Flipping fireworks :-(

[QuietLifeNC]

Just wanted to have a vent - I'm sure you all have been through this before but I have a 5 month pup so this is new to us.

So yesterday we had a lovely day, with two really good sniffy roams in the park. Come 10pm she popped herself in her bed and was settling down nicely when...boom. It's not even the Jubilee weekend yet. Grrrr.

Cue loads of barking and refusal to settle for ages. This morning she was really barky and edgy still. Had another park walk and she's been sparko all afternoon. Might do a quiet little local walk when she wakes up, nothing too stimulating, but the poor thing is done in.

I always thought that noisy fireworks shouldn't be sold, except for proper public demonstrations, as it's bloody anti-social. But my heart now goes out to every pet owner who has to deal with this.

One positive is she wasn't trembling or hiding, more getting wound up, so maybe she will get a bit desensitized to them in time. But I hope for all you dog (and cat!) owners, there is not too much noise and nonsense over the next week!

Totally understand.

There is no desensitising our dog as he has become more and more reactive to loud noises and bangs after each vet admission so any work in progress gets ruined every time he gets ill again so we just use white noise and a calming voice as much as we can.

Personally I think a compromise would be fireworks at organised pre planned events so people could enjoy them and those with sensitive animals (although wild ones would still suffer) could plan for it.

See the vet. My dog got more & more terrified each year. I began to worry she'd have a heart attack as she tried to run through walls to get away. Done a tonne of research & once phobic, very hard to desensitise them, when they are as bad as mine is now.

It never occurred to me that there would be fireworks this weekend until I saw they were being sold in Costco.

Now going to have to make appropriate plans...

Sympathies to your poor boy :-(

Yeah I don't want to ban fireworks all together, and public displays are fine, it's just dickheads letting them off in gardens gives me the rage.

Does it take your boy long to calm down after? Our normal weekend morning routine is that I take her out for an early wee, then I pop her on my bed while I nap/drink coffee/scroll my phone. Normally she'll doze for ages quite happily, and loves going back to bed, but there was no doing anything with her this morning. So the stress hormones were obviously still there.

WombatNo12 - sounds awful, your poor pup.

Yep it didn't occur to me to think about fireworks either but I think it will be the season, Sigh

A thundervest?? And an Adaptil plug in?

I bought an adaptil today actually. Bit skeptical to see if they work to be honest, but won't hurt to give it a try.

The advice I had was that the more you comfort and reassure the dog, the more it's likely to think that whatever it's worrying about is a big thing, because there you are, calming it down. So carry on as normal as much as you can. We did this around a dog we had who hated fireworks and while she never liked them (and it was miserable to watch, and obviously worse for her), she didn't get any worse. She didn't get any better, either, despite using a fireworks noises CD - she 100% knew what was a CD turned up full blast and what was a firework a hundred yards away.

I make a point with mine now of deliberately desensitising them to loud noises from puppyhood (if it's not fireworks, it's backfiring cars or thunder or - we live fairly rurally - gas guns or shotguns). I drop pan lids on a hard kitchen floor when they're a room away and say brightly, 'Goodness, what was that? Never mind!' I let party poppers off, also a room away to start with, and do the same sort of thing - maybe play with the streamers with the puppy, so the noise is immediately followed by fun and builds a good association. I gradually make the noises closer and closer to the dog, making sure it's not too scary - you want to see a quick recovery from the start of surprise, and as soon as you see the recovery, a quick bit of playtime.

In the meantime, OP, I hope the Adaptil works for your pup.

Oh no. It also never occurred to me that there will be fireworks next weekend.

My dog has become more frightened of them as she's aged - she's now eleven - and although she will cope sitting on my lap with me cuddling her she still shakes and is clearly scared.

We had the most awful thunder storm about a week ago she ended up in my bed lying across my throat and head at one point.

You can buy desensitising thunder recordings OP. In fact I think you can download them online. You start it off with the sound low and gradually increase the noise level.

Might be worth trying it on your dog while she's young.

Ah see that EdithStourton has already mentioned the thunder cds.

My 2 year old shih poo is the same!
He is absolutely petrified - we have fireworks up here (Scotland) which feels like every time a football match is won!
he hides himself under the bed for hours it’s a real shame and no way he comes out until no noise.
on bonfire night smooth radio change to dog soothing sounds just so you are aware it really does help if you have TV/radio loud enough.
we have bought all the adaptils and pills etc but nothing works! I hope something will for you it really is horrible

So an update. I got the plug ins so have been using those. We had some more quieter fireworks the other night and she was fine - maybe it was the plug ins, or maybe she was just too shagged out after being in day care all day :-) But didn't bat an eyelid. And she was OK with the thunder and hail yesterday

Hopefully the neighbours dont go nuts over the next few days - I have the week off and am using it to try and catch up on my zzzzzs so could do with a few peaceful nights sleep :-)

They can take two or three days to properly decompress after being sent completely over the threshold. I would leave it a fortnight or so and start introducing firework noises quietly on YouTube on your phone at meal times, start with the phone in the next room, and then move the phone closer and increase the volume gradually. Then move to the TV.
you need a couple of months to do it well, so I’d start now, looking forwards to guy Fawkes and new year.
i hate the advice about how to look after your dog around fireworks, that usually gets shared a day before and it talks about desensitisation- and it’s too bloody late!
start now folks.

My dog completely differentiates between fireworks on TV or as a CD & real ones.

Definitely see a vet, think the Xanax has helped.

My dog was the same as Wombat’s - he absolutely knew the difference between the CD and the real thing.

What really helped during fireworks last year was Sileo gel from the vets and a playlist on Spotify specifically for calming dogs down. Didn’t hear a peep out of him at all and he’d be frantic usually.

So an update. I got the plug ins so have been using those. We had some more quieter fireworks the other night and she was fine - maybe it was the plug ins, or maybe she was just too shagged out after being in day care all day :-) But didn't bat an eyelid. And she was OK with the thunder and hail yesterday

Great news. The more relaxed experiences your dog can get at this age, the more likely they are to by OK with fireworks longer term.

As it's a while till you might next get some in November, it is worth using the CDs (or you can download noises from Dogs Trust) and playing them regularly. So long as your dog doesn't react, then it's all a good experience for them.