To suggest that firework phobias in dogs are more manageable than you might think

[Veterinari]

Every Bonfire night/Christmas/New year there are threads on this.

Most dog owners will know the basics:
Behave normally, have the radio on
Ensure dog has a safe dark comfortable den to hide in
Offer reassurance - you cannot reinforce fear
Long walk during the day to tire out followed by a good feed - more likely to be content and less reactive
Distract with licki mats/frozen kong etc

But also:
Get your dog checked for chronic painful disease - arthritis and dental disease are common and noise phobias are strongly correlated with chronically painful conditions. Treating the pain has been shown to reduce noise phobias (and is good for welfare)
Start firework desensitisation therapy using apps played at low volume or the 'sounds scary' resource.

Use appropriate medication:
Speak to your vet - sileo and pexicon are the licensed medications and can be game changing
Also pain relief if there's an underlying painful condition.

For milder anxieties supplements like zylkene, yucalm etc may help - again speak to your vet or behaviourist.

Adaptil (pheromone) alone is unlikely to make any difference in a phobic dog. Genuine panic/phobia usually needs medication

Thunder shirts and other complementary approaches can be helpful for some dogs but the response varies

Some of those things might help some dogs, none of them help mine. I’ve even paid out a lot of money for desensitisation from a behaviourist.
No it isn’t easy for me or my dog to “manage”.

I have a gundog so fireworks don't bother her in the slightest.

And want about wildlife, livestock and horses?

That does sound easy!
Thanks!!

God I hate this sort of advice, often by people who have no clue about dogs with traumatic backgrounds.
I see it on Twitter all the time, usually the advice given by kindly people who buy dogs and have them from a puppy.

Is it beyond comprehension that some dogs are so traumatised that no amount of sodding thunder vets and classic FM will not help?

I do agree about Sileo though- brilliant. I deeply resent having to spend £30 a week for four weeks though because people have the urge to set off noisy fireworks. The poor wildlife too.

As usual on mumsnet, I appreciate the support for freely offering constructive professional advice to help others.

Have tried all of these things and unfortunately none of them help for our two, so knowing the basics doesn't help us a jot.

@Premiumhaircut

God I hate this sort of advice, often by people who have no clue about dogs with traumatic backgrounds. I see it on Twitter all the time, usually the advice given by kindly people who buy dogs and have them from a puppy.

Is it beyond comprehension that some dogs are so traumatised that no amount of sodding thunder vets and classic FM will not help?

Did you actually read the part where I specifically stated that dogs with panic/phobia disorders need licensed medication?

How about quiet fireworks?

@bunintheoven88

Have tried all of these things and unfortunately none of them help for our two, so knowing the basics doesn't help us a jot.

Including medical therapy?

And I support pushback against patronising advice which only encourages the hard of thinking to assume it’s a matter of training.

@JayAlfredPrufrock

How about quiet fireworks?

That would be great but it's beyond my professional scope

@JayAlfredPrufrock

How about quiet fireworks?

I wish so much for this.

@Premiumhaircut

And I support pushback against patronising advice which only encourages the hard of thinking to assume it’s a matter of training.

Where have I suggested training?

@missyB1

Some of those things might help some dogs, none of them help mine. I’ve even paid out a lot of money for desensitisation from a behaviourist. No it isn’t easy for me or my dog to “manage”.

Have you tried licensed medication?

@Somethingkindaoooo

That does sound easy! Thanks!!

I never said it was easy

Managing phobias and panic disorders it tricky, which is why a strategic approach that isn't thundershirts and adaptil is important. Perhaps you have more suggestions?

ive tried everything possible, my dog has been drugged up and wearing a thundershit, had a sock round his ears and nothing works
hes 14 in december and unlikely to change now

Yes ours got quite excited when she heard the fireworks. She thought she was going off to chase grouse.

@chipsandpeas

ive tried everything possible, my dog has been drugged up and wearing a thundershit, had a sock round his ears and nothing works hes 14 in december and unlikely to change now

It depends what anti-anxiety medications you've tried? Is he also on pain relief?

@CherryPavlova

Yes ours got quite excited when she heard the fireworks. She thought she was going off to chase grouse.

that's a much preferred response!

@Veterinari

Licensed medication may work, but you need to be prepared, and nowadays, bloody fireworks will be going off between October and January, without reason or forewarning. Surely you don't advocate drugging dogs regularly for 3 months of the year?

@Veterinari
Yes, they both had terrible diarrhoea which apparently is a common side effect. Cleaning shit up all night last year was nearly as bad as the fireworks

[quote Shmithecat2]@Veterinari

Licensed medication may work, but you need to be prepared, and nowadays, bloody fireworks will be going off between October and January, without reason or forewarning. Surely you don't advocate drugging dogs regularly for 3 months of the year?[/quote]
Lots of animals are 'drugged' for years for various medical issues - pain, heart disease etc.
That's why medications are assessed using clinical trials and tested for safety, side effects etc.

There are plenty of anxiety medications and pain medications used to treat chronic generalised anxiety and/or pain that are perfectly safe and improve quality of life significantly.
Why would you leave your dog in fear or pain, when there are potential alternatives?

If people would address these issues earlier on in the year... that'd be great.

There are some unlucky people who have recently got a dog and didn't know the dog was scared, there are some folk who have a dog who previously has been fine but for whatever reason, suddenly no longer is (and for all you thinking 'ah but my dog really IS fine'... your dog can go from fine to not fine surprisingly quickly so please, do ensure you are pairing as many loud bangs with tasty treats as you can, block out sounds where you can DON'T leave your dog home alone whilst fireworks are going off etc etc!)..

For most people though, they know and have done nothing about it all year and that does piss me right off! I have done pretty much nothing but answer behaviour questions on fireworks related fearful behaviour for the last two weeks and bar one, those have all been people who admitted they knew their dog had issues.. but forgot to deal with it sooner.

As for medications, yes if your dog has a serious phobia of loud noises, you may well need to use anti anxiety medications for months on end. It is not 'drugging up your dog', it is using the correct anti-anxiety medications alongside a behaviour modification program, using classical conditioning and desensitization.

We are not talking about doping dogs into not reacting, but medications that allow dogs to cope, think, reduce anxiety, reduce frustration and help them genuinely feel better.