What's new
  • Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

fireworks freaking my dog out

S

smokefrogg

Active member
Veteran
so my little pitbull gets all freaked out about fireworks, even just a small bottlerocket a few blocks away makes him want to hide in the furthest corner of the house....unfortunately this happens to be occupied with plants and tents and lights and nutrients and water with airstones going and all kinds of other stuff he has been bad getting into before, needless to say i do not let him in there, bummer pup =\

do your dogs get freaked out when fireworks go off?

do you get drugs from the vet to help with this? maybe make your dog some blackout brownies or something along those lines with spare trim?

i feel bad for him, it really trips him out, he likes to hide in the bath tub too, it's funny there because normally he HATES having to go into that bath tub (for bath time), i have to grab him and carry him in there, if fireworks go off he jumps right in though! poor puppy =(
 
FirstTracks

FirstTracks

natural medicator
Veteran
Our largest dog used to flip out during thunderstorms. From what I understand, this isn't that uncommon. Probably the same type of deal with fireworks. He would lock himself in the bathroom, then scratch at the door to get out, knock over tables trying to hide under them, etc.

We couldn't do too much about it when we weren't home. However, over time, we taught him that if he stayed near us he'd be safe. So he'd just come huddle near one of us. We also found that by covering a large crate, that fit his body size well, but not too much extra room, with a blanket, it created a cave like space that made him feel safer.

IMHO, drugging your dog could trip him out even more. Remember, he probably wouldn't have a clue what is happening in his head. I've heard of pets who eat herb getting messed up in the head for life and just never being the same. Maybe you want him to be either stupid paranoid all the time, stupid mellow all the time, or something else. The point is, you won't know what it will do to him until its too late and there's no going back. It has the possibility of just robbing him of all future enjoyment in his life.

Just make his safe places accessible and/or create safe places for him, and try to teach him that being near you is safe.
 
Stoner4Life

Stoner4Life

Medicinal Advocate
ICMag Donor
Veteran


if he's that frightened I'd try to reassure him by laughing it off instead of perhaps going to the window & cussing the festivities which might add to his anxiety, short of that some dogs are just that way.......

 
ginoberde

ginoberde

Member
I have that problem every december 31st, my rottweiler just freaks out and tries to fit into the smallest corner he could find
The problem is that a dogs ears are much more sharper then a humans
So if it is loud for us just imagin what it must be like for pooch
I give him calmin drugs I get from the vet
I know drugs are not good, but I rather calm him down then see him shakin in a corner or under my bed
 
S

seanseanhen

Member
Strange thing is only one of my dogs is afraid of thunderstorms and fire crackers, the other seems cool with the whole thing. Just keep them close and pipe in with a few reassuring words, that usually works just fine.
 
G

guest3854

Working with dogs fer well over 20 yrs... I recommend crating yer animals, as pups and when noise training 'em. Try playing recorded fireworks, gunshots etc at low level and frequency when you are thar and increase volume, duration and time away. This doesnt always work but, it's a good start. Needs to be started as early as possible fer obvious reasons....

I would recommend keeping animals away from fireworks... period. I've sold pups to folks, replacing dogs that died because of fright.

Steele
 
hazy

hazy

Active member
Veteran
Steele Savage said:
I've sold pups to folks, replacing dogs that died because of fright.

Steele
Click to expand...

Sometimes I think my little bulldog is going to die of fright from thunder or fireworks.

Like any pit, she is not afraid of any dog no matter how big, but one firecracker or distant thunder and she shakes like a leaf. She shakes so hard I think she's going to have a heart attack.

She will hop into the tub like yours does Smokefrogg, or under my legs, or preferably into my office and grow room. Fireworks are illegal here, so we don't get it too bad on the fourth, but this year they legalized some fireworks(go figure, with the worst fires in our state's history going!) so I know she'll be cringing and trembling more than usual tomorrow.
 
Harry Gypsna

Harry Gypsna

Dirty hippy Bastard
Veteran
My old guy(RIP) was terrified of fireworks most of his life...hed been ok until some dickhead kid threw a banger at us when I was walking him one night.
this may well be something you just have to deal with, it may be that all you can do is give the dog somewhere to go when he wants to hide--the instinct to hide under stuff is deep in dogs. My old guy used to hide in a gap between the sofa, an armchair and the wall, when fireworks night came around I would drape a blanket over the chair and sofa to give him a roof.
My new dog got brought home right around fireworks night and never murmured. Im hoping this year will be the same.
Habe you considered a DAP diffuser?
 
L

Lion of Judah

Member
My older dog gets pants-shittingly terrified of fireworks, or any loud, sharp noises (and thunderstorms to a lesser extent). When there's thunder in the air, he'll duck under a bed.

Fireworks are a lot worse - usually we just let him hide, stay around him, comfort him and try not to feel too sorry for him (so he doesn't pick up on our negativity). Last New Year's Eve we had to somewhere else and couldn't leave the dogs at home alone - they would have been terrified - so we had to take them with us. The Dutch are a little more gung-ho with their fireworks than I'm used to in Finland, so as we were taking our dogs to our friends' place, we had a few instances where they heard a bang from somewhere and just took off in the opposite direction, pulling us for tens of metres along the frosty roads.
This was despite us trying to calm him down with a little Valium we got from the vet. I think it helped, but he was still pretty uneasy. We don't like giving him sedatives but god knows he would have shat his insides out in terror if we hadn't given him anything.
 
GOT DANK

GOT DANK

Active member
Veteran
my pit get scared too. and yes you could go to the vet and get something. i give him a pill every 4th of july. sleeps like a baby
 
C

chefro420

Around the 4th I came home . COuldn't find the dog anywhere. Heh , he was hiding in the bathtub.......
 
R

roughoutline

New member
My dog gets ridiculously scared by fireworks, shaking like nothing you've ever seen. She always sleeps downstairs in her bed but when there are fireworks she rushes upstairs to my room and beside my bed as quickly as she can.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top