In my country fireworks are very popular during this season, and my dog gets all stressed out, she looks for places to hide, and shakes, I really hate fireworks, has anyone else got this problem? and what have you done to make your dogs feel better?
thanks!

You could try looking into a herbal creation call Rescue Remedy - it's good for calming, and I know lots of people that have used it for pets (fireworks, thunderstorms, travelling, etc).

www.rescueremedy.com

will check it out Kiwi thank you so much! I'm also trying out music and seeing how that works too.

I'm sorry your pets get freaked by fireworks. Sadly lots of pets do.

It's pretty common, unfortunately. Fireworks are so pretty, but they really stress out the animals. I don't really know what to suggest!

I've heard of these thunder shirts for dogs that calm them down. My co-worker says it really works for her dog.

Yes Mango it is a shame that they stress animals so much.
WOW FairyDust I'm checking the thunder shirts now, and it looks pretty amazing!!

My cats are scared to death of them.

They happen a lot here too!

A couple thoughts here:

First of all, Rescue Remedy is amazing stuff! Both my mare and I used it to overcome some anxiety issues that popped up while under saddle, and it helped a TON. Now, we're both good to go without it.

Something that you might want to consider, too, is trying to determine what *part* of the fireworks scare your dog so much. Is it the sound or the flash? The flashes are what set my critters that are scared of them off the most (I have an almost blind dog that gets upset at the constant flashes and neither of my horses really care of them, either. The pop/boom, though, no one seems to mind too much). It helps all of my frightful critters a ton to make sure I leave lights on wherever they're at while the fireworks are going off, so that the flashes aren't as noticeable. This probably won't affect a phobia that's based off of the sound, though, but it might be worth a shot?

Last, I'm curious to know how *you* react to the fireworks. Do you start to get tense or anxious, knowing that your dog is going to get upset? That might actually encourage or trigger her to start displaying this behavior. Also, how do you respond to her when she is actively being afraid? Different dogs will respond differently, but sometimes too much reassurance can actually condition a dog to think that their fear response is appropriate (think about it: they get scared, and then get loved on. It makes sense in puppyland). I'm not saying don't consol or comfort your dog, just be sure she's not using acting afraid as an excuse to get extra attention

My dog I had as a kid was scared of fireworks even as a young puppy. When he was young he would just hide under my bed or a table and just kind of chill, but as he got older he got more and more scared, to the point of shaking severely and even throwing up. He even transferred his fear of fireworks to thunderstorms. My vet was worried about his heart, so he prescribed a mild sedative for him that we would give him right at the start of the fireworks. He would just sleep through them and he became less fearful of the thunderstorms as well (on particularly horrible storms though, he might need a sedative, but for the most part he was ok).

This may not be the best method for your dog, this was just my experience. Herbal remedies have become much more commonplace today then 16 years ago when I was a kid, so I would try one of those first. We ruled out every option before we went to the sedatives, my dog was so severely scared though, we had to do it or he would have had a heart attack.

Katika this is how it happens, I have two examples, last night we where having dinner, and suddenly she began making like crying noises, and while I began looking for her to see what was going on I heard the boom, from the fireworks, and so then, she jumped on me and so I just hold her for a while and then she went off with my dad who also hold her for a while, and then, I thought about the music, so we put some music on and she was ok after that.

The other day we where having a walk because she was stressed and the boom from the fireworks began once again, and like you said I tried to stay calmed and show her that there was nothing to be afraid of, but she was not walking normaly anymore but trying to run away.

So yes it is most deffenetly the noise what makes her scared, as far as I have been able to see, and so we are gving a try to music to keep her calmed now.

FairyDust wrote:

I've heard of these thunder shirts for dogs that calm them down. My co-worker says it really works for her dog.

Thundershirts are a miracle! I use it with my dog who has nervous fits when people come over. My friend also uses it with her dog, who freaks out during storms to the point of property destruction. Definitely try it!

Hmm... I might have to look into thunder shirts for my dog. She hates thunder. Drives me bonkers!!

I hate fireworks too! They really should just ban them everywhere for home use. They aren't safe, they are horrible for pets and there is really no reason they can't just have controlled events that people can go to. When I used to vollunteer for the RSPCA I heard about a dog killing itself by impaling itself on a garden ornament because it freaked out over fireworks.

-edited for brain fart typing-

xeevee omg that sounds horrible, yeah they should be more regulations on the subject, I agree.

poor wee things as an adult now i hate fireworks, only cos they go on way after guyforks day, when i had cats it would make me cry seeing them so upset and scared and now having kids its just makes me mad as they wake up. but peeps here are stupid, after guyfolks (fireworks day) you could still hear them 3am in the morning, too many young unemployed loosers that dont care for there neighbours babies trying to sleep...sorry getting angery here. i also feel for the animals that dont know whats going on and get freaked out. its not natural

XEEVEE - i totaly agree with you on held a events, there would be soooooo many less fires too, i used to live next to a fire station when i live in quakey christchurch and they would be so busy that night