How to calm a dog down during fireworks

Your pets, especially cats, rabbits, and dogs, find it difficult to understand what is actually happening. Those bright flashes, screeching rockets, and thundering bangs would be enough to frighten anyone.

Your pet’s reactions to these sights and sounds will often result in anxious and stressed behaviour and you may experience them trying to run away and hide in a corner, toileting in the house, refusing to eat, trembling, or general destructive behaviour.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way, and there are plenty of ways you can reduce the stress experienced by your four-legged friends.

With around 45% of the UK’s dogs fearing fireworks, according to the RSPCA, you need to plan ahead and take steps to help keep your dog calm and safe in the weeks preceding such displays. A little forward thinking goes a long way in these kinds of situations and will make things a lot easier to deal with when fireworks fill the skies once again.

If you are unsure when your neighbours plan to set off fireworks, why not send them a note to ask them, so that you can be prepared. You can download our Note to a Neighbour here.

This is actually a relatively straightforward treatment that will allow your pet to accept more of the loud noises and bright lights without panicking, ultimately allowing them to cope better with the fireworks season.

Due to dogs’ capacity for learning through experiences, this treatment definitely works best on them. You can start by accessing YouTube and introducing them to the sights and sounds of fireworks over a gradual period of time. The ideal length of training should be roughly six weeks.

Once your dog is comfortable you can play the sounds at a very low volume so that they can settle, this first session doesn’t need to be too intense or long, but with each subsequent session try increasing the volume and length of time ever so slightly until you think they have achieved a reasonable level of tolerance. It’s always good to combine this sound method with a stuffed food toy or a very high value bone that can be given with supervision and removed once the session stops.

It’s important not to turn it up to the point that your dog notices it and shows stress-based behaviours. If this happens, turn the volume down and start at a level your dog can cope with. The process requires time and patience, it also may need to be repeated each year, but if your pet is receptive to the treatment then it’s a great way to help them get comfortable.