Sigh! Another awful 4th of July

[ejano]

cd- Through A Dog's Ear or Canine Lullabies

 

I've been reading "Through A Dog's Ear" It's an interesting book. Instead of listening to NPR's talk radio stations, I put on a classical stream and the dogs went right to sleep in the study .....

 

 

Liz

[rushdoggie]

Woot woot! its pouring rain!

 

(note, I feel bad for people who planned a picnic or other outdoor activity, however its keeping the yahoos with fireworks indoors as well!)

[Laurae]

Woot woot! its pouring rain!

 

(note, I feel bad for people who planned a picnic or other outdoor activity, however its keeping the yahoos with fireworks indoors as well!)

 

Yeah, but they still have the fireworks they've already bought--now they'll just set them off at more random times...

[nancy in AZ]

I ended up calling the sheriff's office on a neighbor last night. It's bad enough to terrorize dogs with firecrackers, but when you set off FIREWORKS (the kind that go up high then explode into a cloud of streamers and sparks that fall onto tinder dry ground) for the the second time this week... that kind of idiocy requires law enforcement.

 

And this while the Schultz Wildfire is still burning near Flagstaff (forcing the evacuation of one of AzBCR's volunteer's along with all of her animals, as well as foster dogs, when it burned to within 20 feet of her neighborhood).

[Guest maya's mom]

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one that hates fireworks, and therefore, the 4th of July. I'm so tired of my husband tell me I'm just being a big'ol "you know what"!

 

Maya is very scared of them and has a similar reaction to thunderstorms. I had to laugh at one response, of driving your dog somewhere else just so they could go to the bathroom. I have done this! A few months ago, on some random night, so idiots in my neighborhood were shooting of fireworks for 2 hours, right around bedtime. (Also last potty time.) Maya would not go outside but hadn't relived herself in a number of hours, so I had no choice but to drive her somewhere.

 

I purchased a Thundershirt, but Maya didn't show any calming from it. The last big storm we got, I used a Bendryl which seemed to help take the edge off. So, I will try that this weekend. We live in a suburban neighborhood, and people are just obsessed with fireworks. I must admit, my in-laws are in this group. They don't set their own off, but they will drive around all weekend to various towns, just to see the display. I'm sorry, but seen one, seem them all. I do not get it, and do not like to be kept awake until 3am with a terrified dog!!!

 

OK....thanks for the venting! Goodluck to everyone.

[burdock]

I am glad our Emmalina did very well last night with the war that went on around us, used the lets play Frisbee and training for a distraction when she was acting not real bad but you could see the stress and it took her mind of the issue at hand, good luck to all who have issues with this time of year.

[Root Beer]

Night one down. It wasn't too bad. They didn't start up until about 10:30, so I packed Dean up and we went for an hour and a half ride. He snapped right back to normal in the car, which has apparently become the Dean Dog safe place extrodinaire.

 

Tried the muffs, which do work well for fireworks off in the distance. When things are exploding over our house, they do nothing.

 

Tonight I will probably be out driving for several hours. I hope they don't feel the need to do this again on Monday because I have to work on Tuesday.

 

At least one night is over.

[mbc1963]

Meh. If my neighbors weren't forgiving of the occasional 5 a.m. "Buddy goes out to pee but accidentally starts barking loudly at some critter" faux pas on my part, I'd have been calling the po-lice on them last night.

 

Friday night, the firecrackers started up about 9:30, and continued on until 11 or so. Buddy is OK with distant ones, but this year, some neighbors have decided to buy the loud-as-warfare ones and set them off in both the street in front of my house AND the yard behind my house. Frenzy.

 

Last night, they started about 8:30 and didn't end until midnight. Poor dog - he does take some comfort from being touched, and last night he was pushing his curled-up body so hard into mine, trying to burrow.

 

Tonight, I'm sleeping at my parents' A/C-ed and fairly isolated house. Not worth the trouble or stress. Oy.

 

Mary

[Guest maya's mom]

Things were pretty bad around my house last night. Fireworks started up around 9:30, so I was able to get a "last call" pee, in, but no poop. We had been gone all day, and my dog walker stayed with Maya a few hours. I knew she had gone around 12-1pm, but she goes every night around 8, so I was worried about her not going. I put her in the car to drive somwhere quieter, but this time she could even hear them in the car and she was not happy. I couldn't find a quiet place to take her without driving an hour into the country somewhere, so we went home and got a Benadryl. Within about a half an hour, she had gone into the bathroom to lay behind the toilet, which I think makes her feel a little better. There were a lot of really loud fireworks going on until at least 11:30 or so. The benadryl seemed to take the edge off, and husband reported that sometime in the middle of the night she did leave the bathroom to lay in her normal sleeping spots. She'll be doing a lot of swimming today, so hopefully being tired tonight will help as well. So, though I really don't like doing it, I will be giving her the benadryl again tonight and hope it isn't any worse than last night. Although, I already see our "hard partying" neighbors senting up for a party......so not too excited about that. Seems to be a daytime party, but they are heavy drinkers, so I truly hope they don't decide to play with fireworks. Not only would that be scary, it would definitley be louder than anything last night.

Can't wait for next week.....

[lovemybc13]

Yes this is a huge problem for my Lexi. She has been progressively become more frightened of alot of things. Won't play frisbee outside or play in her pool either. This is such a huge dissapointment for me.

Vet says nothing physical and recommended dog behavorist. Well at 75.00 an hour, I did not have that as an option. So, we just play in the house...She will take walks willingly as long as there is nothing out of the norm that will set her off and believe me the list is pretty long. Balloons, large or unusual trucks or workman ladders, etc. She is the most loving and sensitive dog I have ever owned. My previous bc was not nearly as sensitive but she was not near as smart as Lexi either.

Last night we went to my mothers birthday dinner and came home to find Lexi shaking in a corner of the house. Apparently fireworks had been going on nearby and she was freaking OUT!! After much work, I got her to go out to pee and tried to get her to eat but she was just too scared. Visably shaking and wouldn't leave my side. Followed me everywhere. I have some medicine that the vet gave me. Don't know the name but she said she should sleep about 6-8 hours with it so I wrapped it in cheese and gave it to her. It took about 45 minutes before I saw that she calmed down and fell asleep at my feet.

Today she was lively and went out and ate her breakfast but still overly clingy. I know I will have to give her that pill again tonight. Needless to say I used to love July 4th, but now it is just a nuisance and a sorce of anxiety and worry.

I really don't know what is making her afraid of doing her games outside. It makes me sad. My husband is no help and says silly stuff like its just a phase or she will grow out of it. She will be 2 years old in August. Besides paying that dog behaviorist, I am out of ideas. I really want another dog for her as a companion but my husband is dead set against it. Says that would be double the bills for everything. I say that is true but I know it would be so great for Lexi.

[ejano]

Yes this is a huge problem for my Lexi. She has been progressively become more frightened of alot of things. Won't play frisbee outside or play in her pool either. This is such a huge dissapointment for me.

Vet says nothing physical and recommended dog behavorist. Well at 75.00 an hour, I did not have that as an option. So, we just play in the house...She will take walks willingly as long as there is nothing out of the norm that will set her off and believe me the list is pretty long. Balloons, large or unusual trucks or workman ladders, etc. She is the most loving and sensitive dog I have ever owned. My previous bc was not nearly as sensitive but she was not near as smart as Lexi either.

Last night we went to my mothers birthday dinner and came home to find Lexi shaking in a corner of the house. Apparently fireworks had been going on nearby and she was freaking OUT!! After much work, I got her to go out to pee and tried to get her to eat but she was just too scared. Visably shaking and wouldn't leave my side. Followed me everywhere. I have some medicine that the vet gave me. Don't know the name but she said she should sleep about 6-8 hours with it so I wrapped it in cheese and gave it to her. It took about 45 minutes before I saw that she calmed down and fell asleep at my feet.

Today she was lively and went out and ate her breakfast but still overly clingy. I know I will have to give her that pill again tonight. Needless to say I used to love July 4th, but now it is just a nuisance and a sorce of anxiety and worry.

I really don't know what is making her afraid of doing her games outside. It makes me sad. My husband is no help and says silly stuff like its just a phase or she will grow out of it. She will be 2 years old in August. Besides paying that dog behaviorist, I am out of ideas. I really want another dog for her as a companion but my husband is dead set against it. Says that would be double the bills for everything. I say that is true but I know it would be so great for Lexi.

 

Maybe there are some things that you can start to do while you are negotiating with your husband about seeing the behaviorist...there are several books that folks on the boards recommend...I don't remember all the titles, but if you search the posts, you will find them.

 

Also, when we were working with our last rescue dog, who came to us with issues, the first recommendation of the professional we worked with was to keep a journal of the dog's behavior....I didn't need to follow him around whispering in a tape recorder all day long, but just every now and then throughout the day, just look at the dog and write down how he was acting and what was going on in his environment. It really helped to pinpoint some triggers that were setting the dog off.

 

Becoming proactive can help to alleviate your fears which might help the dog relax a bit as well.

 

Liz

[rushdoggie]

Score 1 for pharmaceuticals!!

 

I have 3 dogs, 2 who are afraid and one who could care less. The Border Collie has always been over-the-top terrified, and my male Papillon was always nervous but he has gotten worse in recent years. I'm not sure if its because he is older, or if he's picked up more fear from Ross' fear. Before we moved to Vancouver, fireworks happened 2 night s a year: 7/4 and 12/31 and we could handle hiding out with them.

 

But here, they are legal for several days and VERY popular, it seems everyone everywhere sets them off.

 

This year we talked to the vet about help. He gave us Valium.

 

Friday night, it had been raining all day so I underestimated how many people would detonate them. I decided to just give specially frozen treat filled Kongs and turn the TV up. Well, it stopped raining at 7 pm and they were everywhere. Ross wouldn't eat his Kong at all and the Papillon did a little but kept barking and being scare.

 

Last night I gave them the Valium at 6 pm (long before it got dark) and both boys were much calmer! Ross finished his Kong and then sat between us on teh couch, still nervous but not terrified. Harley (the Papillon) dragged his Kong to his crate and spent 2 hours emptying it and then tried to find more in Swiffer's Kong.

 

I was very impressed. Everyone seems normal and happy this morning.

[lovemybc13]

[size="6"]I think this whole firework fear came into play last 4th at the dog park. During the DAY, some idiot lit off those fireworks that just sound like guns shooting rapidly out in the soccer field across the way. Lexi ran to the other side of the park and it took me 20 minutes to coax her back and then the $%#%$%^ people did it again! Well, back Lexi ran and then by the time I got her back to the middle of the park, she bolted for the gate to go home. I took her back to the dog park several times after and she would go in but just sit there and not play. Then I took her to the puppy side adjacent to the big dog run and she played in there. So she associated the noise with that large run. It was about a month later before she would play in the larger run again.

I like the idea of driving around during the fireworks instead of medicating her but they seem to go on for several hours around here. Given that it took 45 minutes to work last night, I will have to reschedule play and potty time so that I can give her the medicine and know she doesn't need food, excercise or a potty break then. It is quite the hassle but after watching her fear last night, I know it is worth it.[/size]

[nonaberry]

It's only 7 pm here on the west coast. It's the first 4th of July for my little ones but both are noise sensitive so I'm trying to be proactive. Both Brodie and Clementine have their dap collars on and both have had 25 mg of benadryl. Windows are closed, fans are on, Ravi Shankar cd is in......We'll see how it goes

[bc4ever]

Neighbors left their four dogs outside, alone, during the worst of the fireworks last night. That's just cruel. Not my favorite dogs, but the poor things barked nonstop for two hours. Thankfully, Scooter is still holding strong--another Fourth without incident. Sleeping quietly at my feet right now.

[Root Beer]

We got off easy this year! They set stuff off for about an hour, but it was much quieter than it was Saturday evening.

 

I'm thinking because it's so dry this year, they kept it to a minimum.

[Tommy Coyote]

Well, we made it. Not as bad as I had feared. I think a lot of people in my neighborhood just can't afford fireworks anymore. Thank goodness.

 

Saturday was pretty quiet until about 6 and then stuff went on until about 10 or so. Sunday was quiet until about 6:30 and then it got pretty loud until after midnite. And we had some going off last nite, too. But not nearly as bad as we had some years in the past.

 

I think the xanax helped. But I still had to put the dogs in their crates and cover them with blankets. They were quiet like that. Actually my neighbor's music was way more annoying than the fireworks. He had people over and they turned the music up so loud you could probably hear it for two blocks.

 

The paper reported that 50 children ended up at Children's Mercy Hospital. Don't know how many more at other hospitals all over town. One little girl was in critical condition after some poppers she was unwrapping and putting into a bowl on the kitchen table blew up. Blew her up and also destroyed the kitchen. Another man blew his hand off trying to bundle up some sparklers.

 

A lot of people got shot. And their were a lot of wrecks. That was all due to alocohol consumption.

 

I'm always so relieved once its all over.

[pansmom]

Not with Dean. He's too far gone to eat anything, even the most tantalizing of food that he would go nuts over normally. That was pretty much the first thing I tried when his sound phobia surfaced. In the midst of the hyperventilating, drooling, heart racing, and being frozen with fear, the best he can do is spit the food right back out if he even takes it.

 

In fact, if I were to click/try to treat him during fireworks, I'd be willing to wager I'd manage to create a strong negative association with the clicker. I definitely wouldn't want to risk that. I've managed to sensitize him to other things in that way and I definitely want the clicker to remain a "good sound" for him.

 

I could see something like that working for milder cases of sound fear, or with dogs that are not noise phobic, but are fearful of the noise because it is unfamiliar or unusual.

 

Vala has started being better about thunderstorms because she gets a peanut butter kong now during them in the bathroom, but it took the Xanax and Clomicalm to bring her down into a place where she could enjoy the kong and start to change her associations. And she still always wants to be in the bathroom with her peanut butter when they occur.

 

She did okay on the 4th and doesn't seem as scared of fireworks as thunderstorms. Although when they started going off July 3rd while we were walking she did want to turn around and go home--she wasn't freaking out. So we went ahead and walked the short way back.