PETS and FIREWORKS

[RichardN]

Non-medical things that have worked for us:

 

* Drawing curtains and leaving the radio on, capital radio last night worked well.

* Not sure if it is true but having more then one dog seems to help?

 

For general noise there is a desensitising CD which helps - we have tried the Clix CD from Roger Mugford

 

It is well worth talking to your Vet

 

* Last year we had Jelly boy Ty on propranolol and phenobarbitone but you need to start this I think 2 weeks before. This year he feels safe enough at home that we have not medicated him at all which is such a wonderful result (but it is relatively quiet here)

* Valium is very good, very hard to work out the dose. For Jelly Boy (37kg Greyhound) 10-15mg twice a day is good.

* People swear by Rescue Remedy. A bit of spring water in Brandy does not strike me as effective but my even more sceptical wife bought some for Ty but we have not had to use it so no idea if it works. Talk to your vet if you are mixing it with Valium as there could be a bit of a drug interaction there - Valium & Alcohol does not go down well in humans but then dog biochemistry is so different - I gather humans take like 1 mg of valium yet we have had Ty on up to 25mg.

* There are a lot of new general anxiety meds out on the market. We have tried Zylkene (not impressed) and Calmex (not bad for Ty's boating anxiety but Va;ium worked better)

* There is a drug called something like Alprazolam which makes them forget a bad memory, we have not tried it but your Vet will know more

Edited November 6, 2011 by RichardN

[Dominic M]

Might get my guitar out as well and try that lol

You're a guitar player? We must get together for a jam.!

 

My dog and also my avatar is Mr Alpha Male but fireworks and the sound of shooting parties reduce him to quivering wreck. He hides in in the darkest corner he can find and goes on hunger strike.

[Guest]

Our old retriever who is no longer with us hated fireworks after being startled by a backfiring 'trials' bike our next-door neighbour fired up one day. Hated fireworks after that until he gradually lost his hearing and could no longer hear them (along with everything else.

 

So far Dennis the JRT has been with us for 2 years and they don't seem to phase him.

[GSer]

Molly, my old dog, has for 11years been terrified of firewoks or shooting, but for the last two years has been the complete opposite, strange really, perhaps she's just deaf now

 

Spike, the young dog is pretty much bullet proof, he does jump atthe first bang ( so do i) but he settles down straight away.

[Keeping Up]

Our Lab-cross Molly just LOVES fireworks, the louder and brighter the better. This time of year we can hardly get her to come inside during the evenings, when she sits on the lawn and waits for the next ones then turns round to watch them better. I think she likes rockets best of all though, she sits down as they go up, wagging her tail like crazy, then jumps up as they explode and barks at the sparks as they fall, before looking around to see if there are any more.

 

Quite a contrast to one dog we used to have, Alfred the big wolfhound/setter/bearded-collie cross who was terrified of them and used to hide behind the TV. This once resulted in him walking around the lounge wearing the big heavy CRT TV and its stand on top of his head, trailing the video on its lead behind him.

[Tiny]

We had the quietest night we have known. None of the neighbours had fireworks and even with the wind blowing the noise from the town there was hardly a pop. The one strange think was, as happened last year some clown spent all the daylight hors of the 5th adjusting a gas powered field banger which, though a half mile off was rattling our double glazing. Mind you the animals, sheep, cattle and dogs never even twitch as I can with the bangs - all the low flying helicopters, jets tractors and the rest means as long as they are in their places - fields or houses they do whatever they normally do. On the other hand certain humans who don't like bangs, lightening, gun shots and so on alway say the dog hates it as admitting they are frightened is not on.

[Tinally]

My Springer spaniel loves fireworks. First sign of pops and bangs and he's ready to go. I think he thinks it's shooting and that is exciting!! Took him for a walk at the height of the local activities and he sat down on the grass verge, head tipped back, watching all the lights in the sky.

 

First rumble of thunder, however, and it's a different story........a shivering, nervous wreck trying to hide up the back of my jacket. Odd really, 'cos it's only fairly recently that he's behaved like this. He never used to mind storms at all when he was a pup!