What to do if dog is afraid of fireworks?

My lab retriever run for cover on the holidays and due rain storm. Because he is scared of them. But I try to found him and have him come sit by me and we are scared together. But doing all the excitement i take my dog with me.

hi there polachicago. our dog hates noise too. whenever its new years eve. she always hide in the dark. and we are making fun of her. because dogs should be brave and should guard our house but when she hears noises specially the sound of thunder. she hides right away. until now she is still afraid we have done nothing about it. maybe it is really her trauma just like with some people when we here the roar of thunder we cover our ears to lessen the sound of it.

yup! i always keep my dog under my bed every new year's eve.. it's their nature being afraid of fireworks because it sounds very loud to them an it may harm their ears.. just like us when we heard a very loud noise, the feeling is the same that's why...

hello Polachicago, I don't have that problem with any of my dogs. They seem to bark at all noises, but they don't get all worked up. I have had dogs in the past that would go nuts when fireworks were going off, they would hide under the bed, pant around the house and howl. I gave my one dog some tequilla and it calmed him down, the only drawback to that was I think I created an alcholic dog. I won't be doing that again. I don't go for all the 4th of July hype anymore so we just stay at home and comfort our dogs when they get upset from the noise. Peace, Totty

it is not well known that dogs do not like fire works. maybe put put some that people in the park can read about the problem

My grandparent's beagle is afraid of fireworks, so it's a good thing we don't have an equivalent to 4th of July. She is kept inside of their home while our grandparents visit us, then they leave early to make sure she is not alone when it starts.

There isn't much you can do, I am afraid. For your own pet, some people get a tranquiliser from the vet, which helps. My dog used to be terrified and I just used to hold him and talk to him and generally reassure him. I used to have a cat who was similarly terrified and the critter used to burrow into the bed linen and hide. She knew she was not allowed there but she also knew I was not going to risk all the skin on my arms trying to drag her out, so I guess she was content in her own way. At the end of the day we all have to coexist in this world. I don't like the loud bangs either, but there are a lot of people who love them, and nature herself provides some pretty spectacular booms and light shows, so I suppose it is just part of life that all creatures have to live with. I agree it is not good when the animals panic and run, but all you can do is be there for your own friend.

We just kept our dog inside during fireworks, and let her stay under the bed or under the table, wherevere she prefered to stay. Unfortunately, having seen combat with the US navy, my fiance isn't that crazy about fireworks either, and will dive for cover if he is not expecting them. It's not just animals who hate fireworks.

Our little dogs are scared of fireworks. We normally stay at home with them, and then that helps. A friend gets 2 tranquilisers for her little dogs as they are terrified. Then they all go to bed and sleep. She finds this is the best remedy.

WE leave them in the house as all they do is bark at the sounds and even in the house they do some barking but we dont get to see many fireworks this year it is to dry for the city to do them this year!

I have 2 dogs, one will park at fireworks if he is outside, if they are in the house they might put their heads up for a second, listen then go back to sleep. I am lucky, I have never had a dog that is afraid of fireworks. I lot of it is breeding and genetics.

My husband has a dog that is 16. She used to be afraid of the fireworks but since she is getting we think her hearing is going so she just doesn't hear them anymore. I do have three young female cats and I know that last night when they were having the fireworks display right by out house, my cats were really freaking out. And you can't really do anything for them. They just run and hide under the bed.

I had two dogs - I have just one now - and both of them were afraid of fireworks but one more than the other. Sheba would run scared and hide under our beds. Tazz is more laid back and after the first noise of fireworks he just settles down and doesn't panic. WIth Sheba we tried no to give her much attention during the fireworks but at the same making sure that she felt we were there and acknowledged her fear. We used to pet her and try to calm her down, but our vet told us that doing that would not allow her to get at least a bit used to the fireworks and her panic. So we started to make less fuss about it and just pet her naturally and allow her to stay close to us if she choose that instead of making a big deal about it. IN time she calmed a bit, but she still didn't like them.

We have a total of four dogs, two that are scared of fireworks and two that aren't. We always put the two that are afraid in their kennel with a cover over the top. Then we turn on some loud music so that its harder for them to hear the loud bangs. By doing these two things both dogs are able to just sleep through the fireworks.

i think animals have more senstive hearing than human can, and the spark and loud noise together can drive them crazy, that is what i think, but i am not really sure i never really light any fireworks near any aniamls

This is definitely an issue that should be more talked about. I used to volunteer with an animal rights place and we used to get people ringing up saying we should print an article in our newsletter about fireworks and dogs. One lady called and said that when there were fireworks near her home, her dog got so scared he ran straight into the glass sliding door and smashed it. So many dogs get scared and run away and yes-unfortunately get hit by cars because they're just panicking and not concentrating on where they're going. I think fireworks are evil, imagine how many birds are blown up mid-air? They're expensive, useless things that are terrifying to animals and I'd love to see them banned.

I Can not think of somthing that would help you here, and would calm your dog. i know that in our independence day, there were many dogs that were so scared they just started runing everywhere and some of them were lost, a very sad situation. Just keep him on a leash when you go out with him and be careful not to leave the door open. I do not think there is any other way pola.

I don't have a dog at the moment, but on nights when there were going to be firework displays, we had to make sure that the dog was safely in the house and couldn't get out. We didn't often go to the displays ourselves but used to watch them through our window because they were only about a mile away. That way we could check up on the dog and make sure she was OK. She'd whimper a little, but could handle it because she knew were weren't far away. It is such a shame for animals on these nights.

I really don't know anything that would calm a pet in these cases. My dog (cocker spaniel who is 2) is not scared of storms or anything. But loud noises she does not like. Last night around 11 they started lighting off fireworks and all she did was bark and bark. I was trying to sleep. This went on for 3 hours. I am sorry, I don't think people should be lighting off fireworks until until 2 a.m. on a Monday night when people have to work on Tuesday. But oh well. Back to your discussion. I had a dog that wondered off one fourth of July and we looked for her for a week. I just knew something happened to her. I was so upset. About 2 weeks later someone brought her back and said she ran into her barn down the road and they had been looking for the owner. Since I had walked the neighborhood someone knew she was my dog and put her in my back yard. Needless to say I was so very happy when we got her back. I plan to stay with my dog this fourth to be sure she is comforted and doesn't get out.

my dogs are also afraid of hearing fireworks.i pity the pooch! hehe