My community 4th of July fireworks celebration happens to be located almost directly over my house. It's a pretty serious display lasting about 20 minutes with a very intense finale. My last 2 Labs were both spring puppies and were maybe 4-5 months old for their first fireworks and the sound never bothered them. In fact they'd sit out on the front porch and watch them with me. Marley, my current Lab, will be 8 and a half months for this years display. We haven't even had a decent thunderstorm this spring yet, so I have no idea how he will react. I am a musician with a large PA system and we have practice here twice a month, but I have to keep him shut back in the kitchen for those sessions as he tends to knock guitars over and steps on pedal boards. The few times he's been out, the noise didn't seem to bother him. He doesn't seem to be a skittish dog at all but I do notice him being a little more wary of new things as he gets older. I know some of my neighbors have problems with their dogs and either tranquilize them or ship them off for the evening. I'd like to start desensitizing him somehow but I'm not sure how. I have various firearms and could take him out to state game lands and fire off some rounds to see how he does. I imagine I could find some recordings of fireworks to play on my sound system and gradually turn them up. Anyone else dealt with this or have any suggestions for me? I have about a month before this years show.
My current Lab doesn't react at all to any noise, but my last girl was terrified of fireworks . I bought a CD from Amazon , it had various noises , from fireworks , to thunder , vacuum cleaners , the lot ! But , as you`re able to do this yourself , I would certainly go ahead as soon as possible , to get him used to it as it does work ! At this stage I wouldn't start blasting off with gunshot , he could bolt , slowly slowly does it !
As you touched on yourself, you can find sounds online and use them, quietly at first, to see how he reacts. I'd be wary of going straight to the gun as, if you startle him, you may actually create a problem where there may not have previously been one, had he been introduced slowly. I have a noise phobic dog, and it's awful, so please take it gradually!
OK, thanks. I'll try and find some recorded sounds. Also, I was wrong about his age. He'll be 7-1/2 months then if that makes a difference.
It really varies so much from dog to dog, so the age is a bit by the by. My girl was fine as a puppy, but grew scared as she got older. My new puppy, who is seven months, is completely rock solid and I can't imagine fireworks would cause her the slightest glimmer of worry. She's experienced a couple of very large thunderstorms over the weekend and not batted an eyelid. But, having said that, Willow also used to be fine with storms and fireworks. So these things can come on as they get older, for no reason that's obvious to us. Better do whatever you can to avoid them arising, in my view, which means taking things slowly. There's a whole host of sounds available for free here: https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/help-advice/dog-behaviour-health/sound-therapy-for-pets
I'd also recommend doing some desensitisation with the recordings that @snowbunny linked to. When I got my puppy last year I assumed she would be ok as even though she was startled by loud noises she would bounce back very quickly. Then we had a series of unlucky events starting about a week before Nov 5th (Guy Fawkes/fireworks night in the UK). We were out for a walk and a firework went off in a garden just a few metres away - this happened about 3 times over the course of the week. Combined with the other fireworks that were going off all week, she ended up a trembling wreck. I've been trying to do desensitisaton subsequently but we've still got a long way to go. I really regret not doing it in advance.
ps - also, as the main fireworks display is quite short and at a scheduled time, I would be inclined just to take your dog away somewhere for the evening. it sounds like a really loud and stressful display for any dog, even if it's not particularly noise sensitive.
I just found some youtube videos of fireworks and played them on my computer stereo which isn't very loud, and he didn't seem to like it very much. He kind of went around in circles for a bit then got under my legs. No trembling but he didnt seem happy either. So how should i go about this. Play this several times a day for a couple of minutes at a time gradually increasing the sound? Give him treats while I play it?
You want to be playing it at a level he won't react to. Have it on loop at that volume while you're doing normal things - give him a kong or a chew, something he really likes, do a bit of easy training, play with him etc etc. Next session, try turning it up one level - if he reacts, turn it back down. You want him to get used to it without any stress, which means keeping him within his limits all the time. I know it's really tempting to push it, but you're not going to do him any favours if you do. PS good for you, thinking about this ahead of time! I would concur with what @blackandwhitedog says, and maybe go elsewhere for the festivities this year, to give him some space. You could also try Adaptil products, but they don't work for all dogs.
I just played mine on low volume , whilst I carried on doing whatever I had to do , so that it was normalised . Then gradually , the volume was turned up a little higher , me still pottering about in the house , it did help a lot x
Thanks all for your great advise!.. One other thing that I just thought of...our local baseball team has fireworks after every game, not as big as what's at my house but big enough. I'm thinking I could drive Marley over to the game, park a good ways away and then move closer depending on how he's doing. I could do this several times before the 4th. If he really isn't liking it, I'll take him to my sons house across town.
We had the same problem. We got Holly on 14 Dec and our local new year fireworks display was very close. We used firework recordings from the BBC sound effects library to educate her. It worked brilliantly and she slept through the fireworks. Good luck!
You can also try a cap pistol. Cooper did not mind the sound, but did not like the smell. You might also go out to a skeet or trap range and see how he reacts to the noise. Oddly, Tilly is very reactive firearms, including pellet guns, even though she had never been around guns being fired. I can't handle firearms around her without her jumping and barking. The skeet and trap range don't seem to bother her, perhaps because the guns are 100 feet away. My SIL lives in Missouri which allows lots of private fireworks. She usually has a back yard display that involves several hundred $ worth of rockets and mortars. Tilly is not fond of them, but doesn't react too much even when they are being shot only 50 ft away.
