Fireworks divide opinion across the world with dog and horse lovers firmly supporting a ban and the opposing camp of families and thrill seekers in the other. As a dog behaviourist with a specialty in animal welfare stress should never be referred to with a "just" as a precursor. Stress can be in extreme cases fatal, and long term exposure to stressors can have a long term deterimental effect on your dog's health. With this in mind, this guide is absolutely for dogs that have not yet encountered fireworks and for those that have not already displayed a fear response to loud bangs. In cases where your dog already has developed a fear of loud bangs, whistles and fireworks you should absolutely always be guided through helping them through this with a behaviourist and veterinary advice. So with this in mind, this guide is aimed at puppies under 1 year old.
Slowly, slowly, gently does it
The idea behind teaching your pup to cope with fireworks and loud bangs is really a mixture of habituation and socialisation. You have to expose them to the noises in a positive, care giving, rewarding environment......this is where the socialisation comes in. Then you must repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.......this is where the habituation plays its part.
So the question is where do I get hold of firework noises, without actually having fireworks in the garden every other day? Well, the wonderful thing about the internet is that someone has thought of this already! You used to be able to acquire prerecorded CDs that you could use and these would come at a cost, now the furthest you will need to look is YouTube or The Dogs Trust website
Another great tip would be to invest in an Adaptil diffuser that your can use in various locations around the house, or combine the firework noises with classical music. If your pup exhibits any fear, it is important to reverse your efforts and go back to the beginning!
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