I finally coax Molly out the door, then she hears a firecracker, and she hustles her little poodle hiney right back to the door. Then it is several hours before I can try again...

How many of you have dogs that really hate or are afraid of the fireworks? What do you do?

I finally give up... I am on my way to the store in the morning to get Children's Benadryl. It is worth a try.

Burn ban in effect here. Heard rumor they will even ban grill fires d/t risks!

I had heard when dogs are afraid of thunder and lightning to take a fabric softener sheet (not scented) and rub on back of neck and it calms them down

my friend's dog was scared of thunder and lightning and now she uses the fabric softener and no longer has a problem with them

you might try that

My dogs (see avatar) are going nuts!!! They won't settle down until about September because people around me don't think that Fireworks are just for the 4th of July. Tonite they started around 6pm and it is now 10:30 and it is still going on!

Sadiemae,
Do you watch the Dog Whisperer? I think his techniques are incredibly intuitive and successful. They'd be very helpful for you; poodles are smart, quick learners.

Jan in VA

Is he on Direct TV?

Our beloved lab was terrified of fireworks. He passed away a few years ago, the dog we have now isn't afraid.

Kat

I'm right there with you about the dogs and firecrackers. Mine are going nuts. You would think the fools popping the firecrackers could at least wait until the 4th of July. Ours will be going off for several weeks as well. We are outside the city limits, no one seems to care if there is a burn ban or anything else.

The dog on the left in my avatar became a stray on the 4th of July because he was so terrified of the booms. He was rescued by Animal care and control and nobody claimed him. He was able to come home to us and that was 9 years ago!!!

My beloved Husky hated them. Had to be CARRIED outside during this time b/c of stupid people with fireworks. The Shepherd doesn't seem to be yet and neither is our boxer. We live inside the city limits and still have neighbors using fireworks. Again stupid people with fireworks. AArrgghh!!!

We live in the city limits too in a subdivision. I just don't get the purpose of fireworks that just go boom...

We had a German Shepherd that we had to restrain when firecrackers were shot off.

He wanted to go after them.

found this link about what to do for dogs afraid of fireworks

http://dogs.about.com/od/dogbehavior...as-in-dogs.htm

Thanks for the link. I'll have to watch the Shepherd to see if she's bothered. I can't remember - how silly of me!!

I have an old dog who's gone crasy over thunder. Someone sent me a link for 'thunder dog coat's'. I will see if I can find the http://www.thundershirt.com/post.

It was thunder shirt. My dog would freak out with this, but it might work with a younger dog.

Had my little dog on my lap and then she crawled up under my chin. She's 12 years old and I just try to make her feel secure when the fireworks go off. Wish we didn't live in such a populated area.

I have a thunder shirt works wonderful! My dog is normally skittish but loud noises storms oh man! She I's soo much better!!

My cat is not fond of them either. Not terrified, but doesn't want them around. Again, people here have been lighting them every night for about a week now, and it's only the first. AArrgghh is rightttttt! :thumbdown:

I am in the city limits also. Noone seems to care anymore who they bother. I understand the fireworks on the 4th. I really don't understand the attraction to firecrackers. Makes absolutely no sense to me. Why waste your money on something that makes noise and isn't even pretty????

my red bone coon hound was petrified of thunder and fireworks. so i had 106 lbs of dog in my lap quivering me and him--almost like a vibrating chair with a boulder in your lap! he's gone now. our choc lab isn't gun shy or sffraid of fireworks. in fact she watches the fireworks too.

I was spoiled before when I had my Chesepeake. She loved the fireworks and would watch them. I had to be careful if she could get close enough, because she would try to catch them in her mouth. She was almost 15 when I lost her and I still miss her so much. They are wonderful dogs.

I put my Jimi in his crate and turn on the radio with fairly loud music and a fan set on high to mask the noise. Works like a charm. He is extremely sensitive, as someone threw a firecracker into our back yard when he was a puppy, he never forgot. If you don't have a crate just confine him to a bedroom or bathroom.

I have heard of the thundershirt being really helpful. Some also have good success with melatonin.

http://www.wagntrain.com/independence_day.htm

And, FWIW: I'm not a Cesar Milan fan. I believe there are many trainers out there who get as good if not better results using sound, scientific principles and without magic TV editing. Flooding a dog who has fears (which is Milan's usual method) can really backfire and seldom results in long term success. His show comes with a disclaimer when it starts, that says a lot to me. I woudl recommend that you check out books and videos from Patricia McConnell, Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor and Ian Dunbar.

I had a Irish Setter that chase them too! Funniest thing to watch, Thank God she never caught one....

We used to have a black lab, now deceased, that we would have to physically restrain around firework...not that he was scared, he equated the "boom" with a gun shot and would run off trying to find the "dead birds".

Of the two dogs we have now...the new black lab's ears will twitch and he'll cock his head like "something's not quite right here"...the little guy (from another thread my jacked up beagle) doesn't even twitch. I really loud one with go off and startle me - I look over and Jude is still sound asleep!

Socrates has issues with fire works, and thunder.. It started with a storm two years ago.. After the storm, I noticed that he wouldn't go down to the basement with me, and when I picked him up to take him, he was shaking like a leaf, and panting.. Then he started shaking when he heard the fire works, and thunder.. He was at the vet yesterday for a check up, and the vet would've given me an Rx for Valium.. I had started to give him Benadryl on my own, at 6mg for a body weight of 15lbs.. I also bought the Thunder Shirt.. It didn't work.. Benadryl seems to do the trick.. The vet said to give him up to 25mg if need be..
Good luck..
Barri

I'm likethe dogs, I don't like the fireworks either.

Tough love! Thats how I always deal with my dogs. They are an animal not a child, not even human! My dogs do what I want them to do NOT what they want to do when it comes to stuff like this. In situations like this your dog needs a calm leader, not a pitty feeling mom!

Its not the "stupid peoples" fault for setting off fireworks. Its the dog owners fault for allowing their dogs to get worked up over a loud noise!

I live inside city limits, have dogs that when I got them did not like "fireworks" and I will be setting them off in my back yard come tomorrow night and Monday while the dogs are crated in the house! They will be happy, my kids will be happy, I'll be happy!

P.S. My husband has PTSD and I treat him with tough love when it comes to stuff like this (loud noises and tough situations) too, he still loves me.

My Great Dane and my Coon hound are afraid of thunder and do not do well on the 4th. They try to hide behind me and would be in my lap if they would fit. My little Boston terrier and Mini Schnauser do not mind the noise. I am going to try the dryer sheet trick. Take care.
Linda

My parents live out in the boonies, no neighbors closer than a half-mile away and I doubt any of them will be setting off fireworks (no kids or young people for miles and miles). We're taking our dog up there and spending the night on Sunday. It'll be fun! It's been a while since I stayed overnight at Mom and Dad's house. We'll cook out and play Scrabble and not set anything on fire. :)

Poor Molly. It probably hurts her ears. Onyx barks everytime a firework goes off and they have been doing it for two weeks now -- we are waiting for them to use all of them. Last night they were not quite as loud, they are probably saving the big ones for Monday. It will all be over soon. They just made it legal to sell fireworks in Kentucky and a tent is pitched selling them every few miles.

3 we had were terribly afraid we had to get meds from vet and give them otherwise I wouldn't have a house left!!!!

Our Border Collie does not care for thunder/gun shots/fireworks. When it is stormy and we are not home, he hides behind our big gas grill (with the big cover on it)...gets between it and the house. We think he thinks that since he can't see past the grill...the thunder won't get him.

We always make sure we are home on the 4th of July as the community fireworks are set off at the HS football stadium which is just across the road and 1/4 mile to the west of us. We ALWAYS bring him in to our utility room...run a fan...and he is happy. We bring him in when it is thundering or the neighbors are doing target practice, as well.

People around us have been setting off fireworks for several evenings now and I imagine they will be tonight, as well. We will be going to DS and DIL's for a cookout this evening but we will go ahead and put Sky in the house for the evening.

As for a dog not being human...he was in one of our barns about 3 years ago when the barn went down during a terrible storm (no, they didn't say it was a tornado but we think it was). We were so concerned that he did not survive...were out there right away looking for him. DH had been in the barn and had just gotten in the house when it went down. We found Sky...hiding underneath a tractor that was literally covered with lumber from the hayloft. From that point on, he has been terrified of storms. It would be enough to scare me, too!

I wish they would make it illegal to sell fireworks all over, with the dry spell some have had it's a real fire danger as well as how it affects pets.
My little one jumps up on me - 20 pounds when you are not expecting it on your stomach is not fun. She shakes too, sad.
People get careless and don't care.

Opposite situation here. When my dogs, all Labrador Retrievers, hear the fireworks boom they think it is time to go hunting! Don't hear much booming going on though. In prior years the booming would start a few days before the 4th and on the 4th it was like a war going on around us. I have only heard a few booms so far. I think that is due to the poor economy. People just don't have the money to blow up.

Aaaahhh poor doggie. I hope the Benadryl helps.

I went to the health food store and got a homeopathic remedy. It's called rescue remedy....give it to my dog for thunderstorms and fireworks. Works like a charm for my sweetie.

my neigbor that lives behind me is setting off fireworks tonight I have 2 horses and there 7 horses in the pasture next me and 5 across the lane, last year the horses RAN for almost 2 hours I had to go and ask them to please STOP. This year they they are doing it again THEY want me to do something with my horses! I called the state police and they said if he has a permit he can do this NO BODY CARES

The noise of firecrackers doesn't make my Devil Doggie bark anymore than any other noise, yet if a bug, bird, etc. flies around, she chases after their shadows on the cement pad in our enclosed yard and barks furiously because she can't "catch" them...lol...she always makes me laugh!!! Naomi
:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I was a child I loved fireworks, and I still do. I have 3 dogs and the fireworks don’t seem to bother them at all. I don’t buy fireworks anymore because of money being so tight, but I do still enjoy celebrating the 4th of July and I am able to watch firework show from my front yard because the park is just a few blocks away and it’s awesome to be able to watch the children in the neighborhood having a great time. It only comes around once a year and I see no harm in people (not stupid people) enjoying celebrating the holiday. To each their own, that’s what great about the US freedom!!!! Sorry some of your pets get upset with them, but I think the people have the right to celebrate. Everyone have a great 4th and try not to be so cranky….LOL