With Bonfire nght approaching Im worried about whats the best approach is to dealing with my dog. Plus if anyone has got tips for other animals as well Im sure others will appreciate the advise.

Hes only 8 months old so has never seen/heard fire works. Hes ok with thunder and gun shots so isnt likely to have a problem but im not really sure on the best way to deal with it. Am i better to keep him in doors after dark to avoid them? My mum always took this approach with her dogs and they were all extremely petified of all loud noises. Which is making me want to do something different.

Or do i expose him to fire works (both sight and sound)in order that he knows what they are and isnt frightened of the unknown? If i do expose him how should i handle it? Do i just act as calm as possible in order that he thinks nothings wrong? Or am i better giving him lots of fuss?

What are other peoples experiences? Anyone have any tips?

I wouldnt be as concerned if it was still Bonfire NIGHT but its not theres weeks and weeks of it to look forward to:rant: But that just me being grumpy :)

They have CDs at the vets with different noises on to get dogs used to all different sounds. That might be worth trying. I stay in with my dogs at bonfire time and just carry on as normal,maybe turn tv up a bit.3 of them are fine but the one with seperation anxiety needs lots of reasurance that there's nothing to worry about.

We put the radio on for our dogs just to drown the sound out a little bit. We always stay in to tell the truth but if we did go out we leave our dogs in the kitchen with the blind shut, light on and radio and they seem ok with it
Halloween is the worst as the dogs bark everytime people knock at the door.

Hope this helps

Im worried about this too so im glad the op has asked this, as Luna was still with her mum last year and my 3 bundles of fun (stress) are now 1, 9 months and 5 months so im sure fireworks night is going to be eventfull as daisy the 9 month old is scared of her own shadow and as a English Bull Terrier she is pretty heavy at 5 stone when she jumps on me for reassurance!

If your dog has a crate, cover it over so he has somewhere safe to go if he wants to. Takara no longer has her crate in the house (not my choice as she loves it!) so I make up a little den for her in the lounge with a blanket hung over the chair and sofa to make her a little safe space. Eddy's deaf so it doesn't bother him!

I tend to put some loud music on or the TV on quite loud as Takara's always been noise sensitive.

However, I've always tried making it no big deal and throwing her a treat every time one went off. This never worked as she was too stressed until I experimented with serene-um, a herbal stress remedy which calmed her down enough to allow her to chill and take the treat and thus helped her learn they weren't that scary. After that, I've never had such a big problem with it.

I'd say throw him a ball or give him a treat - but only when you hear a firework. So he begins to associate the fireworks with getting the play/toy/food.

Despite saying this - I wouldn't give him too much fuss, just act as though you aren't bothered in the slightest and haven't really noticed that he's anxious (if he is). Just allow him somewhere to retire to, play if he will, otherwise leave him alone. Try not reassure him though.

This year I have a noise sensitive rat to contend with too so I expect I'll be flitting upstairs and downstairs to check on the dog and the rat whilst the cat and the deaf dog sleep soundly!

Halloween is the worst as the dogs bark everytime people knock at the door.


Id forgotten about halloween. Yea thats actually going to be worst :) Normally id sit in the dark watching scary films and ignore the door (yes im an anti halloweenist) but my beloved dog isnt going to like that.

He saw his first firework last night. He was out doing a wee and saw and heard it all. He just stared for abit then looked at me so i yawned in an attempt to look bored and as if it was the most normal thing in the world and he did a wee and trotted back in side. Turns out i was worried about nothing.

Id jokenly said to my OH that there be fireworks from the 15th as that when a particular chain of supermarket was starting to sell them and right on que there they were. :rant:

Good old fireworks :roll:

Well, I heard the first ones a few nights ago and see my thread... I have cats and rabbits. The cats are staying in until bonfire is well and truely over, the rabbits are coming in at night. On another forum, someone has said that bringing the rabbits in at night will 'mess them up' as in they wont survive outside anymore after that, but i'm willing to keep them indoors forever.

Ive not got a dog, so I havent got any tips for them. But for cats, just keep them in! I live on a busy road too, so if one goes off and my cat runs to hide crossing the road without time... You know!

I hate this time of year, not only do people set them off at silly hours that it wakes up my son but the animals have got to have an extra eye on them too! If only it was a few nights before bonfire and a few nights after but its turned into.. 3 weeks before and 3weeks after :rant:

Halloween is the worst as the dogs bark everytime people knock at the door.


Nobody knocks at our door... :D

I think the local kids do partake but they are scared of the dogs... or me... (probably me actually)

From where we live, we can hear the Speedway on a Thursday night. At about 9.30pm last night, the racing must have just finished and was followed by a firework display of some sort.

Now, I live miles away from Owlerton and the fireworks still sounded like we were in the middle of a war.

Little Coco has never heard fireworks so this was her first time. Glad they only lasted about 20 mins - she was going crackers!! Poor little thing

Casper was hilarious with fireworks. He always wants to see what's going on, so he'd come to the bottom of the garden with everyone else, then when it was a loud one he'd run back to the dining room, then slowly creep forward again. I'm not sure he really understood, but the only reason he was bothered was the volume as his ears were better than ours (he did this every year, not just once).

Personally I would have treats and a den ready, but don't act concerned- if you're nervous about how he's going to be then you're going to pass those nerves onto him. As a young and confident dog just have a good evening with him and do lots of calm and positive things.

I know that two of my cats are going to have issues with fireworks and that the only thing I can do for them is to allow them into their place of safety (which is underneath my bum inside the base of my sofa in the living room) so that's what I let them get on with, but although Molly flaps about all sorts of things, fireworks aren't one of them and I do try to make sure that that doesn't change.

I wouldn't want to leave her on her own whilst fireworks were happening because she does struggle with separation anxiety, but last year I deliberately took her out for a walk during all of the local displays (because she was being nosy about all of the people coming and going and wanted a neb) and did a training session outside with lots of stimulation and positive attention- and she was happy as a pig in muck.

Baby, on the other hand, had a serious fright last night when fireworks went off outside while she was out. At the sound of the first bang I went to the door and called her in and she shot in like her tail was on fire and then ran round the house completely fluffed up and not allowing anyone to touch her. Calm was restored when she got into her safe spot under the sofa, but she's never likely to learn to be a calm cat who copes well due to being feral. I wish I could give her some calmness as a gift, but I know that the best I can do is to love her up when she lets me.

my first bonfire with diamond too! she doesnt like thunder if shes outside but is fine indoors in her carte radio blaring fingers xd shel be same with fireworks!

One of mine is fine with loud noises and actually sat on the bench with me watching the fireworks last year. I took him to the norfolk par fair every year where they have re enactments from different centuries with alot of gun fire and explosions and was a star sat and watched that too. lol. I've not had a bonfire night with my second dog but the fireworks have been going off for a while round here and he doesn't seem to concerned.

I tried to desensatise them to noise as soon as I got them. I walked them round town, parks, bus stations, took tem to fairs and even to medieval reenactments. they've got used to a lot of different noises and are just really chilled. The only thing that my first dog doesn't like is fire. Won't go near it. Good thing I know but I'm talking about the gas fire in the living room too. In winter I put the dog bed in front of the fire. Every other dog loves it but not this one. Preferes the sofa! lol.