Firework destruction

Hi, we've used this site before and found it very helpful when we thought we had '' separation anxiety'' issue, but now we are not sure.
On the 23rd of December last year we came home after a shopping trip only to find our staffie Ronnie had ripped a door frame off and trashed the house, as well as biting through a central heating pipe flooding the downstairs of the house! She has just turned 6 years old and we've had her from 6 weeks and is a lovely dog, one of the family, with no probs at all. She is not crossed with anything and is very calm and very well trained, not wild in any way.

We got her a ''crate '' to use as her bed and we couldn't believe she liked it very much, just to keep the house safe when we're out, it is not used as a punishment area in any way, and her door is always open when we're around. I am lucky enough to be able to spend all day with her as we have since getting her from birth.

We returned after a night out last Saturday and she had gone looney in the cage, very nearly getting through it and snapping a Perspex 3mm thick floor too loads of little bits, thankfully she didn't eat any or she could have been in real trouble. She's been fine since last year, all good, then this. We noticed she '' hits the deck '' when the fireworks go bang and starts freaking out with the panting and shaking etc. We don't want to dope her, any ideas how to get her fear level down ?

Any help from you guys out there would be great, Thankyou.

my girl hates fireworks and shakes and pants the same as yours,i think we have had 3 weeks of them here on and off,we have a thundershirt for her and dap spray that we spray on to it(not directly on her),i think it does help her she's aware that they are going on but calmer.

Thanks, we were told about the jacket with the separation thing, do you think its worth a shot? How does your girl take it when putting it on ?

Read on here some lady trying to start a petition to get the '' bangs '' removed from the fireworks !!

i would try any thing to help her not get stressed out ,so its def worth ago,i know some have worked well and some it has'nt,pets at home sell them i think i paid around £30 for hers but you might find cheaper on line,she's fine about putting it on,she got a bit wise to it and as i put it on when it started to get dark started to associate with the fireworks starting,so i kept it on over night a few times.fire works should be the 5th Nov and thats it,just another way to make more money

When we was little it was on the 5th and that was that, now its 2 months !!!

Thanks, may give it a try before talking to the vet ( again ) ! Been looking at this Zylkenepet stuff, supposed to calm then but we are talking about staff !!!

Thanks once again.

your most welcome,do stick around and let us know how she gets on and if you find some thing that works,its good to share if some thing works well

just my opinion and it doesnt make it gospel. it works for me in a variety of ways but may not all dogs. most Dogs are creatures of habbit, they love routine and knowing what is coming next. when something upsets that routine they may become anxiouse if its a sudden change. all year long the dog has been used to settling down at night then suddenly in november its dark for the night walk after the clock change and a nightmare of noises erupts from nowhere, remember a dogs hearing is far better than ours so god know what they are hearing. no wonder they get upset, its all change change change and we sometimes dont help by getting agitated with the neighbours and swearing about the fireworks, dogs pick up on this and sense our hatred/fear of thouse unexplained bangs and whistles. you could try conditioning which is to apply happy memories with the noises, for instance find a recording of a new years event or firework display and play it low while doing something fun with the dog, treats, play etc and then up the volume ever so slightley over the next few days. repeat until your dog ignores them and focuses on the fun side of things. its not a quick fix but your teaching your dog not to be fearfull of the noises and that they arnt so strange after all

Yes, I've heard of this, its what the police do to train their horses not to freak in a riot or crowd etc.It may be worth a go as another 6 weeks of this may be too much for her. She lost a claw with the cage freak-out last Sat so can't even walk her at the mo, shes just doing her biz in the garden which she doesn't like at all. Thankyou very much.

tupsielou wrote:Yes, I've heard of this, its what the police do to train their horses not to freak in a riot or crowd etc.It may be worth a go as another 6 weeks of this may be too much for her. She lost a claw with the cage freak-out last Sat so can't even walk her at the mo, shes just doing her biz in the garden which she doesn't like at all. Thankyou very much.

exactly, like i said its not a quick fix but can be very effective. feel for your baby, hope she is feeling better soon