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Fireworks and noise phobias- updated advice Every year in October and November I get loads of letters regarding fireworks. I haven’t been horribly ignoring you all but actually after the fireworks of New Year is by far the best time to tackle this problem. All the following advice goes for any loud, scary noises which your dog may be frightened of. Prevention is far better than sedation! Most importantly, it is incredibly easy to enforce our dogs' fears without realising it but it can be very easy to desentitise them to these sorts of noises and this is the perfect time of year to start. Ask your vet about a special cd you can buy. The one we use is called ‘Sounds Scary’ and your vet should be able to get it for you. This desensitisation takes a few months so get started in plenty of time.
Decide what gives your dog pleasure. It could be eating or playing or just simple praise. Then play the recording at an extremely low level so it is barely audible and entertain your dog the best you can. This fun will relax them and they will be happy. Very gradually over the next weeks to months start to increase the volume of the recording and keep doing whatever activity your dog likes. Your dog will gradually learn to associate the noise with feeling happy and relaxed. You need to do this slowly and be patient. Most dogs should be helped a lot or cured by this method. Some dogs don’t react to the same noises when artificially produced. In this case try pointing the speakers at the windows and walls to give the impression the sound is coming from outside or place the speakers behind the curtains. At the scary times, when your dog starts trying to hide or comes to you, don't try to console him. This feels really mean but our efforts to tell them it's all alright and try to calm them down are seen by them as us getting highly agitated ourselves. This then tells them that there must be something to be frightened of and we re-enforce their fears. If you ignore them and appear calm and relaxed it will help to reduce their fear. Some dogs are prescribed drugs if there is not enough time to act with the desensitisation. We used to use mild sedatives but these have largely been replaced by diazepam now. This drug does more to reduce anxiety rather than sedate animals which is much more preferable. Lastly, there is a pheromone plug-in now available called a DAP diffuser. This replicates the pheromone that bitches produce when puppies are young and makes dogs feel very relaxed and at ease. For some dogs it helps enormously but for others it does very little. However, it’s worth a try in conjunction with the behavioural therapy. As they say; every little helps.
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