Fireworks

Is your staffy prepared for the fireworks? Below is a few things you can try
Thundershirt
Apatil collar and plug in you can purchase these from amazon or your vet.
 Make a safe quiet place for your staffy to go if they need such as a crate or a cupboard
Play low soothing music can help too.
Obtaining medication from the vet can take time may be advisable to get the medication now the time november arrives your dog will be prepared .
Slow introduction for pups is useful as it will help in later life with your dogs.

Good one Crystal

Great reminder Crystal.

I moved it to chat as I think more people will read it here

thanks for posting Crystal,i'm dreading it.Last year they went on for so long nearly 3 weeks,god knows how long this year

Not sure how Maya will react just yet, but i will do as i did with my past friends and offer comfort and reassurance Plus she has her crate to hide in if she wishes to

mia will be fine it me that'll hide in the cupboard

Got Diwali first too - then new years eve after - it goes on and on. Bluddy fireworks I hate the traumatic effect it has on animals.

She's fine I'm not lol prob cause Iza is a country dog and is used to loud noises like shotguns and farm machinery.

im not sure how Spudders will react...The fireworks will start to go off in October...Halloween will probably freak him out too!

Especially those with puppies... get working on it now! You can buy fireworks CDs to get them used to the sounds (although I'm not convinced they sound like fireworks really), and you can find/make all sorts of noises, getting bigger and bigger. Your neighbours might think you nuts as you start dropping pan lids on the floor, but the more you can desensitise to big noises in general, the better chance you stand.

I'm a firm believer in our attitudes while training in fear situations being absolutely critical. I managed to get Bobbert (yes, him again) to be able to sleep through fireworks instead of trying to dig through the floor, by pairing every tiny bang we heard throughout the year with a 'yay! did you hear that? have a treat!'. Millie appears to be fine with loud noises, which is a bit amazing for a dog who can have a meltdown over someone coming in through the wrong door, but I am still doing that with her now to make sure. And above all, don't get worried yourself as they will pick it up.

One other thing I found incredibly effective with Bob was to put his harness and lead on. Otherwise, he would pace, pace, pace (while not digging or trying to climb out of closed windows), and he'd wind himself up more and more. With the harness on, I could ask him to sit with me and so prevent that build up.

Another thing that can help some dogs is to go for a drive in the car. The sound of the car, especially with the radio on, can block out some of the noise, the vibration of the engine helps too, and the fact that you're moving I think also contributes. I remember one New Year at midnight we drove for 20 minutes to a walk on the canal, to somewhere I was confident we could sit quietly, only to find that a nearby house had a fireworks display! But in the car on the way there and back, even though I knew there were fireworks around, he was fine.

This is the only thing I'm thankful for when it comes to not having my baby any more he was terrified of fireworks and inconsolable. We used to have to take him (drag him) into the car and take him to my partner's work place to get away. They've started already by us

I have a thundershirt if anyone would like it? I'd have to find it and I don't want anything for it. Let me know if you think it would help and I will send it to you (if I can find it).

Any help I can give anyone else out there I'm happy to x

Could Danaher have your Thundershirt, Vikki? I'm sure they'd love it for one of our worriers.

http://www.rspcaessex.org.uk/adoptadog.html

Id donate the items to rescue too least you know another dog will benefit  

Lexi doesn't care about them she just lies and farts as normal.

Absolutely - I will try and find it out x

I'm lucky, Katy doesn't react to fireworks I do feel for the ones that do, but she's been bought up with chainsaws & a rock 'n' roll band BUT if you put a wheelie bin in the wrong place on her walk she will freak out

Oh bless her jen

I wonder how Misty will react? I have a feeling I'll be using Lizs tip of being excited and treating her when we hear one.

Milo was okay last year - he laid by me on the sofa while I knitted and I didn't speak or look at him and he just slept. This year tho he freaked out at some roofers on the roof over the back - they were using nailguns and he ran back inside the house shaking so I'm not expecting the same this year. I hate the flaming things

went in to pah and spoke to one of the sales guys there who seemed to know his stuff,explained i had brought a thundershirt,adaptil spray and collar and had tried rescue remedy all with no brilliant results and for £20.00 he sold me a pet remedy plug in diffuser which is meant to be better than adaptil one any ways he promised if i kept the receipt and it did'nt work he'd refund my money so waiting to see if it helps

Tramadol or valium from vet then you can both be zonked together

i really dont want to go down that road if i can help Col,3 weeks of her being on Valium surely cant be good for her??she's pretty calm tonight so may be the plug in is helping i guess the nearer we get to the 5th will tell

3 weeks? didnt realise pal, pretty addictive for humans. Give her a hg from me x

should ban them for public sale.

i will lovey thank you x we just got idiots round here that think its funny just to let random ones off,just one will get her shaking and panting and stressing her out

stella i hope the plug in works hen poor sasha. at least you can put the money to something else for it should it not work cuddles from me and mia sasha they start here and someone each night lets 5 off right in the middle of a housing estate i agree with col they should only be used at organised public displays in the middle of nowhere.

Bug has gotten SO much better, but the one's that catch us out (at 5pm on a random wednesday night - who does that?!) are the ones that spook her the most. She still won't come near me when they're going off, but will go to her bed now and will take her bone or kong, rather than attacking the back door!

Poor bug rachel was kinda nervous when i first got mia its me that hides not her

I saw signs for big displays this and next weekend so I'm prepared. Took him for an epic walk and am currently sitting with a bag of treats at the ready just in case, but fingers crossed he's staying asleep. The WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Boom! ones are the only iffy fireworks for Gizmo.

Good luck everyone xx

There is a big display up the road from us, so far we cant hear a thing but I feel for the dogs in that village & the horses

Again, Lexi didn't care. I brought my horses in just in case, cause ones preggo and one has never been here on haloween before so not sure if he has ever seen fireworks lol

There was loads going off last night at a close neighbours garden, i have to say that Maya never batted an eyelid

Good girl, Maya!

Millie wasn't bothered either. I did have plenty of treats ready if we needed to play the 'yay! a firework!' game but she only woke up briefly to stroll into the living room and tuck herself into a corner of the sofa before going back to sleep.

3 dogs ok with fireworks in one house, wow!

Excellent liz Must be a nightmare with 3 dogs going mad with fireworks outside.

LizP wrote:Good girl, Maya!

Millie wasn't bothered either. I did have plenty of treats ready if we needed to play the 'yay! a firework!' game but she only woke up briefly to stroll into the living room and tuck herself into a corner of the sofa before going back to sleep.

3 dogs ok with fireworks in one house, wow!

That is good Liz, Maya is my fourth dog since getting married, and only my last one ( Sheba ) used to go ballistic with fireworks.

There were a bunch of screechy rockets last night. He started to bark like mad so i got out his squeaky ball and we dashed round the house playing with it.

Luckily it's so foggy tonight nobody's set any off.

The local council decided to put on a display last week for Halloween. No idea why they did it then. However, it was about 400m from my house and it was the first time Nita had heard them, being with me. She was trembling and panting something terrible bless her. I had to put on some soothing classical to drown out the noise. Even tucked up close to me with a blanket around her she was still scared. God knows what the 5th is going to be like.

Sounds like Nita isn't too keen Ains, might be worth trying the adaptil

She isnt keen at all, poor thing. Just been on to Amazon and bought some for her.

Argh! Bug's been loosing it all night.. It's not like it's a proper display that I can prepare for - just some yobs setting off the odd REALLY loud one. First one went off at 5pm!! Bug dived off the sofa with her loudest bark and threw herself at the window managed to distract with food, but it's so frustrating because she wil be on edge now for the next 24 hours idiots!

poor nita

im one of the folk that thinks they should be organised display away from houses and farms. irresponsible people

I count my blessings but feel so bad for you guys

Has anyone tried calming spot on to calm their dog down while fireworks are freaking them out?

Dizzy have you tried a thundershirt? Its a coat to help during firework season you can buy them from most pet stores such as pets at home

No I haven't, but I might give it a try for the weekend, when I think the big displays are mainly on.

The calming spot on stuff has helped, my boy's asleep next to me on the sofa!

Great news... Pleased to hear your boy is sleeping through it

aww bless his wee staffy socks mias asleep i have eminem on not everybodys cuppa tea.

Bugger, in my haste I only went and bought the refill. Do any of the commonly used diffusers work with the refills?