog has turned into a wreck. The first time it happened, she came home and was sick three times - would not eat and just trembled. The second time (we walked a different route but we still have to walk near this house) she howled and tried to run home - at least she was not sick but she still would not eat. And tonight - guess what - the same house is letting off yet more fireworks - they are pretty much outside our front door, so even if we don't walk past the house directly, we are so close to it that we cannot avoid it.

Would it be unreasonable to ask them to check to see if there are passersby before they let them off?

Or am I just a killjoy who should shut up. My dog is the easiest going dog in the world, and has been very good for all the proper displays - but the three incidents above has now made her tremble when she hears noises - even the washing machine has set her off tonight.

It is just not fair. Why should we have to change our normal habits because of people randomly letting off fireworks? We have avoided walking her at times when we know people are having displays as we understand that people enjoy fireworks - but it is now 8th November, and we are well into the second week of the damn things - can't they just go out and do something else!

Why not just keep the dog inside and mop up any accidents? One of our dogs has Cushing's Disease (brain tumour) so we get a few accidents. We buy ProChem urine neutraliser and mix it with lemon floor gel.

I am getting fed up of them now. Can't hear the tv. Can't get to sleep when I go to bed. I wouldn't mind if it was one night.

I am making enquiries about the legality from a friend in blue, Choochi - it is now 10pm and we have had fireworks going off pretty much continuously in the surrounding half mile from our house since 5pm. But the front garden ones were the final straw for the poor dog. She at least has not been sick this time - but is pacing around the sitting room and is clearly distressed and panting. I'm sitting on the floor and she will come and snuggle up every now and again, then another firework goes off and she starts pacing again.

Because dogs won't soil their homes if they can avoid it, raltheraffe

The only thing I can suggest is getting some puppy pads, OP. The pheronomes might just persuade her to go on the pad. Of course that will only work if you've got an all-night supermarket

Yanbu, our dickwad neighbours three doors down are still going with their fireworks. They've been going all evening and our 2yo has been sobbing under his quilt, frightened and unable to sleep because of the level of noise. It sounds like a war zone.

The doctrine of live and let live, etc, is all very well provided that both parties consider the needs of the other. IMO, if you're letting off loud explosives in your garden until ten pm, I'd guess that you're only really considering your own desires to see pretty colours, and not giving a flying hoohah about little kids, dogs, cats, wildlife, and anyone else who might be distressed/want sleep/to get an early night because they have a new baby who doesn't sleep through.

I normally love fireworks but the people opposite me have been at it since 8pm and no show signs of stopping. They must have wasted spent a fortune!
There are lot of pets down our street as well so i think they are being very selfish now, 2 hours of bloody fireworks is more than enough.

Raitheraaffe - she hates weeing indoors - has not done it for several months (she is only a year old). I didn't know dogs got Cushings - I thought it was only horses. One of ours had it when he was pretty old but I guess horses are in stables and fields, and therefore that part of the disease is not that noticeable.

YANBU - I was expecting some fireworks again this weekend, with 5th falling on a weekday. House down the road has been letting off fireworks since 7pm. Sets off a few, then 15 minutes of silence, then sets off some more, etc.

And can't work out exactly who's doing it, so no option of going round/phoning Noise Control if they keep going on past 11.

We don't hear fireworks where we live which is brilliant. My sister has had all sorts of issues with them where she lives this year and has brought her dog up to us. Poor thing was terrified of them. We've found loads of them in the fields though! What goes up must come down I suppose and we've spent ages lifting them today. Between spent fireworks and sky lantern wire I'm sick of this time of year. People don't realise the damage fireworks can cause once they set them off or the impact on livestock of sky lanterns! Hope your little dog is ok OP.

I didn't mean that the garden should do for dog exercise. I just meant for peeing and pooing.

My DP is on his way back from work, and is going to pop her in the car and take her somewhere a long way from houses so she can have a wee in peace and quiet. Poor pooch.

Your poor baby, FSpinster - stupidity is no excuse - surely people cannot be that immune to the needs of their neighbours?

Another pet owner coming on to post. I do like watching firework displays but the garden ones just seem to be intent on being as loud as possible. Poor dog - first year of fireworks with us - is barking his poor little head off, as he has been pretty much 7pm-11pm all week. The worst was tonight though as NDbut1N is having a display so he can see the lights through the front door. Then just as that stopped they started at the bottom of the house, so all really close, even the telly up loud can't help with that
Still, all seems quiet now and he is exhausted, hope that the quiet lasts but after the last few nights I doubt it.

YANBU - I am hacked off with the bloody things now. Regular displays all around the neighbourhood since last Saturday, for the love of God. The poor dog is frantic. And what kind of fuckwit decides to start their firework party at 11pm, like somebody did last night?

Having a pee in the garden would not stop a dog from peeing out in the street when they come across another dog's urine scent, happy.
My Westie can pee for Scotland when it comes to covering other dogs' scents. And he won't poo in the garden at all. He has to be walked for at least 10 minutes before he will condescend to have a poo and then has to carefully just exactly the right spot. This can take quite some time... So while he loves running around in the garden it is not a substitute for a walk. basically, he's a determined wee bugger.

For those of you who may be interested (you need to get out more on a Saturday night!) we finally achieved a wee - took nearly 7 hours but we got there in the end :)

Glad to hear it!

The MuttDog suffered last night too. Very large display a few miles from our house. Mutt is usually OK when she can see the cause of the noise, but when it is just the bangs she gets really unsettled. Hopefully last night's display was the last one. There was one in the village on Fri, but she sat with me watching them through the bedroom window and was fine. Last night she didn't settle until gone 1am.

It's made me think though - the large display is at a well known Safari Park. What on earth do they do for all the animals there? It's made me .

Yanbu.

Set them off on four nights of the year; New Year's Eve, bonfire night, Diwali and Chinese New Year. The law has especially been altered to allow fireworks to be let off until a later hour on these four occasions. Any other day of the year FUCK OFF . I loathe fireworks, I don't even want them on those four days but willing to accept it if it means for the other 361 days of the year we're firework free. Sadly this isn't now a lot of the British public view it. IMO they need banning for private use all together...

I'm knackered. There's a public council owned field behind my house that a big group of people took to last night to have a massive bonfire, let off fireworks until 1.30 am and blast TERRIBLE booming music until around 3 am . I was tempted to call 101 especially after it woke DD but upon googling it appears police don't respond to noise complaints, it's a council issue. Even though it was surely illegal being council land and all that... Grr!

They're terrible for animals, small children, people of a nervous disposition, the elderly and so on. They're a nuisance, incredibly antisocial and pollute the air. Not to mention how much of emergency services time is wasted with it. My friend is a police officer and they dread this time of year, I don't blame them.

Yet another dog owner here to say YANBU - at all. Ours drools, sweats and you can actually smell the fear on him, it's really acrid.
The first round of fireworks round here went off on Monday 26th October and have gone off every night since and it's not like we've got Diwali around these rural parts. We live in a river valley so fireworks over the other side of town sound like they're going off next door.
Like other posters, I really wouldn't mind if it was a couple of designated nights a year but it's not. It def needs some kind of regulation to stop prats setting them off for 2 weeks solid and often well after 10pm.

Reviving this thread. It was 15th November yesterday, and, for the first time in 2 weeks, we went out as a family and left the dog alone. We left the house at 8pm (to make sure there were absolutely no more errant firework displays) and were back at 10pm. She had been out for a wee and poo at 7.45pm and easily lasts 5-6 hours although we never leave her alone for more than 3 hours at a time.

We come back home at 10pm to a rising crescendo of fireworks - very close to the house, enormous bangs and clearly a display rather than house fireworks.

We all ran into the house and found the poor dog standing over a steaming pile of poo looking very sorry for herself and shaking.

Is this NEVER going to end! Bearing in mind it was gone 10pm by the time it finished. At least we came home in time to hear them, otherwise we would have just assumed she had reverted to puppy behaviour and been a little bit irritated with her about it.

Had similar here (though I think the nearest was a posh private rather than public display: there were at least two close enough to wind up my 6 month old DD who therefore didn't go down until after 10).

YANBU. This has been going on a month now. Enough already!

Our poor staffy is terrified too. He trembles, pants and doesn't know where to put himself. We got some Calmex from the vet - open the capsule & sprinkle on his food. However this means giving his meal early as he won't touch it once the fireworks start. Wrap a blanket round him and put on some loud music. The Foo Fighters were almost effective.
However none of this helps if we want to go out ourselves - and doesn't help with taking the dog out to relieve himself. We could cope with it if it were a couple of nights - even a whole week surrounding 5 November but when it goes on for a while fucking month...
Then there's the cockwombles who let off random bangers late at night - we think it's gone quiet, head out for a quick walk - & he turns tail & runs back indoors.
Then there's thise who let off random bangers with apparently, the sole purpose of scaring people. Last year (in daylight) some let off an almighty bang from their front door, when I visibly flinched they laughed.
It seems some fireworks are not for visual displays at all just for loud noises.
There's perhaps a need to regulate the sale of fireworks - on sale only from the week before & ending on 5 November & a minimum spend of £100 maybe to put off people buying the odd one to annoy the neighbours. Though I guess they're available online?

I swear you live near me. We had them again too.