05/11/2025
🎉🎊🎆🎇🐕😃That time of year again. Internet flooded by "please skip the fireworks" "think of our poor animals"....
Personally, I love fireworks, good old fashioned fireworks. I love new ways of celebrations, so much would love to see a drone show!! So I stand for both. Mixture of both....
Don't get me wrong, there are a*****es out there who will set fireworks too close to the stables and without warning, make a mayhem in the middle of the town etc. That would deserve adequate punishment.
I feel for some horse owners, considering a horse being an animal of "flee or you're done" psychology. Certain things about being more considerate with fireworks could improve in that aspect.
BUT, my focus here is aimed at dogs.
I've personally been through both, many times. Dogs being completely oblivious to fireworks and then a dog being scared of loud bangs, large bright umbrellas of lights suddenly appearing in the skies and the dog trying to brake his way in through the door from the garden. That said dog would do a high performance obedience test, with loud gun shot sound test and he would be fine, it was work, he knew what he was supposed to do. At the end of the test he'd happily play with my dad and his favourite ball. On the fireworks night, boom, dog in panic mode. This was years ago. I still believe our old dog could improve, have we gone about it the better way, not coddled him as much, letting him know that there actually was a reason to be scared.
Or maybe, he actually was one of the very small percentage of dogs where the fear and worry is buried far too deep and too strong. In that case, all those years ago he probably could have done with a cosy dog house and a snood around his ears....(but he was still ok during obedience, which actually gives me a clue, we could have made his life better and less stressful around fireworks with better training...)
Anyway. This little terrier in the video would be exactly the same if I have left her in believing the fireworks are bad and reason to be scared!
As a puppy she was a little worried. But it has been quite easily TRAINED out of her. And she is the HAPPIEST DOG EVER.
So instead of getting angry and miserable around firework season, constantly worrying about how my dogs will react, what if they panic, what am I going to do, I can't even go out, and on and on and on..... I decided to try different ways of desensitisation, kept myself together. In the good, Canine psychologycal ways explained to her, that she will always be safe with me, I am the one who will protect her if needs to be. But the firework season is certainly not that kind of the situation.
So just think for a second. Is your dog really the part of the maybe 5% (probably not even that) of dogs in the country, who really needs a calming tablet, a snood etc. Due to deeply locked in reaction, or a very bad experience. Or is his/er fear created by lack of correct introduction, training and your own worrying and you can actually improve it?
Thank you for reading!
A seek for help and advice will be very willingly answered.
Blinkered and hateful comments will be politely ignored.