It’s finally that time of year again! The time for bar-b-ques and gathering friends, and this weekend those of us in America will celebrate the birth of our nation. It has always been an enjoyable time for me, I love to pull out a blanket and sit under the stars to watch the fireworks go up. Unfortunately for one of my dogs, this is also a terrifying time.
My dog Maverick has been afraid of loud popping noises for nearly 8 years now. He seemed fine with them as a young puppy but at about 2 years of age he was exposed to gunshots and he’s since been convinced that even the slightest pop (a binder clip on a notebook binder for instance) is going to kill him. The last few years this has grown considerably better as I’ve taken the time to really work with him and found a combination of things to help. But having lived with a dog who panics at the slightest pop, I know how traumatic the 4th of July can be. I was held captive in my house during the 4th of July for several years because I knew if I wasn’t here, Maverick would be eating through walls or trying to chew his paws until they were bloody. For 2 years we lived in a house where the next door neighbors set off fireworks almost directly in front of our house. They had no idea that inside that house was a crumpled up mess of a dog, or if they did, they just didn’t care at the time. That is when I finally decided I needed to really focus on fixing this for Maverick.
If you have a dog with similar issues, than you know all too well what days like Independance Day and perhaps even New Years bring. I’d like to share with you some of the lessons I’ve learned.
First off, Maverick wasn’t my first noise phobic dog. I lived with a dog for a number of years who had been raised at Six Flags and had to endure their nightly fireworks display during the summer. She finally came to live with me when it was determined she had grown phobic. When I was a teenager I LOST a dog due to her noise phobia. We had no idea she was scared and left her in the back yard. She jumped a 7 foot gate and we never saw her again. So this topic has been thoroughly researched here!
One of the first rules about working with dogs with noise phobia is to NOT coddle the dog or try to soothe him through it! When a dog acts fearful about something, and you walk over to him and try to soothe him, you are actually rewarding the fearful behavior. This can make the behavior worse. You are better off acting like everything is completely normal.
Sometimes veterinarians will offer sedatives. If you must go this route it’s best to get in to the vet early enough since they seem to get inundated for this during this time of year. I personally prefer not to use things like acepromazine. There are enough experts that state that while “ace” calms a dog physically, inside the dogs head is reeling…imagine being forced to face your worse nightmare while in a straight jacket. So unless there are no other options I prefer to avoid using this type of medication. There are a few OTC things I have tried with my dogs however.
For mild cases there are things like Rescue Remedy (a bach flower essence), content-um, melatonin, and the plug in DAP releasers. All have at one time or another helped some client or another of mine so they might be worth a try. None of these really helped Maverick (who is severe).
There IS a supplement that really HAS helped Maverick though, you’ve seen me advertise Vetraceuticals nutritional supplement here before. There’s a reason for that, my dogs do well on it:-) maverick is one of my walking poster dogs for this product. In the 2.5 years I”ve had him on it, the complete phobic response has diminished considerably. Where he used to eat through dry wall or chew his paw pads until they bled, he now might shake a little at the louder ones (provided I have enough noise turned up to mask the majority of the popping still!) I know that it is the supplement because I’ve tried taking him off of it and putting him back on it and there is a marked difference. At least for this particular dog. With Vetraceuticals however you can’t just give it to the dog the day of the event however, it is meant to be a complete nutritional formula…imagine trying to take vitamins and hoping for a difference over a 2-3 day time period…it just doesn’t happen. So to use this formula, you’re better off just putting your dog on it throughout the year. You can see more about this here: http://www.vetrapethealth.com
An anxiety wrap is another tool many people use to help calm their pet. This is a wrap that goes over certain points on an animals body. It is supposed to be very calming. This did help my magic mountain dog shasta, but Maverick hated it. It’s always worth a try however.
There are cd’s that are meant to help owners desensitize their dogs to various sounds. I used one such cd to help Maverick overcome his fear of gunshots. It never made him perfect, but helped to a degree. Again, it’s worth a try…though with the particular cd I used it was a 13 week program so don’t expect to get this the day before and have it work that fast!
Make SURE to secure your pet during prime firework times! As I said earlier in my post, I lost a dog who was so panicked she jumped a high wall and escaped forever. Dogs can do amazing things when they’re truly terrified so don’t think that just because he/she has never been able to do it before that they can’t escape. Every year I hear of at least one dog who burst through a glass window trying to escape. Be aware of escape routes and keep a terrified dog away from doors and windows, and by no means leave him/her outside even with the most secure fencing. Some dogs do better in a small secure area, others are happier if they can choose the spot themselves. Shasta was happiest in a crate put into a closet with music turned all the way up. Maverick chews his paws or grows more frantic if you try to crate him during a fireworks display (even though he’s completely comfortable in a crate on a normal day). For him, I find it best to keep him in the rooms close to the center of the house, and allow him to find his own spot. Most often that means he’s under the desk or trying to climb under the beds.
If you are not SURE that your dog is not phobic, don’t risk it. And realize that just because the dog was fine last year, doesn’t mean something wont’ happen this year. As I said, Maverick was fine until he was 2 years old. You’re better safe then sorry! And PLEASE don’t take your pet with your family to see a fireworks display. THey don’t understand that we silly humans are simply celebrating! To them it probably sounds like the sky is exploding. Some dogs may be fine with it, but why take the chance of creating much bigger problems?!
With some dogs, working on their obedience or trick training during a scary time can help. By keeping their mind actively engaged they don’t have time to sit and think about how scared they are. You must be willing to follow through however since this can also back fire (some dogs may associate doing obedience exercises with the sound of fireworks and grow scared of doing obedience). Basically the timing is everything. Once you start down this path, you must be prepared to follow through until the dog appears relaxed no matter how long it takes.
For me, I’ve found a combination of things can help most dogs. Maverick has been my worst case (in over 25 years of working with dogs professionally) but I finally can leave him alone on the 4th of July! He will be a little bit nervous, but if I leave a crate in the center of the house, leave a few lights on (since he associates the flashing of lights with the popping sounds now) and turn some classical music all the way up (in addition to keeping him on his Vetraceuticals), he will do just fine…FINALLY, I can get back to enjoying the shows myself!
Happy 4th of July everyone!
