How do fireworks affect your dogs?

[alaskayorkie]

I used to love fireworks as a kid. I was the one who used to buy fireworks and bottle rockets illegally from the big kid down the street and fire them off to my heart's content, never considering who or what I was disturbing.

Then I got a Yorkie, who is afraid of fireworks. Eddie escaped from a dogsitter on the Fourth of July when he was just a few months old. He wandered for 4 or 5 hours before returning home traumatized. I later tried to condition him to noises, but I've had only mild successes. While he no longer tries to bolt, he shakes and refuses to eat or drink and is miserable as long as they're going off. Other than that, he is a supremely confident 6-year-old dog.

I should add that firecrackers and larger exploding displays are legal in Alaska in a community 40 minutes away from where I live, a city of 300,000. So people routinely make the drive and load up. That's why Eddie was especially traumatized when he escaped as a pup. And this year, our city made all fireworks legal on private property from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. It was horrible.

I would highly recommend that anyone who gets a pup to try to condition them to noises while they're young. Start small. Bang a pan in the yard and reward with a treat or distract with a toy. Then gradually increase the noises and the reward. If fear becomes an issue, back off to a softer noise. Take it from someone who failed their dog and didn't condition them to noises when he was young.

With Jillie, I knew what I was doing. I rewarded her for tolerating noises from the time she was 11 weeks old. Now, she has no problems with fireworks. It was worth the effort not to have two traumatized dogs last night.

Here's a video I found recently on youtube that discusses noise conditioning dogs.

YouTube - Is Your Dog Afraid of Fireworks?

[Patti]

None of my 4 are bothered by fireworks. I live by a Six Flags Amusement park and in the season they have fireworks go off a couple times a week sometimes. I think they all just adjusted to it.

[lisaly]

Thank you for posting this, Mike. My three were very confident and friendly. They were taken with us from the time they were young and were exposed to different environments and lots of people, which they thrived on. Fireworks really terrified them, though. Ashley loved her walks, but I really had to work past her fears for a couple weeks after the fourth of July. She really didn't want to go on her walks because invariably a firecracker would go off and terrify her. The summer before she died when Ashley was sixteen, my husband and I noticed that her fear had greatly diminished. We thought it was very odd, and we didn't understand why. There had been other behaviors that were a little off that were a concern, but we attributed them to normal aging. Even though she had gone to the vet several times during that period, I didn't mention it to him. We realized at the end of October that she had CCD, which is a dementia like Alzheimers. In hindsight, her behavior change with fireworks should have been a huge indicator for us. When we do get another little one, I think the noise conditioning is an important thing for us to do.

[alaskayorkie]

That's fascinating, lisaly. Someone recently told me that loss of hearing can diminish a dog's fears, but I hadn't heard of CCD. Makes sense.

How wonderful, though, that she lived to 16.

[FlDebra]

I voted middle of the road. My Jack Russell is petrified of fireworks. I stayed home last night to provide some comfort. Candy just quivers & shakes, looking at me with questioning eyes, "Why don't you stop them?" Ben and Annie are much less bothered. They barked after each burst of noise but they did not act as afraid as Candy. Still, I had to keep calming them down so they would not keep barking. None of them appreciated the noise, that is for sure.

[katy-yorkie]

Buster isn't afraid of fireworks or loud noises, however, Maggie is terrified of fireworks. She spent about five hours in my lap last night. When I took her out to pee about 1:00AM, she went right back in the house. She hates the loud noise. This past summer I took them to a fireworks show in the neighborhood, they were both leashed, Buster was ok with the noise but Maggie spent the entire time in my lap. I feel that if she weren't leashed she would have tried to run away. Even with being around loud noises and walking her on a busy street with loud noises, she is still terrified of the fireworks.

[Maximo]

I am so glad that Eddie survived his childhood ordeal and was returned home safe and sound. Frightening!

Neither of my boys are bothered by fireworks. If we are in the house when we hear them, Max will bark at the noise like he does loud thunder.

I strongly agree with your advice to expose pups to all kinds of noise. When I brought Max home, I thought my quiet lifestyle/home was the ideal environment to raise a calm doggy. Big mistake.

However, he appears to still be impressionable, open to conditioning. It's a never-ending process. If I take him to big, loud events with lots of people, he is great for a week. When a month goes by without this kind of exposure, he reverts to the barking.

[AllDogBoots]

Cooper is a total mess with fireworks and any loud noise. He will go off with his tail between his legs and sit in a corner under a table. He won't come out unless I physically go get him. The only thing that seems to help is his "big boy shirt". I put it on him whenever there is a thunderstorm or we expect fireworks. I believe that it mentally makes him feel more secure because he knows his shirt is special. I've also read that the shirt may make him feel like he's receiving a hug, although I don't know if I believe that. As long as he wears his shirt and we keep him busy he's pretty much ok. But, he definitely hears it and is quite scared the entire time.

Max doesn't seem scared but he barks when he hears the fireworks. If he saw fireworks he would probably run towards them, while Cooper would run away.

[Maximo]

I believe there is a positive physiological effect from something like the "Thundershirt." It's like swaddling a baby. I've read about the science behind it, but I don't recall the details.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I believe there is a positive physiological effect from something like the "Thundershirt." It's like swaddling a baby. I've read about the science behind it, but I don't recall the details.

I'm a believer in the Thundershirt. No magic cure, but it helps. Without it, he hides under the bed. With it, he wants to be with us.

[ltret0294]

Zeke is an absolute mess but Rescue Remedy on one of his paw pads an hour or so before we know that fireworks or thunder is about to occur helps a lot. Fireworks and thunder do not bother Zack, Zoey and Zipp that much. Guess its Zeke's big ears that gathers in more sound than the others.

[AllDogBoots]

I should probably have mentioned that Cooper's "big boy shirt" is just a shirt that I nicknamed for him. It's a regular shirt but he thinks it's special because it only appears in times of distress.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by AllDogBoots

I should probably have mentioned that Cooper's "big boy shirt" is just a shirt that I nicknamed for him. It's a regular shirt but he thinks it's special because it only appears in times of distress.

Having fabric around his body probably feels protective. Would that be the nervous system? (no pun intended) I believe it is more than a mental security blanket.

[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by ltret0294

Zeke is an absolute mess but Rescue Remedy on one of his paw pads an hour or so before we know that fireworks or thunder is about to occur helps a lot. Fireworks and thunder do not bother Zack, Zoey and Zipp that much. Guess its Zeke's big ears that gathers in more sound than the others.

On a paw pad??? I thought it went on the tongue.

[Britster]

Oh, Jackson HATES fireworks. And gun shots. We live on 3 acres but there's a 90 acre farmfield behind us and the farmers sons are often out there shooting, whether it be deer or birds, etc. Jackson will go hide under my bed and not come out for atleast an hour. One time, I was on my way out the door to go out to dinner, and they were out back shooting.... Jackson has NEVER tried to run out the door with me, or was that concerned, but he seriously tried to run out the door with me and gave me the saddest 'mommy, please help!' look that I ended up staying home with him.

I took him on vacation to Gettysburg and we were outside, a far ways away from the fireworks, and he was TERRIFIED. I took him back to the hotel and tried to comfort him, but during fireworks, he wants nothing more than to hide under anything he can hide under.

Poor guy.