my dog and fire works

[zzxxee]

he was going mad last night i know fireworks will being going off over the weekend
any tips to keep him calm??

[albaqwerty]

read a letter in yesterday's Daily Record. The writer puts a child's tight t-shirt on their dog, it's supposed to comfort the dog and make them feel secure.

[zzxxee]

oh god my dog would go mad lol!!!!

[albaqwerty]

lool they didn't have the courage to say what breed it was....

[Barmaid]

zzxxee, I heard on the radio that the best thing you can do is just be in the same room with him, but ignore him. If you start trying to reassure him, he will think there is actually something to worry about.

You could also try having the TV/stereo on a bit louder and keeping the curtains closed.

[zzxxee]

tried that last night but he still sensed something was wrong just paceing up and down and panting

[Barmaid]

Poor thing. You could try some rescue remedy (just a few drops in his food). You can get it from health food shops and perhaps your vets.

[TTG]

One of my parents cats used to sit outside on the doorstep and watch the fireworks!

Re, your dog, Just have the tv on a bit louder as it has been mentioned. My parents other cat was scared so we used to do that and it worked!

[4getmenot]

put some headphones on him and play him a bit of mozart lol

[zzxxee]

ha ha 4 get x

[Chlocolate]

Watching 'This Morning' the other day and they had some useful tips;
They also mentioned about the t-shirt, and they also suggested giving the dog a massage (drawing lots of little circles all over the dogs back and stomach). Not sure if it works or not, but maybe its worth a try . . .

[jules77]

Close the curtains, turn the tv up, and get some Rescue Remedy from the chemist or health food store. Try not to take too much notice of him, You could also try and distract him with a ball or a nice chew bone, but dont take too much fuss, as then he will think there really is something to be worried about. Next year you could try giving him a course of Serene-um, Zylkene or Scullcap and Valerian starting a week before bonfire night, or try a DAP plug in.

[Andyvon]

I've had several dogs and they were OK with fireworks, although they needed me to help them. When the bangs and screams started outside I would notice the dogs become alert and start to watch me. I knew they were looking at me as pack leader for a cue as to what to do. I would then make a point of ignoring the fireworks and I'd carry on reading or doing whatever I was around the house, all the time making sure they could see I was relaxed and the fireworks were nothing. I knew I had to convey to them there was nothing to worry about.
I also used take the dogs for their regular evening and nighttime walks while the fireworks were going off around us. I know the advice is to keep animals inside but my dogs would ignore the noise once they knew I was ignoring it and that we were carrying on as usual. The were OK then.

My advice zzxxee is much the same as Barmaid - just carry on as usual. Your dog sees you as pack leader who will deal with any unusual situations, but if the dog sees itself as leader it will feel the need to react itself. As unsettling as fireworks are, I think the key is to make sure the dog sees you take absolutely no notice of the explosions and screams. When the noise starts the dog will look to you for a course of action and if they see you react to the situation they will take that as a cue to become nervous or bark. But if you convey that the noise is nothing and can be ignored, the dog will probably ignore them too. That's what worked for me.

[slinkycat]

What a wonderful piece of advice Andy,makes such sense with dogs looking up to the "pack leader" shame you can't do the same with cats,mine is a quivering wreck during the fireworks, and takes himself off to a hidey hole in the house, as obviously, being a cat, he is far too superior to take his cue from mere humans!

[Andyvon]

Hi again Slinkycat,

We've now got a couple of budgies and we can't do anything with them. When the fireworks start they start flapping around and then cower together in their safe corner at the top of their large cage. They are obviously distressed by the noise but there's nothing we can do.

I'm sorry about your cat being as distressed as that. I don't know much about cats but I would have thought that with their intelligence they would have taken some comfort from you. There again, I suppose the difference might be that dogs are intensely social animals and cats are not.