I tried posting this under another topic, but no one seemed to be interested enough to answer. I don't have much experience in this field (protection training, schutzhund), but I have become an avid student and have read just about every post and article this board has to offer (plenty great ones). I am not a GSD, Malinois, Doberman, etc. owner, but I know my dog has a lot of potential and every day here I learn something that enlightens me and assists me with her training. I say all of this so you can all bear with me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I took her out on the 4th of July to expose her to as close to gunfire as I will ever get (fireworks) and instead of backing away, it took all the strength I had to keep her from lunging into the fire, jumping up in the air attempting to catch the displays as they were shooting off, barking and behaving in a way I have never seen. What does this say about my dog?

Thanks for your replies.

Lizette,It sounds like firecrackers/gunfire will not be a problem for your K-9. You will need to see how your dog responds with the noise close by.
Question: How does the dog react to thunderstorms/
lighting?

Don't think because you don't have a GSD,DOBE,Mal,or Rott that you were ignored. Sometimes even on the leerburg Board it gets hectic. Give us a chance we we can usually find the answer or answers to your problem. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

On the other hand, the reaction you describe could be a problem.. you mentioned that you wanted the dog for Personal Protection...

If she is so wound up that she isn't paying attention to you she may also not react to the true threat at hand. Ideally you look for a dog that has no reaction to gunfire.

Hi Butch, and thanks for replying!

She does just fine under thunderstorms and lightening, Butch. It's been easy to test her under those conditions here lately in South Florida -- we've been getting way too many of those! She'll look up at the sky, stare at it for a while after the lightening, and once the thunder comes rolling it doesn't phase her. She must have been roughly twenty feet or less away from the actual fireworks. She and I were standing by the sidewalk while my son was firing them up in the middle of the street. He lit up some pretty fancy rockets with incredible booms. And after she saw the first one lit, all she wanted was to get at every other one of them, no problem, no backing up, nothing, just lots of barking and incredible pulling on that lead. She weighs in at about 130 right now, and it took all the strength I had to hold her back. I ended up having to take her inside to be able to enjoy my son's display. Honestly, I'd never seen her so pumped. I was expecting her to shy away, tail tucked between her legs, bolting for the house. But her reaction was surprisingly just the opposite. I have no clue what that says about her temperament, do you?

Thanks for pointing that out, Deanna. That is a very important point. Although I do have to admit, this was a little more exaggerated than just gunfire. I have never been to a Schutzhund trial. But just out of curiosity, is the gun fired several times, rapidly? I discovered a local Schutzhund club that meets Sunday afternoons and I was invited to come watch. It'll be an opportunity for me to actually see some dogs working for the first time. I look forward to it.

No, it doesn't compare to multiple explosions like firecrackers. It is two shots five seconds apart while heeling and consequently two more when you are in your long down.

Lizett stated
it took all the strength I had to keep her from lunging into the fire, jumping up in the air attempting to catch the displays as they were shooting off, barking and behaving in a way I have never seen. What does this say about my dog?
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It may say something about her prey drive (the bottle rockets moving away), or that she felt you or your son may be harmed.

Its certainly doesn't say that the dog would stay down or focus under the gun test. It's really hard to say, what this proved. Even a prey reaction is questionable until you actually see her worked.

If this was the first experience around firework, it probably startled her, dogs react to being startled in a flight/fight reaction. Since she was leased the dog decided to be aggressive, maybe.

Or the dog felt you and your son maybe harmed by these strange flashes of light and sound and turned aggressive, it hard to tell. How does he/she react to the vaccuum cleaner? Or other loud strange noises.

I would say that most dogs I've been around don't act like that around fireworks, most will just lay there, stand there, or go to the porch and watch. Maybe a bark and standup if the things whistles or some of the sparks get on me/my son or his kids and we start jumping around. They never lunge at the flame, they seems to know that it will hurt them, maybe from our reaction or they senses the heat and sulfur.

It definitely proves you are a pretty strong person man or female 130 lb dog is a load. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

My Lab will sit beside me and watch the fireworks with mild interest. He shows no desire to move toward OR away from them.

My previous male got away from me once, while some kids were lighting off fireworks near our house. He ran about 30 yards TO the firework (one of those ones that spin around on the ground) and picked it up in his mouth. Fortunately, he let it go quickly and did not suffer any burns. He was otherwise completely stable around any loud noises or sudden movements.

I know a handler whose dog was jumping up and trying to catch the rotor blades of the helicopter that we were hot loading. He's normally a pretty fearless dog around loud noises, too, but he does get stressed in some situations.

I don't know what it says about your dog, other than you need to make sure that you can control him through obedience next time. You never know when he might get away from you, as strong as he must be.

Goodogu -- seems to me her reaction was a bit of all three scenarios you depicted. It was her first exposure to any type of explosives, she was about 10 feet away from them and leashed, so she might have frightened and fought, although she never really made any attempt to run, and I do believe it somehow brought out all that prey I simply never get to see. The only time I saw her as excited again was the other day when she ran after a stray cat that mistakenly ended up in our yard (we have three of our own and she knew it wasn't one of hers). Poor thing.

Thanks a bunch for your input, though!