06/09/2025
That time of year is rapidly closing in...
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In an ideal world, you'll have been working on this all year of course, but if you haven't been (life is busy, believe me, we get it!) then a crash course for your dog in desensitisation will be better than facing it totally unprepared when the time comes.
Puppy owners especially - get started with this now to prevent trouble in future!
ππππππ€ πͺπ π¦ πππ ππ π₯π ππππ‘ ππ πππ§ππππ:
β’ βπ£ππ‘ππ£π ππ ππ£ππ π₯πππ₯ ππ€ πͺπ π¦π£ ππ ππ€ π€πππ π‘ππππ.
This can be his crate or it can be a quiet corner with a cosy bed and blankets.
β’ ππ₯ππ£π₯ π‘πππͺπππ πππ£ππ¨π π£π ππ π¦ππ¦ππ π§ππππ π€ ππ¦π£πππ ππππ πππ π‘πππͺ π₯ππππ€.
Start initially by playing them very, very quiet and over the course of the next few weeks, gradually increase the volume at your dogs pace until ot is LOUD.
By pairing becoming accustomed to the racket with fun things, you are helping to rewire your dogs perception of the scary bangs and associate them with something enjoyable rather than fear. You can take this further once he is better desensitised to them by making when you play the sounds very erratic and reduced to just the occassional individual loud firework sound with you pinpoining the bangs with your marker word or clicker and rewarding with something high value such as play or food. Generally it is the random, unexpected fireworks that cause the anxiety to kick off so train for that as well as just playing long youtube videos. Try to always end the sounds before he is done with his meal or game at this stage.
If at any point you start to see any real concern from him, take a step back, lower the volume and/length of time the sounds are playing for as you've gone too fast.
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If you can immediately engage him in a happy game that gets the good old endorphins flowing when you start hearing the booms, he is much more likely to be able to ignore them and even enjoy them. Again, once he is better desensitised to the noise, you can mark the sound and reward with a fun game of tug.
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Think raw meaty bones and kongs stuffed with peanut butter, cream cheese and meat then frozen to make it last longer when offered. During training, you can keep the Kong fillings on the mean side but on nights of big displays, pack that thing out and make it last! Feeding him nice things in his safe place also builds value in it which can be useful for other training later down the line.
At this point, I'd also start to put your TV on a bit louder than usual and close your curtains for a bit during your firework plays and training as you'll likely be doing this on the days the real fireworks happen and we don't want those unusual actions to be spooky or weird when you suddenly do.
β’ ππ₯ππ£π₯ π‘πππͺπππ πππ£ππ¨π π£π π€π π¦πππ€ π¨ππππ€π₯ ππ π€ππππ‘π€.
Once your dog is chilled out and unbothered by your YouTube videos (vary them by the way - don't always play the same predictable video or it won't work as well), you can start to play the noises as he settles down to sleep. Go back a step for this and start more quietly before building back up. If you've done your previous steps well, you should be able to build the volume very rapidly.
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These aren't miracle cures and won't magic away your dogs fear, but for some dogs, they add an extra layer of support. Should you use them, it is important that you start them earlier than you think you will need them (at least a week, ideally now) and be consistent with their use as they have a cumulative affect. Our recommended supplements for anxiety support are ProFlax Omega Calm (be cautious if your dog has a history of pancreatitis pr is overweight as it is an oil), YuCalm or NutraCalm.
For dogs that are too terrified to cope, for whom consistent and ongoing training alone is not working effectively enough and who have a long history of firework phobia to try to unpick, it may be worth speaking to your vet about Sileo. The downside to this is that it has to be given an hour before fireworks begin and that can be very hard to predict. The plus side is that you can usually still achieve a decent amount of training whilst the dog is medicated with it as it's not hugely sedating and the dog keeps his brain. Whilst I'm no vet and not out here to give medical advice, I humbly recommend being very cautious of the use of medications such as ACP for firework phobias as whilst it will knock your dog out and prevent him from panicking outwardly in the moment, it is not a good anxiolytic, nor is it dissociative which means he is sedated, but still aware. In my experience, this can exacerbate fear in the long run rather than work to reduce it as the dog is still fearful, just unable to react. It's easy to see why this makes phobias worse.
Now you've done all this, when the real fireworks start, you have a bunch of things in your armoury to help your dog get through it without dramas. The aim of all your work is a dog that knows fireworks = happy things or at least nothing to stress about.
Before the bangs arrive:
Make sure your fences are intact and that your dogs tags and microchip details are up to date.
When the bangs arrive:
Make sure your dog has gone out for a decent walk and played enough that he is really tired. Let him out to p*e early before the main racket starts. If he is a flight risk, put him on lead to let him out in your garden.
Come in, make sure all doors and windows are secure to prevent panic-escapes, close your curtains, stick the TV or some music on to reduce the visual and auditory impact of the fireworks, make sure you have your food/toys/chews at the ready and relax. It's just another day ending in Y π€·ββοΈ
A sudden boom? "YES!"/CLICK/OTHER MARKER WORD - high value reward or game of tug.
Know that there is a big public display or similar happening locally? Make sure you have plenty of tasty chews prepared (cut his days rations back in preparation for this).
If you're using calmative supplements, you can often double the dose on nights you know big things are happening but CHECK THE PACKAGING and if in doubt, speak to your vet first.
Above all, STAY CALM. If you are stressed and repeatedly parrot "it's OK, it's OK, it's OK" in an anxious voice whilst clutching your dog to your chest in a way you never would normally, you're reinforcing that there is something to worry about.
If you chill out, go about your usual evening activities, stick the TV on, relax as normal with your dog and just enjoy him as you usually would, you exude confidence and clarity that there is NOTHING to fear.
The discussion on whether or not to comfort a panicking dog is weirdly divisive amongst people but my advice is to be logical and use your discretion. If your dog is absolutely beside himself, do what you can to CALMLY sooth him. Don't leave him to handle it on his own. But equally, try not to inadvertently reinforce his panic with you own stress. In the same way we can reinforce happy and calm emotions in our pet and make them come to the fore, we can also reinforce fearful behaviour and to deny this is to deny a dogs ability to learn conditioned responses to stimuli. There is a difference between your dog sensibly opting to retreat to his safe place and wait out the storm and having a full blown meltdown that he cannot come down from without help, so I'm not personally in the camp of blindly ignoring a truly panicking dog in the hope the fear will magically go away on its own.
As always, you know where we are if you need any help!
