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DoodlebearsBelow is a picture of my furry grandson Freddy. As you can see he is not a happy boy, in fact he is a nervous wreck right now. Every time a firework goes off this poor animal is terrified. My daughter Eve has to help him the best way she can. Freddie has fluffy ear muffs on under the scarf, he hides in his make shift shelter and Eve plays music to try and drown out the bangs. Just imagine what it's like for the wild life animals, poor things. I personally would ban fireworks completely. A guy I know lost everyone of his avery birds because of noise from fireworks. It really isn't fair and just look at all the polution they cause and all the injuries too. I just hope with all the money problems at the moment people will make better use of their money and stop burning it and scaring animals. I don't wish people not to enjoy themselves, but honestly there are so many other ways of having fun.
Right I'm off my soap box now!
Hugs Jane.
Ahhhh , poor little boy , I do feel for him and all the animals who get scared out of their wits 
I am really lucky that neither of
my dogs are noise sensitive - but I do know that DAP diffusers (wafting comforting doggy pheremones) can bring even more calm to
a fraught pet ; worth checking out on behalf of 4 legged friends ! 
Mini Hugs , Ruth
Country BearsAwwww my little doggy knows exactly how Freddy feels Jane, she's scared terribly too. 
It's funny, I was just saying last night that there haven't been as many fireworks this year (yet) usually they're going for weeks and weeks, perhaps it's just one good thing to come out of the credit crunch! We heard a few last night, so Jazz spent the evening cowering in the corner bless her - she's really quite a scaredy cat, she's frightened of the TV too!! 
She'll certainly be glad when it's all over!!
I totally agree, if people have to have fireworks then let it be for one night only like it's supposed to be, I have a terrified Jack Russell Terrier who is scared through October, November and then again at New Year. I'm also for banning them all together, I don't understand why people want their money to go up in smoke! I'd rather buy a bear!! 
Poppy
Jane..I'm so with you on this topic! I absolutely hate fireworks for all the same reasons. I am feeling really sad at the moment...as last year (3rd Nov) I lost my beautiful cat Lottie 
...all because she was so fightened of fireworks....(from a heart attack!)...she collapsed and died right in front of me. 
I'm sure everyone who has animals feels the same way..I say BAN FIREWORKS completely!!! or only allow them to be used on Nov 5th..and at NO other time!......at least then we can be prepared..and save our wonderful pets from all the trauma!!! Phew!!...sorry to go on 
...I'll step down from my soapbox now.....
Hugs Yvonne
Oh no, I'm so sorry about your cat!
Jellybelly Bearsughh, us too, our dogs HATE them!!! lightening too, but fireworks are the worst, even just a distant popping and they get nervous. Yvonne I'm so sorry about your kitty, thats so sad 
PennsylvaniaA dog's ears are a lot more sensitive than a human's. That's why they are "afraid" of loud sounds like fireworks and lightning. It actually HURTS!
(The same goes for cats too.)
Dogs and cats can become acclimated to loud sounds. In fact, most hunting dogs must be trained to become acclimated to the sound of gunfire. If you've ever heard the term "Steady to wing and shot" that means that the dog has been trained to stand still when he hears the sound of the gun.
There is one major difference between house dogs and hunting dogs, though. Hunting dogs get to be outdoors. House dogs do not.
First of all, the sound of gunfire dissipates more rapidly because it is outside. The sound of fireworks can actually be AMPLIFIED by being indoors. It can echo off the walls.
Second, when a dog hears a loud sound that it doesn't like, it often triggers his "flight instinct."
An outdoor dog has a place to run when it is afraid. An indoor dog can only cower under the bed or the table.
If you want to, you can train your indoor dog to be less afraid of loud sounds.
It can take a long time to complete the training but, if your dog is very afraid, it might be worth your time and effort. Even if you don't "break" him completely you can, at least, get him to the point where he isn't completely debilitated by fear.
We once had a dog which was deathly afraid of balloons!
When he was a puppy, he was carrying one around in his mouth when it popped.
He never completely got over the fear but we were able to get him to the point where he wouldn't shiver and cry at the sight of one. He would just walk a W-I-D-E circle around them.
As long as the balloon was "over there" he would be okay.
If you want to take some time and put some effort into it, you'll probably be able to get him to that point if not completely over the fear.
That is strange.. we never have Fireworks in our towns.. they are usually banned unless you live in the Country... but as far as I know it's illegal to set them off in the city. The Citys usually do a big display on Canada day and on New years. Other than that if you want to see fireworks you have to live on an acreage or go to a private lake where they allow them.
Do you guys live in the Country?
I was quite annoyed last Canada day.. The place they set off the fireworks is not even a block away from my house.. and they have them pretty early.. but I had to be up at 5am so I had gone to bed. I think I almost jumped out of of skin.. lol.
Hugs,
Melanie
Hi Jane,
Well done for bringing up this topic and I couldn't agree with you more. Firstly, I would like to say how sorry I am to hear about everyone's pets suffering in such horrible ways. It is one of those topics that really gets my blood boiling as soon as I hear the wretched things going off. I am always thinking of all the poor animals who suffer so greatly at this time of the year, and in particular all our beautiful wild life who must think the end of the world is near. Impossible to imagine the hell that they must go through.
There really should be stiff laws governing this; it's not as though it's for one night only - round our way they seem to go on and on for days, in fact, now that I come to think of it, you hear them quite a lot longer than that. Then you always get some fool who thinks it's clever to let them all off at about one o'clock in the morning. There are always those idiots who have no regard for other people and feel it is their "right" to make as much noise as possible at any hour of the night just because it is "that time of the year". People would soon complain if someone went out mowing their lawn in the middle of the night, so why should we accept all this crappy noise??? Ggggrrrrr.
I refuse to go to any firework display anymore as I have a heart problem and some of the fireworks are so unbelievably loud that they set my problem off. So what the hell are they doing to poor defenseless animals? Ggggrrrrr, I could scream......I had thought that the law was changing to make it only possible to have fireworks at organised events but obviously not.
No-one should apologise for being on their soap box about this - stand on the box for as long as you can and SHOUT!! It's time for this to change!
Hugs
Marilyn
TeenytinyteddybearsLike you all I hate fireworks. I had a staffie that ran right through the kitchen door in his terror. I started using some homeopathic drops called "Resuce" dont know if you can get them. But the results were amazing. He used to be terrified of thunder too and would either hide or destroy things (not his fault) but was sad to see. After a few doses of rescue while there was a storm or fireworks (and of course I sat with him at the same time, Ok I lie, he sat on my lap) he calmed down to a point where he didnt need them. Still wasnt happy about the bangs but would just go and lie on his blanket.
The Rescue works well for taking nervous animals to the vet and traveling too because it doesnt knock them out. they just are a little calmer.
Another reason for hating fireworks is the irrisponsible way they are handled. Went to an "organised" event years ago and someone put a rockte into a bottle to launch and the bottle fell over, sending the rocket into the crowd. I then became a horrible mother and would not allow my children to have or go to any fireworks displays. We donated the money to our local SPCA instead. They only fought the first year and neither of them use fireworks now even though they live alone.
Dolls N DreamsI'm with you all, my Tiffani HATES them, she goes nuts, I have to turn the tv volume wayyyyyyyyyyyy up and she hides under my work table , we can not leave her alone during fire works and she is just the same with loud thunder.
It sounds funny, but for some reason, she does better if I put her on her leash and she follows me all over the house.
PennsylvaniaIn order to gun break a hunting dog, a trainer uses a blank starter's pistol.
He starts a long distance away. 50 or 100 feet away. He fires the pistol into the air then praises and pets the dog. He repeats this exercise until the dog gets used to the sound from far away.
Next, the exercise is repeated from a closer distance. The gun is fired and the dog is petted and praised for standing still. The the whole thing is repeated over and over, at progressively closer distances until the trainer is standing right near the dog when the pistol goes off.
Once that exercise is completed, the whole exercise is repeated with a real gun. First from far away then progressively closer until the dog can tolerate the sound of a gun from actual firing distance.
(A hunting dog is usually no closer than 20 feet away from the hunter's gun in a real life situation.)
This training process can take weeks or months to get a dog to be ready to hunt but, if the trainer is persistent and patient, it can be done.
If you have a dog that is afraid of loud noises like fireworks or thunder, you can use the same process to train him to be less afraid.
Find a recording of some loud noise on a CD. You can usually find a disk of sound effects in the bargain bin of your local record store.
Start by playing with your dog. Let him play with his favorite toy. Just have fun. Then, when he's not suspecting, turn on your stereo and play the sound effects at a LOW LEVEL. Make it just loud enough to get the dog's attention but not enough to make the dog afraid. Use your judgement.
Keep playing with the dog. If he starts acting afraid, just pet him and praise him and do anything to distract him from the noise.
Don't let this "play session" go on any longer than 15 or 20 minutes.
The next time, repeat the whole exercise just like before but turn the stereo up by one notch.
Keey playing and petting him and telling him he's a "good doggie" until he gets used to the sounds.
After 15 or 20 minutes, stop. Wait till the next day to begin again.
Keep repeating the exercise, day after day, each time, turn the stereo up by one notch.
Eventually, you will work your way up to "top volume" on the stereo system.
Once you get to this point, it's time to wait until the next real life "loud noise."
Whether it's thunder or fireworks or gunshots, it's all the same process.
Just keep praising, petting and calling him "good doggie," over and over until the dog gets used to it.
It may take a long time and the dog might not ever become 100% acclimated to the sound but you should, at minimum, get him to the point where he won't go hiding under the sofa every time he hears a loud noise.
If your dog is very afraid of loud noises it would probably be a benefit to give him some training like this so yo won't have to worry about him so much the next time a loud noise comes along.
WigglesbearsOh bless him, we have 2 dogs and a cat, rabbit & guinea pig along with other pets, one of our dogs doesnt like the fireworks at all and trys to get behind the sofa, harley (cat) is also quite scared of fireworks and also runs behind the sofa or hides in a dark place too. The rabbit and guinea pig are in a hutch at the top of the garden, l make sure they are well covered up and go and check on them regularly too.
