fireworks cures thunder-phobic dog

[Bo Peep]

Usher was always afraid of the thunder, until the 4th of July. He loved watching the fireworks in the sky and the noise was just a simple annoyance to him. Today, we had our first thunderstorm since then. Instead of pleading to come INTO the house, my nutty dog was asking to go outside!! I thought he must "really" have to go potty. Well, instead he was looking to the sky to watch for the fireworks after he heard the thunder. I guess the fireworks somewhat desensitized him. He must have been more in tune to the beauty of the sky lighting up than the thunder. Any one hear of this happening?

[Lenajo]

No, but I think its worth remembering! Makes you wonder if he things the thunder is "secret invisible fireworks" and he's waiting to finally see it?

 

Be careful for a while though, and make sure this isn't going to be an OCD to replace a fear. I've seen a few rescues obsessed with clouds and it was virtually impossible to manage or fix.

 

Sorry...downer me. If this works and keeps working I'll help you shout it from the rooftops.

[Shetlander]

I guess the fireworks somewhat desensitized him. He must have been more in tune to the beauty of the sky lighting up than the thunder. Any one hear of this happening?

 

Not exactly, but one summer my Sheltie went from being very afraid of fireworks for the first several years of her life to being agitated/excited by the sounds, charging in the direction of where they are being set off. Her fear of thunder has also steadily diminished to the point that it takes a severe storm before she becomes frightened. Otherwise, she is concerned but not looking for cover.

[Jo&Tex]

Yes, the lovely obssesed with clouds/ shadows of clouds dog. I have one of those. My shadow obssessed deaf dog Loki just loves thunderstorms.

 

My new Nell is thunderphobic and twice she has launched herself onto my bed and BITTEN me when I tried to shove her off during the night. We are having a very stormy summer here so she's getting lots of chances to overcome her fears.

 

She wants to dig when she's scared so she gets put in her crate and ignored. The last big storm had her heading for the crate right away so we are making progress. I wonder if a simple roman candle thingy would cause her mind to melt completely, or maybe we could take baby steps from there to bigger, noisy fireworks.

[Tranquilis]

Well, instead he was looking to the sky to watch for the fireworks after he heard the thunder.

This is a new one to me, but he'd have loved the night, last night, here! Thunder and flashes from horizon to horizon.

[Allie Oop]

Interesting idea - I hope that continues to be the case for you. I'll be interested to hear if the pattern continues.

 

Unfortunately, my fireworks-freaking dog, who was not too thunder phobic before, regressed big time last night. The transformer in the alley behind our house got struck by lightning, arced to the house next door and, as you can imagine caused a huge boom, flash and sparks (with the subsequent loss of power). I thought Allie was going to come unglued (poor thing). Oh yeah, and add the sirens from the firetrucks to the mix. We ended up sedating her and letting her sleep in the bathroom behind the commode.

 

Tomorrow is a big holiday here in Utah (Pioneer Day) and there are TONS of fireworks -- I think it's going to be a very long couple of days.

[Angie H]

Wow - if that works for others, there would be A LOT of very grateful dogs and people!!

 

I guess how well it works for other dogs would depend on whether or not the dog views the fireworks display as rewarding, huh?

 

Did he notice them on his own or did you "show" them to him? Doesn't the BOOM usually sound before you see the display? Interesting that he stayed focused long enough to see them after the sound. I don't think my Sammy (the Shih Tzu that hates storms) would have stuck around to look UP!

[1sheepdoggal]

Allie Oop, I use to love Pioneer day! Another great holiday for a day off! Love the horse parade,and use to enjoy particapating in it. I rode with the Mustangers. Quite the experience, and loads of fun. They usually have a rodeo around then too, should prove to be plenty of things to keep one busy and entertained. Oh I miss Utah.

[JaderBug]

Huh... wish I would have known about this thread last night... RAGBRAI (Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, aka really annoying for people trying to get to work in the morning!!) was in town last night and there were fireworks. Could have taken Jade to see if this might work on her, I know she likes to stare at birds flying around, maybe she would like watching the fireworks. Jade couldn't care less about thunderstorms, but she gets anxious/nervous whenever fireworks are going off, so a rapid-fire game of fetch began after we heard the first couple of booms.

 

I'm sure there will be plenty more opportunities for firework desensitization in Ames... there's always stuff going on here and they usually entail fireworks

[SoloRiver]

Do NOT try to desensitize a noise phobic dog by taking her to see fireworks. Maybe she's not actually phobic and it'll work, and maybe there are one in a million stories about dogs who desensitization worked on, but it is not worth taking the chance. It is far, far more common that dogs becomes sensitized to the noise and a traumatic experience (like being forced to watch an entire fireworks show from close range) could have catastrophic effects.

 

The vast majority of handlers with noise phobic dogs who I have talked to over the past few years, never mind every single veterinary behaviorist out there, would agree with me on this.

[diane allen]

I'm glad, Melanie, you posted that. I was horrified that someone might try taking a dog to fireworks to "cure" them of thunder-phobia! Mine hates all such noises, and I'm convinced (no data) that more frequent fireworks have increased her sensitivity to thunder. Yes, we hate Pioneer Day in Utah, as much as the Fourth of July and New Year's Eve. It's off to the mountains for us tomorrow evening (we had the "preview" this evening....ack!).

 

diane

[Blue Dog]

I've had a different experience.  I have four of these piebald critters now: 7-year old Blue, 4-year old Bonnie, and 16-month old Prince and Sophie who are the children of Bonnie and Blue.  Blue has always barked at loud, nearby thunder.  Not a scared bark but and aggressive "knock that off" type of bark.  Bonnie has never had any kind of reaction to thunderstorms.  Several years ago, we took Blue to a 4th of July celebration where we were situated less than 40 feet from where the fireworks were being set off.  Blue got scared and we left.  He still has no fear of thunderstorms.  Bonnie and Prince still ignore them.  Today, we had a pretty violent one in terms of light and noise.  Sophie came unglued.  I was surprised given that neither parent has this problem.  I already knew that it often appeared between 12 and 24 months but thought, given the known genetics, I would be spared this.  Tight hugs are all that worked this evening.  The other 3 got in the pile too and I think that helped.

I have not checked today but neither of Prince and Sophie's two siblings have ever had a problem with thunderstorms.

Lest someone take from this that I think breeding Border Collies as an amateur is a good idea.  Don't.  I love my pups but for 1000 reasons that I will detail in a later post, I'll never do it again.  Both of my girls are now reproductively compromised.  Still debating fixing the guys.