Many pets are terrified of fireworks and other loud noises. These sorts
of noises are hard to predict and even harder to work on with training.
My dogs are usually over threshold immediately upon hearing the first bangs or
pops.
Fireworks can cause a great deal of stress in dogs. Some signs to look for would include:
Shaking or Trembling
Drooling
Barking or Howling
Refusing to Eat Food
Pacing, unable to settle
Trying to hide or trying to get into or out of the house, fence or enclosure
Loosing control of their bladder, bowels or anal glands.
Things we can do to help our dogs get through the night:
Exercise your dog early and make sure to walk them before it gets dark.
I'm planning on running the girls several miles out at the big park in
the afternoon. Hopefully they will be tired and sleep through the festivities.
Keep your pets indoors! Many pets who are left outdoors during fireworks
end up panicking and getting lost. If you must go outside, keep your
dog on a leash attached to a harness. Harnesses are a lot harder to
escape from. Pets should also be wearing ID tags with your most current
information.
Close your curtains or blinds. Turn on your TV, fan or radio to provide them with some background noise and distraction.
Some dogs find hiding in their crate to be comforting. My dogs love
their crates and I will often throw a blanket over their crates, too
which gives them an extra sense of security.
If your dog will take food, you can try to keep them busy with a food puzzle toy, like a stuffed kong.
Some dogs do just fine with the noises but other dogs, like mine, are
not easily calmed by petting or talking to them. They are just too upset
by the noise. Pets who are very frightened and who might hurt
themselves should never be left alone. If nothing seems to work for your
pet, you should consider speaking to your veterinarian about sedatives. We've had really good luck with trazadone but it's important to consult with a veterinarian to find out which drug might work best for your dog.
So we haven't been blogging very much but the 4th of July is not a fun time for us. I really needed to take a break and focus on my dogs. Since it's mostly over, I figured I'd do an update post for everyone!
So to recap this: Two weeks prior to the holiday, I made an appointment for Zoe to see the vet so we could talk to him about "sedation" for the girls. Both of my dogs are now noise phobic and after last year being so miserable, I didn't want the dogs to go through that again. They were so scared and none of the holistic things we've ever tried have helped. Zoe was so traumatized last year that she didn't want to eat for a few days after the 4th. I had to hand feed her every single meal and really encourage her. No dog should have to be that scared. It totally sucked.
So I went into the vet thinking I just wanted sedatives (valium) but he suggested using an anti-anxiety medication and recommended that we get trazadone. So that's what we went with and I asked for at least a week's worth because my neighbors pretty much light stuff off for the whole week.
Let me tell you how glad I am that I got my dogs medication. Words cannot even describe the amount of relief my dogs experienced just taking these tiny pills. They were magical. The pills did not sedate them at all. They just felt better. Neither of my dogs experienced any side effects, they were their same selves. The medication prevented them from freaking out, prevented the horrible anxiety attacks that they suffered from last year and it was just the best thing I've ever done for my dogs. I totally regret not getting medication for them sooner. It was a game changer. I will always sing the praises of chemical intervention from now on. Get medication for your dogs sooner rather than later and don't make the same mistake I made by trying a ton of holistic things that don't touch true anxiety and fear.
On the morning of the 4th we gave the dogs their first dose of trazadone and then went hiking with my friend, Suzanne and her gorgeous new Belgian Malinois, Stuck. You can find out more about Stuck by visiting her blog: Stuck On You!
Thousand Acres was insanely crowded because of the holiday weekend but we definitely needed to get out! I am really glad that I know the park so well and we were able to avoid the more crowded areas. We even managed to secure a small area of the beach to play on without too much trouble from other people and dogs.
Working dogs, fetching! :D Phee is in the upper right corner.
We had a fantastic time with Suzanne and Stuck! Stuck was such an awesome girl! She completely ignored Zoe and Phoenix for the most part and everyone got along great. We had zero issues with them running around off leash together. I think the girls had a really fun time showing off "their" park to their new friend! I'm really hoping they are able to make it out again soon.
Here's a short video of Phoenix fetching and swimming!
That evening we gave the dogs their second dose of trazadone about an hour before it got dark and they got their last walks of the day. When the fireworks started going off, they weren't happy and Zoe needed her trazadone bumped up but neither of them had a major meltdown. Both were able to take food, which is how I measure their stress levels. If they won't eat they are very stressed. This year with the medication on board they could eat. Phoenix wanted to hide in her crate and Zoe wanted to mostly hang out with my husband. Last year, Zoe would not leave the bathroom and even tried to get behind the toilet because she was so freaked out. That did not happen this year. She hung out with my husband the whole time and even wagged her tail a few times when he would talk to her.
They got their special treat of whip cream straight from the can for the entire hour of the fireworks shows. Then we switched to regular treats. After the initial big booms were over, they both actually fell asleep. Falling asleep is HUGE. Neither of my dogs have ever been able to sleep through 4th of July fireworks. Even better, Zoe is still eating her regular dog food like nothing happened. The only real problem we are having now is that Phoenix is afraid to go outside at night but we had that happen last year and I'm sure she'll be okay in a week or two.
So for the most part we had a really good holiday. I am so glad that my friend was able to come and visit us! I'm also really happy that I took the time to get my dogs medication so they could feel better. If your dogs get freaked out for the 4th of July or thunder, I highly recommend talking to your vet about medication. It was the best thing I've done for my dogs. The results I got were completely shocking and the difference in them was crazy. They were so relaxed and we didn't have any meltdowns or side effects. I will never go through another firework holiday without getting meds for them.
It's New Year's Eve and we are not excited about it. Unfortunately, holidays involving loud bangs are never fun when you have two noise phobic dogs. Last year New Year's Eve wasn't that bad compared to the 4th of July. I'm really hoping that we will be ringing in the New Year quietly without too many fireworks going off.
Many pets are terrified of fireworks and other loud noises. These sorts of noises are hard to predict and even harder to work on with training. My dogs are usually over threshold immediately upon hearing the bangs or pops. Zoe is specifically terrified of the screamers but all bangs are scary to her.
Fireworks can cause a great deal of stress in dogs. Some signs to look for would include:
Shaking or Trembling
Drooling
Barking or Howling
Refusing to Eat Food
Pacing, unable to settle
Trying to hide or trying to get into or out of the house, fence or enclosure
Loosing control of their bladder, bowels or anal glands.
Things we can do to help our dogs get through the night:
Exercise your dog early and make sure to walk them before it gets dark. I'm planning on running the girls several miles out at the big park in the afternoon. Hopefully they will be tired and sleep through any festivities that happen.
Keep your pets indoors! Many pets who are left outdoors during fireworks end up panicking and getting lost. If you must go outside, keep your dog on a leash attached to a harness. Harnesses are a lot harder to escape from. Pets should also be wearing ID tags with your most current information.
Close your curtains or blinds. Turn on your TV, fan or radio to provide them with some background noise and distraction.
Some dogs find hiding in their crate to be comforting. My dogs love their crates and I will often throw a blanket over their crates, too which gives them an extra sense of security.
If your dog will take food, you can try to keep them busy with a food puzzle toy, like a stuffed kong.
Medications: Some dogs do just fine with the noises but other dogs, like mine, are not easily calmed by petting or talking to them. They are just too upset by the noise. If nothing seems to work for your pet, you should speak to your veterinarian about appropriate medications to help them get through the holidays.
A word on over-the-counter remedies: We have tried many, many of these over the years and have not had any luck with them. Don't make the same mistake we did and ask your veterinarian for their advice right away if your dog is fearful.
Pets who are very frightened and who might hurt themselves should never be left alone.
Do your pets do okay with loud noises? What do you do to help them out if they are scared?
We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve!
I would normally have a Fit Dog Friday post for everyone today, telling you about some sort of fun adventure and exercise we've had during the week. Unfortunately, this was the 4th of July week and we've had a rough week with two very stressed out dogs and we didn't do much. We didn't go on any adventures. We stayed at home, only taking short leash walks around our complex. That way if we heard any bangs we could hussle home where the dogs feel safe. I wanted to make sure the dogs were feeling better after being traumatized for several days in a row by explosions of fireworks in the neighborhood before taking them anywhere. We finally managed a short walk at the big park last night after the girls seemed to be more calm.
It can take several days for the stress hormone "cortisol" to work it's way out of a dog's system and I know from experience that when Phoenix has been stressed out she will make poor decisions. Zoe will tend to be hyper vigilant when she's been stressed and she has a hard time following my cues. When dogs are really scared they are unable to learn so it's better to let them calm down before attempting any training. I would prefer them to both be feeling better and back to normal before we do any off leash stuff. Both dogs were completely worn out anyways from being so stressed out and on edge that they spent most of the past few days sleeping.
This photo was from our "blog party" photo shoot. I didn't make them wear hats while they were scared. Zoe is doing her "cover the nose" pose which sort of makes her look pitiful which was pretty much how our day went yesterday with the fireworks. So the photo works well for this post.
Yesterday was the scariest day of the year for pets everywhere and my girls were no exception. We weren't able to go outside very much throughout the day because everyone was lighting fireworks off at random. Around 7:30pm I gave both dogs benadryl, melatonin and valerian root. Zoe wore her thunder shirt and Phoenix wore the anxiety wrap that we reviewed a while ago. By 10pm the fireworks got really bad and neither dog was very happy but we did a bunch of CC and they did okay. Zoe mostly wanted to be left alone but Phoenix wanted to cuddle. It was interesting because this is the first time Phoenix has ever been upset about the bangs and I was not expecting that. Usually she doesn't care. I really hope everyone used up all of their fireworks and that the bangs will stop. Watching my dogs freak out is not very fun for me. :( I think next year I'm going to get some heavier duty drugs from the vet.
Thank you all so much for stopping by yesterday and wishing us a happy blogiversary! I really appreciate everyone's kind words! <3
Hi everyone! I hope you're all having an awesome day! Today I have a review for you! Recently we were given the opportunity to try out The Anxiety Wrap by the Company of Animals. If you've visited us before you might remember that Zoe has a terrible noise phobia. It started the year we got her with the 4th of July and has progressively gotten worse from there. Sometimes even our neighbors banging around upstairs can cause her to get upset and she will also get upset over me doing laundry. The spin cycle with the washer shaking freaks her out. We've tried all sorts of calming aids before and sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It just depends on the severity of the noise. I really like the idea of the Anxiety Wrap and I've heard that it works wonders for some dogs.
Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a great day and Happy Friday!! :D
On New Year's Eve, I wrote a little bit about Zoe's noise phobia and how I was worried about the Fireworks. Today I wanted to update everyone on how everything went and tell you more about her problem and her history.
