Fireworks

648117

648117

Honored Member
Does any one have any tips for dealing with a dog that is not handling fireworks very well?

It is Lewis' first Guy Fawkes with us and he is not happy about it. Fireworks went on sale today and we live opposite a park. People have been letting them off for the last few hours.

Holly isn't happy about it but she isn't too stressed, just barking a little and growling in a "telling the fireworks off" sort of way when loud ones go off. I held her up to the window to watch a bit and she was tilting her head.

Lewis on the other hand is shaking and panting and can't move. I thought he might have a problem (he is a nervous dog anyway) but we haven't had this before, our previous dogs didn't really get very upset with fireworks at all.
At first (early in the evening when it's still light) there was a couple of bangs in the distance and they would make Lewis' tail go down and ears go to the side, he wasn't happy about it. Then when they started at the park he started to shake and pant (he's being cuddled but he doesn't want to walk around - too scared). He is very stressed.

Does any one have any tips on how to help him to calm down and relax a bit? We have the curtains closed but it is the noise that's upsetting him the most (TV is on to try and block some noise but it isn't helping).
 
648117

648117

Honored Member
Thank you.

It's too late to desensitize him (there will probably be fireworks for the rest of the week now, thankfully fireworks are only on sale for a few days here) and we did all the things listed under "Help ease your dogs fears" (turned the TV on, windows closed, no one reacted to the fireworks except Holly barked a bit - but it wasn't really a fear bark).

We don't think Lewis had a very good sleep last night, we moved his crate away from the windows. This morning he wasn't his usual happy self when he got up and was hesitant to go outside (at some point he also had an accident inside, we arn't sure when but he has never done that before - he was toilet trained when we got him and never had an accident).

So today we rang the vet and have got him some medication to try and help him calm down a bit. He's been alright today (but there have been no fireworks yet) so we will give him a pill after dinner and see if that helps.

Now that we know that he is afraid I will work on desensitizing him for next year well before November.
 
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