My dog is scared of fireworks...

H

halsteadfrost

1,000+ Posts
One of our dogs goes crazy when kids are shooting of fireworks around the neighborhood. It's ok when we're at home and can let her into the house, but when we are out, she ends up tearing up the window screens and plants trying to get into the house.

Around the 4th we would just put her inside a room in the house with a radio playing when we went out, but we can't do this every day, and we also can't figure out when kids are going to randomly shoot off fire works.

Is there a way to make her calm down around them? I have some blackcats I can light. I thought about setting them off in the front yard while my wife clams her in the backyard, but I don't know if she'll still go crazy when we aren't home to calm her.

Any tips? The reason this concerns me is that now she's torn through all the screens I don't want her trying to break through the glass and cutting herself up. Also she's escaped during fireworks as well.

Thanks,
Hal
 
All animals are very scared of fireworks, which is why the animal shelters fill up on July 4th. There is really nothing you can do to chage it. Where do you live at that allows kids to radomnly shoot fireworks during the year?
 
Labs are bred to be tolerant of gunshots, for their appointed role in duck retrieval, of course. But many pets do freak out when thunder, gunshots, or fireworks go off.
You might be able to train your dog by firing off a blank gun, like a starter's pistol, in regular sessions, calming him, letting him know it is OK, then repeating the training after you are released on bail.
 
Our other dog doesn't mind the fireworks. And I wouldn't care except that she goes crazy trying to get into the house. If she just cowered somewhere that'd be fine, but I worry about her hurting herself.

Anyway I might try the fire off a firecracker and then calm her technique. Is there something specific people do for hunting dogs to get them to ignore gun fire? I can't believe it's simply bred into every single retriever naturally.
 
do not baby your dog and pet him when he is freaking out.

i hope that is not what people are suggesting when they say to calm him while you set off black cats.
 
Our (recently deceased) dog was not afraid of fireworks when she was younger, but started to freak out about them sometime around the time she turned seven or eight.

If one of us were outside with her, she was fine. If we put her up in the garage, she was also okay. But if she was outside alone and heard even ONE firecracker, she'd be barking and jumping at the back door, or attacking the window screens like halsteadfrost's dog.

Don't know why all of a sudden they freaked her out, but we could never break her of it.
 
Why can't you leave a radio or tv on for your dog every time you go away? I do just so she is not so bored. There have been studies that show this is a good thing for dogs. I can also ask her input on sports or news depending on what I left it on.

I am consoled that my dog dislikes Jim Rome. Smart dog.
 
The lawn people came over, and she's going crazy now trying to get into the house. I don't know if she just decided she hates all loud noises, or what. We're home, and are trying to get her to go into the dog house for comfort instead of jumping at the windows, but she doesn't seem to like that, since the second we go back into the house she's back to jumping at the window. She's been around lawn people before, and this freaking out about them is a new phenomenon. It's pretty aggravating having her go crazy like this all the time.

We can't just leave music on because she is outside during the day. We do have speakers out there but for them to be loud enough to drown out lawn equipment and fireworks it'd disturb the neighbors.

As for the lab comment, she's part lab, and again I can't believe that every single hunting dog naturally ignores a gun shot right next to them. Has noone here had a hunting dog they had to train to accept loud noises?
 
Mine didn't take much training at all. However, you don't take him out for the first time and fire off the 12ga right next to him. Most people start training them young with starter pistols and such until they get used to it. Some get used to it right away, like mine. Others take a little while and some never get used to it. It's the luck of the draw.
 
My 11-month lab isn't scared either. I took her for walks on New Years and 4th of July. She was fine with fireworks.

She has been in bird dog training and associates gunfire with getting to retrieve a bird; which she loves.

We're actually going to be working with her to get used to guns going off right next to her this weekend.

My wife's min-pin/rat terrier mix is neurotic about loud noises whether thunder or fireworks.
 
If I remember correctly, you can get a starter pistol or a shotgun with blanks and shoot it once while the dog is eating. Get the weakest/lowest noise that you can find and don't shoot right next to the dog. For example, feed him in the back yard and shoot in the front yard. After a few weeks the dog should get used to the noise. Speak to a trainer though and see what they think. Maybe that method is outdated.
 
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