Dogs and fireworks

A scary Saturday for Stevie

Fireworks are stressful for many dogs

Before I had dogs I always loved fireworks. The whooshes, fizzes, pops and bangs and glorious technicolour displays plus the smell of gunpowder always evoked childhood memories of bonfire night, eating jacket potatoes around the bonfire, making silly shapes with sparklers and generally having a great time. But not anymore.

Yesterday I was provided with an early reminder of the effects that fireworks can have on our dogs...

We'd spent the afternoon and evening at my Mother in Law's house and just as we were about to leave, at around 9pm, someone started letting off fireworks - the very loud kind that make the windows rattle and dogs howl, cower and shake.

The effect on Stevie was immediate and very distressing to see. The first firework went off while he was snoozing in the lounge. Within a nano-second, his ears pricked up, he stood up and started to shake. His heart was racing and he had nowhere to escape to. We managed to make it to the car between bangs and unfortunately, just as the hounds got into the car a loud bang went off, making poor Stevie even more fearful.  We drove away quickly and left the firework sounds a long way behind us.

Our drive home is a good half hour's drive away, yet Stevie was still shaking when we got home. He immediately ran up stairs to his dog bed, in the quietest corner of the house, and stayed there panting, shaking and with his heart racing.  It took a long time for him to calm down.

Stevie is very fearful of fireworks

It's only the beginning of September and bonfire night is about 8 weeks away.  New Year's Eve is even further off. However, last night's events were a salutary and somewhat timely reminder of what is to come

There are some great web resources to help all of us prepare our dogs for what is now turning into a weekend or even weeks of firework 'celebrations.' 

I've listed a few of my favourite sites below. They're all packed with practical and realistic advice to help us help our dogs, at what is a very stressful time for our pets.

• Dogs and Fireworks is a fantastic site which was established last year by some great friends of mine. It includes a free e-book, packed full of practical advice, and a free MP3 of firework noises.

• David Ryan's website contains some great advice too and David is the current chair of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors

• There's also the Sounds Scary CD which can be used in the weeks running up to bonfire night to help desensitise your dog to firework sounds

So, where does this leave me with Stevie?  Well, I'll definitely be following the advice in the websites I've listed above.  I'll begin with gradually introducing him to the noises of fireworks by using  prerecorded sounds of fireworks. I'll also be using a DAP collar and diffuser, and making sure Stevie has a quiet den that he can escape to and feel safe in.

I certainly won't be letting off any fireworks when the 5th of November arrives. I'll walk all the dogs early, close the curtains, turn the TV up loud and keep the house as calm as possible.

Most of all, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief once the weekend of 5 November is out the way and then take a deep breath to start preparing for New Year's Eve.

Mina's mission... aka ' The Alternative Toy Story. Part 1'

I've blogged about Mina's "squeaker seeker and destroyer" tendencies before (see December 2009 Archive).

I'm sure it's a situation many dog owners find themselves in... a brand new plush toy, dog excitedly starts to play with it and then about 50 seconds later, said plush toy has been well and truly disemboweled, squeaker removed and the stuffing knocked out of it - quite literally.

I've lost count of the number of toys Mina has disemboweled, pulled apart and shredded. Cheap toys, expensive toys, Mina pretty much destroys them all - if not within a matter of seconds, then usually a few hours.  I sometimes wonder if she sees it as a personal challenge (if any dog toy manufacturers are reading this - I'm sure I could hire Mina out as a toy tester!)

So, what's survived and what's made it onto the Mina Wall of Shame?

The Wall of Shame...
Valentine's teddy (only a £1 from poundland)

Sadly, this teddy didn't live long past Valentine's day.  I bought three teddies in total - one for each hound - and yes, you've guessed it, Mina destroyed them all!


Only one of the original teddies now remains. This Ted is minus his innards and one leg, but still gets thrown around by Mina and Jasper on a fairly regular basis.


Twas the night before Christmas....
...well, OK then, it wasn't really; it was Christmas day and each hound received Rudolph the Rope Reindeer.

The 'before' shot of Stevie's reindeer

'Caught in the act'

The 'evidence'

"Who me?"

Even poor Rudolph couldn't stand up to Mina's inquisitive and supercharged squeaker seeking capabilities. I suppose you could say it was her alternative to the stuffing served with the turkey!

Boyes finest - Freddy the Frog

Another multiple buy, I have lost count of how many versions of Freddy the Frog I have bought - he croaked it too! The slide show is like an animation of Mina in full squeaker seeker and destroyer mode.


The pièce de la résistance...

After five long years, toys were no longer enough and Mina turned her attentions to her bed.  In fairness, I think there was a little, tiny hole in the cushion and Mina being Mina couldn't resist  pulling at the stuffing. From there, one thing led to another....

To find out what toys have survived the Mina Wall of Shame, watch out for The Alternative Toy Story, Part 2...coming soon to a blog near you.

If you've some stories of your dogs toy terrors, do share them too.