Noise phobia desensitisation - does it work?

Hi everyone

Has anyone tried desensitising their dog to the sound of fireworks/thunderstorms using CDs/recordings?

Bailey is terrified of both, and while I can deal with fireworks because I mostly know when they're coming, I am dreading a thunderstorm happening during the day... she gets into such a state that one of us would have to race home from work to be with her so I am thinking of trying desensitisation CDs. Just wondering what results people have had?

no sorry i have never used them,sash hates fireworks too and its a nightmare time,we used dap spray and she has a thunder jacket,i hope you have some luck with the cds,do let us know how she gets on with them

i just played ordinary calming music with thumps occassionally mia has never let fireworks bother her but played music more for the little budgie i had . hope the cds work

Hiya - I've used them, Bug's phobia has definitely improved but we have tried so many things I can't say what did it. She didn't react even 50% as severely to the cd, even with it on a louder volume however, as she did to the real thing. I think it's possibly the vibrations/tension/general feel of the storm/fireworks.

We tried diazepam, thunder shirts, valerian spray, DAP collars, loud music/TV, lots of exercise before. The best combination we have found is a massive walk before plus thundershirt, and loud TV & curtains closed. But as you have said, that won't help in the middle of the day if there's a storm. It's such a hard thing to work with, and is really trial and error.

Thanks yes I have done the loud music/TV before, but I can't do that every day when I leave the house just in case there's a storm lol. The last couple of storms I have had her wrapped round me shaking like a leaf and panting for England and I am really worried about one happening when no-one is home. From what you have said the CDs are definitely worth a try

Sorry I can't offer any advice here but do let us know how you get on with the CD

We used them for trains. As Rach said I think the the vibrations play a role as well but the CD certainly won't hurt

As well as noise, there are so many things with storms that add to the whole. There's a change in air pressure, there's often strong wind and driving rain. A dog may not be scared of wind and rain in themselves but become so because of association.

I think that's why I found no change at all using the CD with Bobbert. We cracked fireworks - at one stage he could actually sleep through them instead of trying to dig through the floor or climb out of closed windows - and we did make major progress with storms if I was there, but if I was out I'd come back to find a skirting board ripped off, a door chewed, or something.

But, that's just that one dog so it's certainly worth a try. For what it's worth, the most effective thing I found for noise desensitisation overall was pairing it with food from the very earliest moment possible, being super happy with every bang 'yay, fab bang, have a treat' and putting him on the lead to restrict the amount of pacing that would wind him up even further.

Just an update to the original post. No luck with CDs, she just didn't have the same reaction as she does to the real thing. So I bought an Adaptil diffuser and omg it's made a massive difference. She is so much calmer during fireworks. Most evenings at the moment she stays on the sofa next to the diffuser even when no-one is in there with her. Last night (Halloween) there were so many and so close (it was like having someone on the doorstep with a machine gun ) that she needed some comfort from me but it was still nothing like as bad as it usually is. She was scared but not shaking. I even managed to interest her in a chew, something she won't do when she is really scared. I'm so relieved I have found something that helps

really glad you have found some thing that works

That's really useful to know, and a great result for you. Hopefully this is just the start of her learning that fireworks and storms aren't quite as bad as she previously feared.

Brilliant news

Good result , but different to mine in that ingot no benefit at all from Adaptil as a calming agent , and I used a YouTube clip ( fireworks for dogs ) that's eleven mins long of fireworks sounds , had no problems at all over the weekend , that said it was MissyMoos first Halloween so I can't really say how she would have reacted without the YouTube clip .

Nice one. Glad it seems to have worked for her