It should be said, if you have a puppy or are getting a puppy. Socialize and habituate them to the sounds. Start with recordings of fireworks playing in another room, treat them when they react to the sounds. When they start wagging their tails and come to you when they hear it, make it more intense by increasing the volume or bringing then into the room. Keep practicing and proofing multiple days per week for months until your puppy happily comes to you when they hear loud bangs.
My puppy now wags his tail and joyfully comes to me when lightning strikes because he thinks it’s a fun treat game. Absolutely way better than the alternative. It takes a few weeks with puppies, could take years for traumatized rescues and adults.
This is why I haven’t invited a dog into my life yet… I still have sooo much to learn about how to help a pup live a happy and healthy life, can’t wait though!!!
We take our puppy to a group training class that socialises our pup to other puppies and drip feeds/reminds us of how to raise him, as well as training. I did a tonne of reading before hand but realised I could have winged it with all the great info at puppy class.
But I waited a decade for me to be in the right place to raise him right. I have prioritised his raising above all else these first 2 months and get to slow down next month as his foundation is quite strong now. It’s all been so worth it!
My previous dog was a puppy when the local baseball team won the world series. The neighbor behind us started shooting off fireworks. He got a little freaked out by the first couple, but saw we weren’t really reacting to them, and settled down quickly, and pretty soon was actually watching the guy light them off and then looking up to the sky to watch them explode. After that, any time he heard fireworks he’d run to a window to try to watch them, happy as could be.
My current dog, afaik, has never given a shit about fireworks. We got her at about a year old, so I’m not too sure what, if anything, her previous owners did to desensitize her, but she does not react in the slightest. She is dog reactive though (from being bitten when she was a puppy, we’re working on that, she is very close to actually being friendly with my friends’ dog) so I actually sometimes take advantage of them to take her for a walk because I know no one else is going to be walking their dog.
But I’ve had experience on the other end of the spectrum as well, my first childhood dog was terrified of fireworks (and thunder, and parakeets, and basically anything that could make a loud noise.) She’d start shaking and hide under a bed or in the bathroom. It was sad to watch, and we’d do what we could to help her feel safe and comfortable. We weren’t really fireworks people, but we didn’t begrudge anyone their fireworks over them scaring our dog, it was what it was.
It should be said, if you have a puppy or are getting a puppy. Socialize and habituate them to the sounds. Start with recordings of fireworks playing in another room, treat them when they react to the sounds. When they start wagging their tails and come to you when they hear it, make it more intense by increasing the volume or bringing then into the room. Keep practicing and proofing multiple days per week for months until your puppy happily comes to you when they hear loud bangs.
My puppy now wags his tail and joyfully comes to me when lightning strikes because he thinks it’s a fun treat game. Absolutely way better than the alternative. It takes a few weeks with puppies, could take years for traumatized rescues and adults.
This is why I haven’t invited a dog into my life yet… I still have sooo much to learn about how to help a pup live a happy and healthy life, can’t wait though!!!
We take our puppy to a group training class that socialises our pup to other puppies and drip feeds/reminds us of how to raise him, as well as training. I did a tonne of reading before hand but realised I could have winged it with all the great info at puppy class.
But I waited a decade for me to be in the right place to raise him right. I have prioritised his raising above all else these first 2 months and get to slow down next month as his foundation is quite strong now. It’s all been so worth it!
This is good advice. Sadly it doesn’t work for every cat or dog but In most cases this is great.
My previous dog was a puppy when the local baseball team won the world series. The neighbor behind us started shooting off fireworks. He got a little freaked out by the first couple, but saw we weren’t really reacting to them, and settled down quickly, and pretty soon was actually watching the guy light them off and then looking up to the sky to watch them explode. After that, any time he heard fireworks he’d run to a window to try to watch them, happy as could be.
My current dog, afaik, has never given a shit about fireworks. We got her at about a year old, so I’m not too sure what, if anything, her previous owners did to desensitize her, but she does not react in the slightest. She is dog reactive though (from being bitten when she was a puppy, we’re working on that, she is very close to actually being friendly with my friends’ dog) so I actually sometimes take advantage of them to take her for a walk because I know no one else is going to be walking their dog.
But I’ve had experience on the other end of the spectrum as well, my first childhood dog was terrified of fireworks (and thunder, and parakeets, and basically anything that could make a loud noise.) She’d start shaking and hide under a bed or in the bathroom. It was sad to watch, and we’d do what we could to help her feel safe and comfortable. We weren’t really fireworks people, but we didn’t begrudge anyone their fireworks over them scaring our dog, it was what it was.