Help ! Dog, fireworks, listless, weak.

[Themodernuriahheep]

Our poor JRT doesn't like fireworks anyway and there have been several house shaking mortar like blasts, with fireworks for over 4 hours. He has run to the safest places he can find and we have been comforting him, calmly and lovingly. Heartbeat incredibly fast afaictell.

Normally by now, however, he has woken up for the good night routine of chasing foxes. He has done this for the last couple of nights.

Tonight, however, he is listless, uninterested. I've managed to get him to suck some water off my fingers, and have three gulps of milk to get liquid into him. He seems almost comatose.

Is this normal?

I don't know much about dogs TH, but it sounds very worrying.

Would you be able to get veterinary advice over the phone?

Poor thing must be exhausted with it all.

Why we have to suffer fireworks for weeks at time I really don't know. We have had them going off at all hours for around 3 weeks here.

Perhaps call emergency vet for advice?
It sounds as if the stress has exhausted him and he's coming down from the adrenaline rush maybe. How old is he? Does he usually drink a lot over the evening?
My dog is a year old and only has a few gulps after his walk (if it's just been a gentle stroll) and then doesn't have anything else till morning (by his own choice) so the lack of fluids could be normal?
Hope he improves, must be so scary for him, poor thing.

Thanks. Yes, stress.

Have got him to eat a couple of treats and three tiny morsels of chicken and by putting water on my fingers to get him to lick it off. He has at last wagged his tail. My eyes filled, I am not quite ashamed to say.

He is dozing off again.

I'm going to keep him with us overnight and ring the emergency vet if necessary. Have been googling as you would imagine. Liquid was one of the issues the KC mentioned.

He's 3. Not good with sudden noises anyway, but usually at this time of night is prowling around keeping us safe from ghoulies and goosties and lang- leggedie beasties and the fucking foxes and rats and squirrels and cats and owls and ducks and burglars that inhabit the suburbs where we live.

On liquid, he normally drinks rainwater in vast gulps having sent the intruders to their rightabouts. As he hasn't been rushing up and own and in and out I imagine he's not so thirsty.

Yes prob adrenaline coming down.

Now lying supine with paws gently twitching, showing pink belly.

Poor little thing. He is stressed and exhausted, and this is a normal reaction.

But not too many extra cuddles or Molly coddling. I know it is the natural reaction, but you are legitimising his reaction and will potentially make his future reactions worse if he links scared reaction with extra cuddles and food rewards.

Let him be where he would normally be (lap, bed, sofa etc) but ignore him as much as you can. I'm sure he will be fine after a good sleep...

Can you rouse him and get him up after an hour's sleep and see that he wees ok?

If he does, and seems perkier that would make me feel reassured that he is ok, if you cannot, and he does not respond in his normal perky way, i would be worried. JRT's can go on adrenaline all day and night!

I'm not saying he should be up for tearing around, but he should be happy and interested and not listless.

how old is he?

Are there still fireworks going of that he can here, that you can't? My JRT HATES fireworks. They terrify her. That and hot air balloons. We just let her sit under the dining table for as long as she needs to. That seems to be her designated safe spot. We tend to ignore her TBH because any fuss makes it worse for her. The natural reaction is to comfort and reassure but that, as we have learned over the years, seems to add to the distress.

Thanks for all this.

It was really scary. Came right in the end, at 2.30 am, damn him! There was a huge bang just after I posted which sent him off again.

But until well after midnight he wasn't reacting. Looked as though he had had a stroke, tbh. Back legs not moving well. And not interested in food or drink ( a first). Just looked as though he had given up. No treats, nothing.

Tucked under my arm, motionless, eyes open, gone through the hyper ventilation to hardly breathing.

3

And we've got to go through thus next weekend and for Diwali...

No help for the immediate crisis, but worth getting one of those dvds of firework sounds to play when he's not already hugely stressed and use fabulous treats to create a positive association. Bloody Guy Fawkes...!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI13v9JgJu0

Do you have an adaptil pheremone releaser for reducing stress or something from the vets to calm him down? It sounds like he really needs some sort of meds until you can maybe get him more used to fireworks if at all possible.

I hate the fucking fireworks. My dogs reaction is to bark and bark and bark and nothing helps him calm down, he's on edge when they're not going off too. We have tried everything and it makes no difference. Not sure what the answer is.

It's not just dogs, it's all the animals, horses, cats, wildlife.

Ho you don't hav too many tonight.

I made a video of my dog reacting to one firework last week and showed the vet. He immediately prescribed sedatives. We have tried everything over the last nine years and I was at my wits end. No it's not nice sedating your pet but my god what a difference it has made. We have had fireworks going off all week and with just half a tablet he is chilled and sits quietly on the Sofa cuddling up to me. I've saved two for Thurs night but hoping one will be enough.

Forgot to say he is a barker/screecher.

Beta - I might try that. My vet refuses to sedate healthy animals but it's not healthy for him to keep going the way he is either.

Can I also second the firework noise CD to use for desensitisation training? It worked wonders for my old dog. He was still scared of thunder, but that was harder to train out, because they can feel the atmospheric changes as well as hear the noise.
But the CD worked wonders.

It took about 6 weeks in total, and I started by playing it at very low volume while he ate, then turned it up one volume notch every few days.

He was an 8 year old rescue dog when I got him, so it can work with older dogs who have had a fear for a long time.

Going to head to pet shop as soon as I can. 'Twas really really scary.

Little bugger has gone back to complete normality now.