Fireworks
Monday, 22nd October 2012 at 12:05 PM
As bonfire night approaches many of us are faced with a few weeks of stressed pets. It no longer seems to be one night and you have to feel so sorry for these poor animals night after night. Please ensure that if you are going away in the next few weeks you have fully briefed your pet sitter on how your pets react to fireworks so that they can ensure that they give them the very best care possible. It is also handy to know when the big organised firework displays are taking place in your area so that we are pre-warned.
Here are a few helpful tips we have found for coping with firework anxiety:
- Condition your dog: Victoria Stilwell says 'Conditioning a dog to feel differently about the sound of fireworks can be achieved by gradually exposing the dog to audio recordings of fireworks at low volume levels and, if the dog appears relaxed, playing his favorite game or feeding him his favorite food. Allowing the dog to play and relax in the presence of the soft noise for a period of ten minutes, taking a break of five minutes and repeating the exercise ensures that the dog doesn’t become bored with the training. Introducing the audio at a low level again and slowly turning up the volume if the dog continues to be relaxed and able to concentrate on playing the game or eating the food allows the dog to habituate to the noise without a fear response. If the dog shows signs of stress, going back to the previous level and building up the noise level again will take pressure off the dog. The object of noise desensitization is to gradually expose the dog to louder and louder sounds over a period of time, progress being determined by the dog’s reactions. Going too fast might make the dog even more frightened, so taking things slowly will ensure maximum benefit from the process'- The most important way to help your dog is to allow him a place to 'hide away'. When scared dogs tend to prefer enclosed areas to make them feel safe. If they are used to a crate a good option is to cover this and let them hide in there.
- Make sure your dog gets plenty of exercise during the day so that they settle better.
- Always keep them inside during displays
- Give your dog something fun to do to occupy their mind: a kong is a great way to give them something else to think about.
