Reply With QuoteNot too bad so far - one of them keeps barking at the noise.
TV turned up and both sat on the sofa with me.
I was away on holiday last bonfire night and my sister house sat for me. She told me my dog was scared of fireworks but I thought she was exaggerating.
Seen it first hand for myself tonight, poor bugger is terrified.
I’ve got dog soothing music on loud to try and drown out the fireworks but it’s not working. I’m actually sat next to her on the floor now while typing this one handed to try and calm her.
Not too bad so far - one of them keeps barking at the noise.
TV turned up and both sat on the sofa with me.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
It's terrible when they are so frightened. Apparently, trying to comfort them can simply reinforce that there is something wrong going on. Although I must admit I couldn't just ignore them. Our last dog and present one are fine but both gundogs so used to loud noises. So many animals suffer because of fireworks, both domestic and wild animals, around here it's horses as well who are affected.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Just come back after a walk with one of ours - not bothered at all.
The other one didn`t want to go, but that`s not unusual as he doesn`t seem to like going out every night anyway - especially when there`s food being prepared in the kitchen...
Our three are all gundogs, and they can tell the difference between fireworks and shooting, the one who's done the most work on shoots is the one most affected by fireworks, I'll never understand why gunshots are ok, but fireworks aren't. It's not too bad this year, maybe because last year I went mental with a few neighbours who were firing rockets from their gardens into our fields and freaking out my sheep.
Mine's in her basket under my desk. She hates fireworks and disappears at the first 'crump'. I wish loud fireworks were banned.
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Ours is just very restless pacing the house growling and barking occasionally then looking for food again lol, music on throughout the house to try and drown out the worst but he’s definitely not himself. I’m hoping with it being a school night they stop soon.
Just walked mine past a display and he’s totally unaffected,always made a point of walking them over the years to desensitise them around this time of year..think I jumped more😄
Feel very sorry for those who are suffering though.
We have 2 rescues, one of which is very nervous after a particularly tough start in life with some awful humans. Thankfully, totally not bothered by fireworks, which is just about the only thing that doesn’t seem to bother her.
Conversely, my parents old retriever was terrified of them from day 1, but otherwise an un-scareable dog.
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Thankfully, not bothered at all
Our bearded collie is ok . Hes a rescue dog and when we first got him a few years ago he was very bad with fireworks. One of our neighbours has just had a small display and he seems to have coped very well.
I suspect it’s because gun shots are relatively sharp compared to fireworks which can be deeper and have more resonance.Originally Posted by junglebert
Our Italian Spinone stands shaking at the sound of fireworks and it’s the only time of the year he’ll come upstairs into our bedroom.
You're probably right, funny you mention Spinone, that's what our three are :) Fantastic dogs aren't they.
A tale of two dogs.
Joe (now no longer with us) was terrified by fireworks and would hide under our bed on bonfire night, the only time he ever broke the 'not allowed in the bedroom' rule.
Penny is currently sat in the conservatory watching intently as the fireworks go off.
Dogs, eh?
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Just shows how different they can be. Our last dog seemed to like watching them, and would sit with us in the garden. The present one just doesn’t seem bothered either way, having realised no food is involved I think!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Mine barked a lot. But then, he normally does. More worrying is that one of the kids left their chairs pulled out and the fat little bastard has polished off an entire Papa John's garlic bread pizza.
I'm expecting a major poop soon 😬
Mine spent the night running round shaking ,poor little thing was scared witless.
Ours was absolutely fine. Then again a nuke could go off in the garden and he probably wouldn't hear that either.
The bit about comforting is right IMO.
It’s probably too late for most on here but the problem no doubt starts from worried owners fretting when the fireworks start. They react to their owner’s reaction.
My dog is more excited than anything and when they start & she will jump to the window and bark but tail wagging in the same way I get told postie is coming. Then I sit there with her and make a fuss over them, lots of excitement from me and then she’ll be bored after a while and head back to snoring.
From when she was a puppy I’d take her out walking when they were on too.
It’s hard to train it out of them, like gun shy dogs but start the next ones young.
Ours are working gundogs so usually a loud bang means fun time but they know the difference between gunfire & fireworks. They don't panic or react in a bad way but more usually come & sit next to one of us.
Fear of most things can be trained out of a dog but it can take a lot of effort, time & an understanding from the trainer of why the dog reacts in a certain way. It's also best done while the dog is relatively young, the adage you can't teach an old dog new tricks has some basis but isn't necessarily 100% true in all cases.
This certainly wasn’t the situation with my dog.
Her first bonfire night I took her up to my dads (he does a bonfire and fireworks for the whole family every year) in the hope that being young-she was probably about 5-6 months old, she would think it an adventure. Not a chance. She was fine with the bonfire and the flames, but as soon as the first firework went off she bolted for the house, literally shat on the front door step and refused go back outside.
Ours is a nervous wreck, we’ve tried everything but now have some fairly powerful stuff from the vets which we rub on his gums.
It’s brilliant- he obviously can still hear the fireworks but no longer shakes and stays calm.
We’ve got 2 dogs....
The one that recently went suddenly blind isn’t bothered by fire works, and never has been.
The other spent the evening sitting in the wife’s lap shaking with fear. We put him in a “thunder coat” which helps https://www.amazon.com/ThunderShirt-.../dp/B0028QK6EY
A friend of my wife’s lost a horse last night... it ran through a fence and was killed when it impales itself on a broken fence post..
Thanks fireworks👎👎👎
My cocker is not too bad but hates the really loud bangs then any bang seems (to him) just as bad.
Wouldn't be so bad if it didn't go on from the end of September until the new year. Causes endless misery to all and sundry and grinds my gears! I'm not against fireworks, but there's a very good case to be made for only 'silent' fireworks to be available to the public.
Sadly many gundogs are made gunshy this way when new owners take them to clay shoots for their first taste of gunfire. The way to do it, wether it's guns or fireworks is to start with the noise a long long way away, watch the reaction from the dog and if it seems ok then get gradually closer & distract the dog with a game, a favourite toy, a food treat or anything nice while the noise is going on.
One of my best dogs was terrified of even an air rifle report when he was a pup, it took us a lot of time & work but he turned out to be one of a kind. No longer with us :-(
Horrible to hear of poor dogs being terrified of fireworks.
Unfortunately the "firework season" seems to go on longer every year plus of course you get New Years and People's birthdays etc etc.
It doesn't bother Dot, she just does the odd bark but I've seen first hand the torment that dogs suffer with fireworks.
Cheers,
Neil.
Our Ozzie seemed to be ok all night.
Did not hear to many real loud bangs though. So may of been a bit lucky.
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Sensible advice, and the way I've always done it. Start with .22 blanks or .22 shot cartridges at a distance (was given a load of these by a gamekeeper friend and never found much use for them apart from this), and work up to 12 bore at close range. 12 bore is surprisingly loud in comparison to some calibres. Pardon....
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I've seen the ThunderShirt approach work well on a friends dog - and not only when fireworks were the problem. The dog would became very distressed at any loud noise (bin lorry as an example), but with the shirt on there was a marked improvement.
Sorry to hear of your friends horse :-(
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Cheers R..... yes the shirts can be used in other situations where the dog is stressed out.. they need to fit really tight to be effective, but I do believe they’re worth a try.... got to be better than giving sedation etc..
Also just found out that the lovely young lady from the corner shop, had her horse run through a fence, and he’s made a proper mess of his front leg. She said it’ll be months and £££££ before he’s rideable again.
At last we have finally found a use for our “comfort cushions”
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“Don’t look back, you’re not heading that way.”
Just spent the evening setting fireworks off at my stepdaughters party, the grown-ups enjoyed it more than the kids, Ozzie the Labrador wasn’t in the least bit interested or distressed. Fireworks just don’t bother him at all, he’s a very ‘laid back’ character.
Even though he’s stepdaughters dog he spends half his time with us, he’s literally got two homes, he’s here tonight having a doggy sleepover!
Loki, my black lab, cocked his ears a few times then promptly fell back to sleep. Don't seem to bother him at all. Took him for a walk on bonfire night last year when he was 5 months old and again he didn't bother. Do feel for those dogs (and owners) who get scared at this time of year.
Last night seemed to be as bad as last Saturday and 5th Nov. Got all togged up to take Jack out about half seven (raining) and as soon as we stepped out of the door, some knuckledragger let off one of those that whistles and bangs. Jack refused to go any further, so it was back inside to get de-togged... Bloody typical!
What is it with these morons? I fail to see the attraction of letting off a stream of loud bangs every night for weeks on end.
Last edited by Geralt; 10th November 2019 at 14:25.
The local eejits have been letting them off today since about 5 o'clock. No doubt to celebrate something important.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
My dog (Miniature Dachshund) hates it, the past couple of weekends she’s been a nervous wreck!
Our black lab doesn't mind the noise at all. Gun dog DNA??
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
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