Fireworks
Don’t get me wrong. I love to see people having fun and I’m really not a
kill-joy (I'm NOT!), but I do wish you couldn’t buy fireworks in the High Street. They are dangerous, frightening and they scare the living daylights out of animals. Not only dogs and cats but, round where we live, the poor seagulls are terrified too (well, they sound terrified).
So, it’s October or November in the UK and fireworks are appearing on the streets. Thanks to good old Guy Fawkes and his band of merry men, we have this strange ritual every year. We ‘celebrate’ or ‘commemorate’ (I'm not really sure what we’re doing) the events of November 5th 1605.
If you have a dog who seems frightened of the fireworks, what should you do?
Here are a few tips that may help your distressed dog:
Make sure the curtains/blinds/doors are all closed and perhaps leave the television or radio on to mask the noise. Closing the curtains will also help with the flashing lights in the neighbourhood.
Try to ignore what’s going on outside. If I see something that I think my dogs could be scared by, I usually start singing gently or telling them a story. This is not because they’ll understand ‘The Three Bears’ or like the song, but it simply ensures that I don’t start my, ‘It’s okay, there, there,’ routine. This can alarm them to something unusual going on. If I’m singing/reciting something, I’m keeping calm and unaffected by events.
There are appliances that you can plug in - pheromone diffusers - which disperse calming chemicals into the room.
They can be purchased in the form of a plug-in, spray or collar device.
Doggie Solutions have an excellent page on the Dog Appeasing Pheromone products available.
As a longer term solution, you may want to think about a CD that has recordings of scary sounds such as fireworks, thunder, fireshots etc. There is a booklet to accompany the CD which shows you how to build up your pet's tolerance of scary sounds. The idea is to start off with it playing quietly in the background and to build up slowly. If you follow the instructions your pet will come to associate these sounds with positive things and next year's Bonfire Night may not be such a traumatic time.
To find out more about the Therapy CD, click here.
Look after your dogs and keep them safe through the firework season. Walk them during daylight hours and help them to associate Bonfire Night with a cosy night in. Good Luck.
For some great reductions on products that may help on Bonfire Night (including the DAP diffuser) go to PetPlanet.co.uk Ltd
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