 Dreaded fireworks day
#200669 - 07/03/2008 12:05 PM |
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Despite all my efforts the last 2 years, my dog does not do well around fireworks. A gun shot at training has no effect, but she does not like fireworks.  What's the best way to attempt it this year? Put her in her crate with a kong?
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Alex Corral ]
#200671 - 07/03/2008 12:28 PM |
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A crate in the quietest room in the house will help. A Kong or any other chew toy that your dog enjoys, can help distract it. My dog likes icecubes in her kennel. She makes so much racket chewing and batting them with her paws, I doubt she hears much of anything over the noise. You can also leave a TV or radio on in the room, a tad louder than normal, to mask some of the noise.
A nice, long, exhausting walk in the afternoon to tire the dog out will help too. It is possible to make a dog too tired to become frantic.
I'd also get the dog out to use the bathroom in advance of the fireworks, and restrict water as much as is safe, to avoid having to make a second trip during the hours of darkness.
Have her in the crate before the fireworks kick off, so she'll already be settled in. Have her treats nearby, so you can toss a few in periodically when she is being calm and quiet.
Happy Birthday, BTW.
Edited by (07/03/2008 12:31 PM)
Edit reason: Happy B-day!
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Alex Corral ]
#200672 - 07/03/2008 12:32 PM |
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None of our dogs have ever been bothered so I don't have a great answer Alex, but I think I would put her in a dark room and maybe even cover the crate and just ride it out. If you have a room that is in the middle of the house to help cut out some of the noise or something. AND Happy Birthday!!
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: steve strom ]
#200676 - 07/03/2008 01:03 PM |
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Try various thunderstorm remedies, like melatonin. It's safe and my dog trainer swears by it in her boarding kennel during a thunderstorm. It didn't work on my dog, though.
Give melatonin about an hour or two before the fireworks are to start. It may take the edge off.
Melatonin is a natural sleep hormone and available at drugstores (in mine, it was in the vitamin/supplement aisle) but it does not make my dogs sleepy.
Do this in addition to covered crating in the basement with a stuffed kong, like others have suggested.
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Angela Burrell ]
#200684 - 07/03/2008 02:15 PM |
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Thank you all for the advice. I think what I'm going to is exercise her and crate her in the basement. I have a Dj room which is pretty sound proof, so she prob won't even notice what's going on. I don't know why these fireworks scare her so much. She is not phased by the gun shots at training.
Last year, I tried to do some OB or play around with her in the backyard, but all she wanted to do was go inside. I didn't know if it was best to keep trying to work through this or just leave it, put her away and not make it worse. Sounds easy enough to me.
And thank you all for the Birthday wishes!!
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Alex Corral ]
#200687 - 07/03/2008 02:32 PM |
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Reg: 10-16-2007
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Loc: Galveston, TX
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Wew have been having a fireworks show right down the road all month here.
I have been tire them out and giving them a kong full of peanut buttter I had to put them in my bedroom closet.
They have gotten beter phoenix kennel has stayed in my bedroom
And bruiser they no longer faise him
My little rose bud |
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Alex Corral ]
#200700 - 07/03/2008 04:26 PM |
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Alex,
Definitely put the dog away for this. Too many dogs get frightened and run off each year never to be reunited with their owners because of fireworks this time of year. It's not like you are conditioning her to the sound of them and have full control over when they are going off.
Happy birthday : )
Kimberly
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Alex Corral ]
#200741 - 07/04/2008 09:46 AM |
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Hey Alex,
I have the same situation.
He was fine with fireworks until he was left alone in the house one night when they were going off next door. Came home to a panting excessively stressed out pooch.
Ever since then, he will have nothing to do with them.
I tried the one time to take him out on lead when some were going off not too far away, he would have NONE of it. He just kept straining on the lead to get back inside and wouldn't take liver from me, so i knew he was just stressed to the max so we went back inside.
I don't have a crate anymore, but he now will go into the bathroom and I turn off the light, put on the exhaust fan and shut the door just enough so he can come out if he wants and thats where he stays until they are over.
I don't want to force the issue with him...plus i always have to wonder if maybe the fireworks are just too high pitched for dogs? I mean, they hurt my ears sometimes when they go off, especially those screaming ones. So to save him the stress, he gets to stay inside.
Wendy
Don't complain....TRAIN!!! |
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: Wendy Lefebvre ]
#200752 - 07/04/2008 01:52 PM |
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My previous dog was TERRIFIED of anything that sounded like a gunshot or a bang. Is there a good way to desensitize them to this?
The breeder of my current pup started desensitizing him to gunshots and fire when he was 4 weeks old. If he hears one now, he actually goes towards it to check it out. I was throwing whole packs of firecrackers in the street today, and he just laid in the yard about 15 feet away with his ball watching them.
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Re: Dreaded fireworks day
[Re: John Stopps ]
#200753 - 07/04/2008 02:34 PM |
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Loc: Lake City, Coeur d' Alene, ID
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I always test new pups with firecrackers when I receive them from the breeder. I do this at night for the full light-sound effect. I occasionally set off firecrackers year round to keep them desensitized.
I suggest keeping a pup leashed if you do this. I've had a few pups that wanted to attack the firecrackers as they went off.
Lee Sternberg |
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