Hi All

My westie Robbie is 15 months old now so really this will be his 1st firework night as last year he was only 9 weeks old and didn't really react to them, last night we had a few go off and he was out in the garden at the time i didn't comment but he started running around and whining when he came back into the house he kept running from room to room whining then he would lay down and as soon as anybody got up he was up again wandering around and whining, we ignored him for a while then told him to lie down which he did for a while but where he usually settles down and goes to sleep he didn't last night throughout the evening.
Just wondering what is best to do with him because as the nights go on we are certainly gonna get loud 1's go off right over head, should he be told to lie down or should i just completely ignore him when he starts pacing from room to room and hope that eventually he gets fed up and lie's down?
A friend of mine said to tell him off for whining but not sure if thats the answer as he then gets a reaction from me.

Helen

A friend of mine said to tell him off for whining but not sure if thats the answer as he then gets a reaction from me.


Here, here, your right!

Best to act completely calm and normal give him no reaction, from a 'silly boy' to a comforting pat, which can also send out the wrong signal of something to worry about too. I've always found humming and singing to myself to work wonders in calming a dog, not everyone will want to do that but for me it has been a great training method in sending out a calming signal. So just keep a calm, happy voice, turn the TV up and give him no attention.

To be honest I used to purposely sit in the garden on firework night, with a barbie going  when it was my dogs first firework night when the fireworks went off  we would all just be chatting amongst ourselves as normal.  My dogs always get a bit of beef or sausage when we have a barbie so the calm atmosphere from family and the dog bowl of food usually outweighed any worry of the fireworks. My dogs have always been bomb proof to any noise.

Sure others will be along with other methods they have used and still do. But the most important thing is you staying oblivious to the fireworks.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

Same here, we all love fireworks in our family and none of the dogs ever got overly anxious when we had fireworks, like you say Carrington the temptation of the BBQ normally distracts them from the noise and a calm happy atmosphere spreads to the dogs, our old border collie became less confident in her last few years but she would just take herself off to a quiet corner of the house and if left alone would be fine. My parents have two rescue dogs they got at the start of the year so not sure how they are with fireworks yet,I will know in a few days though.

I had a rescue dog who was terrified of fireworks, it was awful for him.   with pups I have brought up myself I've always taken them into the garden with a clicker and a pocket full of treats.  At the first bang, I click and treat   after a few minutes the pup thinks the bangs are GREAT!  as it means a treat!   The downside of this is that they started getting really excited when they heard them, as it meant lovely treats LOL  These days I just make sure I have some lovely filled bones to chew on, keeps them occupied and calm.

Thats a good idea didn't think of that with him last year, as when he wasn't bothered with the noises i assumed he would be okay but i guess this year now he is that bit older he is wondering what they are more!!!
Last night wasn't too bad not many really loud 1's right overhead but i guess as the nights go on they are gonna get even louder trouble is they sound like bombs goin off and frighten us and we know what they are, bloody fireworks wish they would ban them.
Gonna just ignore him now though as i thought that was the best way but when i was told not to let him keep whining and tell him off i didn't know whether ignoring him was the best plan of action.

Yes no attention at all is the key.

loud tv, bright lite room and ignore dog.  a large juicy marrow bone may help take his attention off them. if you act normal and don't pander then he is more likely to accept.  best to go outside with him for late night toilet but just act bored and ignore while you are out there.  plenty of exersise in daytime before it all kicks off is good too as nicely worn out dog is more likely to fancy sitting by fire with his bone.

Just thought I'd add that if anyone has a new puppy - it is a good idea, at this time of year, to leave the back door to the house open when taking the puppy out in the garden. When my younger dog had her first firework 'experience', the back door was shut so she jumped the side gate (seemed high enough at the time ) and , fortunately, ran to the field next door and didn't cross the road It the back door is open, hopefully, a scared dog will run indoors.

Daisy

Actually, if you have a puppy going out with them serves 2 purposes, you can praise them for going to the toilet (toilet training) and you can make sure that fireworks don't give them a scare so they'll run off!  I was clicker training and went out with mine to take her to toilet and had the clicker and treats in my hands, when the firework went off I jumped and clicked   pup looked at me a bit startled and I gave a treat, I decided to stay out and do some firework training, after a few minutes pup was looking for a treat when firework went off! - sorted