But why are some dogs scared of loud noises such as fireworks and some not?
It’s complicated. A puppy is not a blank slate! How a dog responds to stimuli is going to depend on a few things that happen before a puppy even goes to their permanent home at around 8-10 weeks of age….
🐾 Puppies inherit behaviour traits from the parent dog sand their ancestors.
🐾 Maternal stress is passed from the bitch to her puppies before they are even born; priming them to be easily stressed.
🐾 The lives the parent dogs have led has an effect on their puppies; such as access to resources, developed behaviour traits, positive and negative interactions and training methods used.
🐾 Puppyies learn behaviour from the other dogs they are raised with.
🐾 How much stimuli a puppy is safely and positively introduced to while young has an effect on their response to novel stimuli when older.
🐾 Life experiences affect how they will feel in future, so if a particularly loud noise startles your dog, it could mean they are sensitive to loud noises in future. Sometimes dogs go through a traumatic event making them much more sensitive to stimuli in future.
🐾 Discomfort, pain and health problems have an effect on a dog’s overall mood and how likely they are to be fearful.
We cannot control where and when other people have fireworks and this makes it difficult to ensure our puppies and dogs are introduced to them carefully.
Already got a fearful dog?
If your dog responds to the sound of fireworks by panting, pacing, hiding or barking then recovers well, this is a normal fear response to a startling sound. Your dog may be just about holding it together; but the stress response has been triggered and you need to take action to ensure this doesn’t get worse over time or spread into a fear of other sounds.
A noise phobia is a more extreme response; you may see your dog trembling, extreme panting and drooling, diarrhoea, a panicked and frantic response, attempts to escape, excessively licking or nibbling themselves. These dogs will often take a long time to recover and can hide for many hours or even days, be terrified to go outside especially after dark and may even become aggressive. These dogs need help right away; if you have a dog like this please make an appointment with your vet right away to discuss medication which you can give during fireworks season. Appropriate, prescription medication takes away the fear (or reduces it). Some of these medications even help prevent fear memories from being formed so they can gradually feel better over time.
Medication should not be dismissed as an option and can be the difference between your dog having a panic attack or not, they can aid recovery so your dog can lead a normal life after the event rather than taking days or weeks to return to their normal self. Of course this is a discussion to have with your vet as nobody else is qualified to recommend these drugs for your dog and other health factors need to be taken into account.
Does your dog have a health problem, or are they possibly in discomfort or pain? Dogs that are in pain will usually still eat, run and play.They won’t necessarily limp or cry in pain. Dogs are very good at getting on with life but discomfort and pain does lower their stress threshold and makes them more likely to develop noise fears and phobias.
Repeated exposure to stimuli at a level that causes a fear response; usually makes that fear worse or at best; the same. So please don’tignore the problem.
How to help prepare your young puppy for fireworks:
While puppies are young they should be introduced to a range of novel stimuli including various sounds such as fireworks. These sounds should be introduced at a low level, and can be paired with something pleasant such as feeding time or playtime.
The dogs trust has a very good guide on this, with free sounds for you to use, https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog-advice/understanding-your-dog/sound-therapy-for-pets
This can also be done with older puppies and adult dogs, but if there is already a fear it’s best to seek professional advice from a qualified dog behaviourist because if you rush through the process, or are unaware of other contributing factors; you could make the problem worse.
In the days leadingup to fireworks: Be prepared!
🐾 If your dog requires medication from your vet please ensure you have it ready and have enough.
🐾 Pheromone therapy can be helpful. These are not a “fix” for fears and phobias but can be helpful as part of the puzzle for mild cases and with young puppies. Adaptil is a well known pheromone and you should plug in a diffuser at least a few days before fireworks, close to resting areas.
🐾 Dietary supplements can help with milder cases. Please speak to your vet about suitable dietary supplements that contain calming agents. Again these are not a “fix”.
🐾 Buy a few things you can use as positive distractions. Hollow toys which can have food stuffed inside, snuffle mats and licking mats are great. Make sure you get some special filling for them, some extra special things that your dog does not usually get. There are plenty of healthy options to suit your dog.
🐾 Avoid stressful experiences and frantic play. Repetitive games such as fetch can contribute to trigger stacking (see further below in this article for more info).
🐾 Provide calmer mental stimulation and aim for walks that are long and sniffy, away from things your dog finds stressful.
What to do on the day:
🐾 Prepare some pots containing extra tasty chopped up food rewards (such as chicken or the pure protein pate treats designed for dogs). Have these ready and close to you when it’s dark so that each time there is a firework sound you can toss a treat to your dog, helping to form a positive association.
🐾 Take your dog out to the toilet before it gets dark. You need to avoid being outside with your dog while fireworks are going off.
🐾 Soon as it’s getting dark; ensure all windows are closed (and not on the latch for ventilation which will let in more noise), close the curtains. Provide background noise to muffle any fireworks sounds. Putting on the washing machine is a good idea, background noise should be provided in each room, aiming to create a ‘sound cocoon’.
During the fireworks:
🐾 For mild reactions you can provide distractions such as play, hollow toys stuffed with tasty food, and tossing your dog a treat each time a firework goes off. A more fearful dog may not be able to eat; this signals that your dog is not coping so well.
🐾 Allow them to hide if they want to. Don’t try to coax them out from a hiding place, this is their coping mechanism.
🐾 Do provide comfort if they seek it. It is a myth that you will make their fear worse by doing this.
🐾 Be calm and jolly each time a firework goes off; your dog is less likely to be worried if you’re not worried.
What to do afterfireworks:
🐾 Allow your fearful dog to decompress!
Just like us, our dogs need the opportunity to calm down after stressful events.
Have you heard of trigger stacking?
This is when stress builds up in the system because there has not been enough time for your dog to calm down between scary events. This is common during fireworks season because they can go on for days or weeks. Each time your dog feels stressed there is a surge of stress hormones which help your dog’s body to deal with the event but when this builds up it can take many days to return back to normal, healthy levels and has an effect on their behaviour towards other stimuli. You may see overreactions to things they are usually okay with.
To allow your dog to decompress, avoid other things that stress your dog, avoid situations that cause them to become over-excited (there is sometimes too much of a good thing!), encourage lots of calming activities such as sniffing, gentle exploration, chewing, and foraging.
How did your dog cope?
It’s important to assess how your dog coped. If they coped well; great! Keep taking measures to help keep them comfortable next time. If they didn’t cope so well; what could you do next time? Use this guide, speak to your vet, speak to a qualified dog behaviourist.
Blog written by Claire Mcknespiey of Educating Paws.
