# Fireworks!



## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

The fireworks have started early where I live. And with the Fourth of July right around the corner,
I am very concerned. When my Danes hear them, they get very upset. Do you have any suggestions
of something that I can use that is safe, fast acting, and effective to help calm them down, 
that won't make them too dopey?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i was kind of hoping someone else would come up with one.

i do know we close all of the windows, turn up the tv and that seems to help some...we never go out on july 4th....and we have portable air conditioners we turn on, along with fans to make white noise.....


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

I would think you'd want to associate the noise of fireworks with something good. SO have a bunch of treats ready and give them one each time the fireworks go off. Or play fetch with them when (and only when ) the fireworks are going off. Something like that, maybe?


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

If your dogs are not absolutely freaked out you can play in the yard with them or feed them while they are going off. We do this with ours and they will all lay on the grass and watch the fireworks. My friend's sheltie is totally freaked out by them and she uses Rescue Remedy the evening before andd for a few days after as we have fireworks for a week or so also.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

i made sure my dog was around fireworks, loud noises, potato guns
when he was a puppy. i'm rather sure his breeder shot guns around him
before he came to me. why don't you expose your dogs to fireworks.
if you do expose them to fireworks start out by being far away
from them and gradually get closer to them.


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## sozzle (May 18, 2011)

I think going straight for the medication option is a shame as it only masks the symptoms and drugging a dog for something as trivial as that wouldn't be ideal. However the suggestions above are good. I was just recently reading about someone whose dogs were always nervous around fireworks and one year they had accidentally followed her outside (where she was watching them) and just decided to not react around her dogs at all and kept saying things like "oh how pretty they are etc etc" that way her dogs weren't in any way alarmed and just accepted them as normal happenings and she no longer has a problem. By the way the woman in question was dog trainer Jan Fennell in the UK. Guy Fawkes Nov 5th and New Year's Eve tend to be the usual firework times there.


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I agree with doggiedad to take them out far from the fireworks and keep calm, act nonchalant and slowly get closer to the noise. I don't know if they have those tapes like they do for thunder storms to help desensitize but that might be something to look in to, as well. You put the CD in the stereo, it plays loud, crashing thunder sounds, but you put it on low volume to get the dog used to it. You gradually increase the sound and then, when a real storm comes, the dog isn't piddling on the floor in fear. Barring the fireworks CD, (cause I don't know if they exist), next best thing is what doggiedad said.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

Desensitizing does work. When Shade first came to live with us, he was terrified of all loud sounds, even the TV set. You could barely move around the dog without him freaking out. We have a lot of shooting around us and gunshots would send him running. Fireworks would make him absolutely nuts. Now that its almost a year later, he is MUCH improved. 

When the gunshots or fireworks would go off outside, I would just ignore them and keep on doing my yard work. Or else I would try working on some of his lessons and give him treats (I did not give him treat for acting scared, but rather for doing something like 'sit' during the noise). It probably helped that Rocky was around him and Rocky is totally oblivious to all noises. 

Shade will still jump if there is a sudden noise close to him, and he's still not crazy about gunshots or fireworks but they don't freak him out anymore.. He just looks a little concerned now.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> i made sure my dog was around fireworks, loud noises, potato guns
> when he was a puppy. i'm rather sure his breeder shot guns around him
> before he came to me. why don't you expose your dogs to fireworks.
> if you do expose them to fireworks start out by being far away
> from them and gradually get closer to them.


we did that with malia.....as she crawled out of the ditch at five or so weeks old...

actually, we've done every thing with and to malia, to the point of almost being cruel...

she is twelve. nothing worked....sometimes dogs do have phobias or irrational fears..and they don't necessarly get over things....

bubba is four. we've had him for almost two years. we'd had him for 9 months for the first fireworks...so i figured he and i would go for a walk...he was so traumatised, he shut down. treats had no effect. he just stood there, one leg in the air, the fear in his eyes was too much for me...

we've gone the medication route, i don't think there is anything we haven't done. we still can't get malia with those huge radar ears to stop pacing and drooling during wind storms...and again, we've tried everything....everything brought up here, with malia, has been tried.

she's twelve. we figure it's time to stop trying to get her 'over' things....now we just make it as comfortable for her as possible.

bubba's next fourth of july comes up this year. we will try again with him....but i'm not going to put these dogs through something that absolutely terrifies them, shuts them down...and causes fear behaviour for the next two months, when i can make it go away.

winning the thunder one was good enough for me.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

SerenityFL said:


> I agree with doggiedad to take them out far from the fireworks and keep calm, act nonchalant and slowly get closer to the noise. I don't know if they have those tapes like they do for thunder storms to help desensitize but that might be something to look in to, as well. You put the CD in the stereo, it plays loud, crashing thunder sounds, but you put it on low volume to get the dog used to it. You gradually increase the sound and then, when a real storm comes, the dog isn't piddling on the floor in fear. Barring the fireworks CD, (cause I don't know if they exist), next best thing is what doggiedad said.


we did that one..it's a good one.....she's twelve now. she doesn't piddle, she just paces and pants....bubba's going one way and she goes the other....pacing and panting.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

to the OP...you've been given some fantastic suggestions...not my intent to say they don't work. in 90% of most dogs, any of these suggestions would work....

i think what i was trying to point out without sounding like a defeatist which i did sound like...is there are other factors to consider....did you raise the danes from puppy hood? are they rescues? how old are they? do they get worse every year?


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

magicre said:


> to the OP...you've been given some fantastic suggestions...not my intent to say they don't work. in 90% of most dogs, any of these suggestions would work....
> 
> i think what i was trying to point out without sounding like a defeatist which i did sound like...is there are other factors to consider....did you raise the danes from puppy hood? are they rescues? how old are they? do they get worse every year?


I only raised one from puppyhood, Tank who is 5 years old. Sophia is 6, and I rescued her at 16 months. Goliath is my newest rescue, I got him 6 months ago, he is almost 6. 
Tank and Goliath are having the hardest time. Tank pants and paces, while Goliath shakes badly, and Sophia tries to hide. They do seem to be getting worse as Tank and Sophia get older. 
I do plan to stay at home with them over the holiday weekend, close the doors and windows, and turn the volume up on the TV. But what is really hard is that the fireworks are going off here
and there, so I don't know when to expect them.


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## mischiefgrrl (Oct 28, 2010)

This is a tough one. I used to live across the bay from Sea World and every night during the summer they have fireworks. I got my old Aussie used to them by taking him out at night to sit on the grass and watch the fireworks while I was hugging him. The problem is the fireworks that people use (illegal in So. Cal) which is what I think you're referring to. The last time I went out on the 4th I came home to find Tanis wedged under my bed and the cats in the cupboards. I think the best you can do when you hear them go off is just smile and pet them and let them know it's ok and they are safe.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Janet At Nutro said:


> I only raised one from puppyhood, Tank who is 5 years old. Sophia is 6, and I rescued her at 16 months. Goliath is my newest rescue, I got him 6 months ago, he is almost 6.
> Tank and Goliath are having the hardest time. Tank pants and paces, while Goliath shakes badly, and Sophia tries to hide. They do seem to be getting worse as Tank and Sophia get older.
> I do plan to stay at home with them over the holiday weekend, close the doors and windows, and turn the volume up on the TV. But what is really hard is that the fireworks are going off here
> and there, so I don't know when to expect them.


the only thing we learned was not to feed into their fears....we let malia pace and pant...it's what she does....she is afraid and we allow her the right to be afraid...since nothing in twelve years ever worked to take the fear away...and i know we're not pros...but we did the best we could...i used every psychological tool in my bag and i failed her, i think....but we allow her to be afraid....

one year we kenneled her to give her a cave and that made it worse, so now we just let her be. bubba's still young so we're still trying with him.....but there are some damages that just don't fix....we've given up on aluminum foil, unless we put food on it. then he'll slink up to it and snatch the food....but that one simply isn't worth it to us when there are so many other fears to work with.

when i practised psychiatry, there were people glued themselves back together with spit and a prayer, the abuse was so severe....and they got themselves to a point where they were functional....and the rest they dealt with best they could...so it is with severely damaged dogs, i think


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

Liz said:


> If your dogs are not absolutely freaked out you can play in the yard with them or feed them while they are going off. We do this with ours and they will all lay on the grass and watch the fireworks. My friend's sheltie is totally freaked out by them and she uses Rescue Remedy the evening before andd for a few days after as we have fireworks for a week or so also.


I have seen Rescue Remedy at the store. I think that it has natural ingredients in it. Do you know what effect it had on her Sheltie, was it really calming?


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## Janet At Nutro (Mar 11, 2011)

Thanks everyone you have given me some great suggestions. It's good to know that there is always hope, like with Shade!
I really would rather not turn to meds, unless absolutely necessary. Mischiefgrrl you were right, I was referring mostly to the
illegal fireworks. You know how loud it can get in San Diego! 

So when the fireworks start, should I take one out at a time, or take all three of them so they can be together?


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