My first bonfire night as a dog owner

[Madsometimes]

Do I need to do anything special?

My dog is just over a year old, and this time last year he was a very tiny puppy still with his mother, so I did not have him.

We live in a city, and there are LOTS of fireworks that go off at this time of year. Today and tomorrow are going to be particularly chaotic, so any tips would be welcome.

To make it worse, we have concert tickets for tonight, and my mum is babysitting the children at her house. She has agreed to take the dog too, so at least he will not be on his own. He is familiar with her house, so should be OK with her.

my wee westie was great too. HSe is only 5 months but was fine sitting at the back door watching us light the display. I was expecting lots of upset as she was crazy last week at halloween!

Although it's the first Bonfire Night for us with a dog in the family, it hadn't even occurred to me that he might be frightened, as he's so confident about everything normally and we live rurally, so hear guns going off fairly frequently.

He was petrified! After barking for a few minutes he huddled under the bed and when I coaxed him out he was trembling and had his tail between his legs. He cheered up once I gave him some food though

I have been dreading tonight because our last dog (collie) was petrified every year however seems there was no need to worry - he hasnt even noticed the bangs and has spent most of the evening asleep!

Would make life much easier for pet owners, especially those in busy towns/cities, if folk were only allowed to set off fireworks between certain hours. At least then you know when its going to come to an end.

my puppy is 5 months old and wasn't really bothered last night - howvever saying that weather was rather crap last night and no alot was going off .Looks asthough it is going to be a dry day today so maybe more fireworks tonight .

Please do not comfort your dog if it does show signs of anxiety that does just make the dog worse.

If you have a really terrified dog

Make them a den a crate with a blanket over it, the downstairs loo or cupboard the dog can go. Do not try to get them out if they go there - just leave them but be very upbeat if you talk to them.

Many dogs love anxiety wraps and these can help here obviously too late for this year but if you wrap a tight t shirt on the dog that can help.

Do not make a big thing out of their reaction (very hard to do but this just confirms to the dog that it is very very frightening)

Buy a scary sounds cd and start to play it as soon as you get it very quietly at first when the dog is doing something it loves so playing or eating and gradully get the noise louder. Do start not then next year or Xmas will not be so stresful for your dog.

If the dog is a pup, it can work to make it exciting (though this does set a precedence!). We did that with our dog as a pup and he now loves fireworks - gets reall excited and tries to spot them in the sky and get closer.

Thankfully my dog was fine last night. He barked at a few of the bangs, but was not particularly distressed. However, last night the weather was awful around here, so there were fewer fireworks going off than usual.

Tonight will be the biggest test, because we have a large council run display at the end of the road. Dh will take the children to see it, and I shall sit at home with the TV on and act like it is a normal evening.

My Staffy is driving me ROUND THE BEND!!

This is the second night of non stop barking and leaping up at the french doors, the only thing that has helped has been putting the hoover on (he hates that too but quietly watches it rather than barks so chose to to that while it was on).

Or distracting him by making him do tricks for food. Unfortunately this year he has to compete with a breast feeding 14 week old for my attention so is barking himself into a frenzy.

When will they make it illegal to buy these explosives for the general public and confine to organised shows only/