# Fireworks Reaction



## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

I've been exposing Elroy to loud noises when I come across an opportunity. I started with shotgun fire at a skeet & trap shoot. Sit out with him in thunderstorms. Watched the trains go by. Have traffic whizing by at 50-60 mph (in a 35 mph zone) while walking the sidewalk. So tonight we sat outside while people in the neighborhood shot off fireworks. Elroy handled it like a champ! Stayed focused on me (and his treats) rather than on the fireworks. They definitely caught his eyes and ears, but he wasn't phased. So proud of my boy! How did your dogs do?


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Good boy, Elroy! And high fives to you!

Peggy’s falling asleep at the foot of my right now. She pays attention to the particularly loud ones, but has yet to show any fear.

Last year the sight of them in our big dark windows did freak her out a little. She’s always been funny about reflections and these were like reflections on steroids. But there was no panting or trembling, thank goodness. We just stuck her in the bedroom with the curtains closed and she went right to sleep. Hoping to repeat that this year. Our town’s got a 20-minute professional display planned. Starts in just over an hour.


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## Meisha (Sep 21, 2020)

I posted my own thread on this, not seeing yours first. Congrats to Elroy.


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## Apricot mini momma (Dec 22, 2020)

94Magna_Tom said:


> I've been exposing Elroy to loud noises when I come across an opportunity. I started with shotgun fire at a skeet & trap shoot. Sit out with him in thunderstorms. Watched the trains go by. Have traffic whizing by at 50-60 mph (in a 35 mph zone) while walking the sidewalk. So tonight we sat outside while people in the neighborhood shot off fireworks. Elroy handled it like a champ! Stayed focused on me (and his treats) rather than on the fireworks. They definitely caught his eyes and ears, but he wasn't phased. So proud of my boy! How did your dogs do?


Good work Elroy! I’m so happy for every doggie that isn’t scared tonight. I was all prepared to play fireworks videos but our power just went out. Hmmm. They’re estimating after midnight. Wishing Beau could call Elroy for a consultation 🤓🤞🐩🎇🎆🇺🇸

adding to this - Beau did well, barely noticed the big booms. Huge improvement over New Years whenhe was only 10 weeks and super scared of the fireworks. Not sure if the fireworks you tube videos helped or not, it was a much quieter 4th than usual with the bans. Maybe it’s just ‘cuz poodles are awesome 😎🤩


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## Piper 2020 (Aug 16, 2020)

No reaction from my dogs. Alfie sat on the couch chewing a dental chew while I took Bode out to see the fireworks. You can see them from my front gate. Bode stayed in my arms for about a minute then went about his business scouting the yard for bugs he could eat. I'm not sure he even registered the loud noise.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Phoebe freaked out, even with rescue remedy on board. 😕 She is snoozing now with the illegal fireworks going on, thank goodness they’re not as bad as they were last year. Living right next to the city fireworks show is not fun for our dogs. Diego actually did much better than he did last year and at New Years. She has no reaction to thunder, we’ve had a ton of thunderstorms here since she arrived, regular Houston weather.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Poor Phoebe.  I think poodles especially look to us for cues, so I’m trying really hard not to be angry about the non-stop illegal fireworks going off in our tinderbox of a community right now. Closed curtains. Deep breaths. Getting ready to watch a movie even though I know I won’t be able to concentrate. Ugh. Fireworks used to be such a rare and joyful thing where I grew up. I don’t ever remember hearing them non-stop for hours at a time.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

Yes, I was trying to portray calm happy vibes and let the kids see what they could from our upstairs, but she wasn’t happy at all. Couldn’t get her to take chicken, her most favorite thing, couldn’t get her to do any tricks, play, or anything. I ended up cuddling a poor quaking girl in her happy hoodie until the city fireworks show ended.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

That poor little baby poodle. There’s just no reasoning with them, but I wish there was. I wish we could explain there’s nothing to be afraid of.


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## I_love_dogs (May 30, 2021)

They made fireworks legal for New Year's and 4th of July because they like the tax money too much. 
My cockapoo was kind of nervous when they started. An idiot neighbor set them off at 4:30 pm on New Year's Eve right as we were walking by. Once she realized they weren't that close she was fine. The small human in the house was upset with the noise and spent the evening cuddling with her, so she was happy. The spoo puppy was mostly oblivious to the fireworks. 
Now the biggest danger is the trash is dumped in yard by the annoying explosions.


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

Slept right on thru. It wasn't particularly noisy this year, we were having downpours of rain on and off. But there were some really loud bangs that woke me 2 or 3 times during the night. But all was good here.


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## Starvt (Nov 5, 2019)

On Victoria Day (in May), my extended family had fireworks at our place. Raffi sat beside me and watched the fireworks, and scrounged for any roasted marshmallows that had been dropped, lol.


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## Spottytoes (Jul 28, 2020)

So we went for our evening walk, timing it before the city fireworks. We should have gone earlier but Bobby has been having his gut issues so he needed to walk. There were quite a bit of the home fireworks in the neighborhood. Bobby was fairly ok though. He looked at me a lot and I made it no big deal or just made it all a happy thing. He was actually quite interested in a lot of it and wanted to stop and watch. However...the screaming type, the type that make the high pitched whistles, he did not like so much and tried to run. He was leashed of course and we just kept going and he settled right back into his walk. Really made me realize how easily a dog can get spooked though, even one who typicality isn’t rattled by most noises. If he was unleashed I think he would have taken off in fear. Made me think of how easily a dog could get lost on “dog scary” nights such as the 4th or Halloween or any time if something spooks them. We did cut the walk short and Bobby was happy to be home. None of the noises, even the big ones, phased him once indoors.


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## Dianaleez (Dec 14, 2019)

It was loud enough here last night to give me a fireworks headache. But Normie was a trooper - he never flinched. He's the calmest dog we've ever had.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

Starla said:


> Yes, I was trying to portray calm happy vibes and let the kids see what they could from our upstairs, but she wasn’t happy at all. Couldn’t get her to take chicken, her most favorite thing, couldn’t get her to do any tricks, play, or anything. I ended up cuddling a poor quaking girl in her happy hoodie until the city fireworks show ended.


I feel so sorry for those dogs who are petrified. There’s so little you can do to comfort them. 

I’m happy that my puppy was okay with them. I hope he remains okay with fireworks and thunderstorms. I had a tpoo who as an elderly dog developed a serious fear and there was nothing we could do to alleviate the fear.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

My boys were barking like crazy. Galen probably would have been ok by himself, but the puppy is an alert barker. I think the pair found the sounds of outdoor parties with happy people yelling to be as disturbing as the fireworks themselves. It didn't make for a restful evening.


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## Getting ready (May 4, 2019)

Bb was freaked out when he was outside during the “pandemic is over but not quite” celebration but wasn’t bothered yesterday from inside. He seemed to enjoy watching them through the windows.


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## DNi (Apr 12, 2020)

I've been surprised by what Loki reacts to lately. 2-hour long fireworks - no problem, he slept through them. But groups of people talking quietly outside after the fireworks is highly offensive and he spent the rest of the time grumbling/woofing at the street.


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## Mel (Apr 4, 2012)

We had lots of fireworks going on and I left to go see them (neighbor invited over for his big show..it must have cost $$$$’s ..he even had two barges on the lake behind us) but since they have been going off all week I knew how they were going to take it.

Sandy isn’t bothered by fireworks at all and I think that is because years of being exposed to them and the Florida loud thunderstorms.

Nova however is a firecracker herself and doesnt act afraid at all. Instead she barks and runs around and wants to go after it 🤦‍♀️. If I hold her while they are going off she squirms to get down ..she wants to go after them so bad. That dog🙃. She loves to chase everything. She would be the one to run off she is such a hunter.


l put them in their playpen together and they were fine when we walked back home.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

I'm happy Elroy and so many did well! Oliver has been my first dog bothered by them, and a lot. But yesterday we had a grooming session that left both of us tired out, and he ended up snoozing on the couch with me while fireworks went on for literally hours. I just tucked the blanket around him snugly and zzzzz 😊🥰.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Streetcar said:


> I'm happy Elroy and so many did well! Oliver has been my first dog bothered by them, and a lot. But yesterday we had a grooming session that left both of us tired out, and he ended up snoozing on the couch with me while fireworks went on for literally hours. I just tucked the blanket around him snugly and zzzzz .


Sounds like a good way to start his fireworks conditioning. You're on your way!


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## PowersPup (Aug 28, 2020)

One of the trainers at our training school thought Topper was to sensitive to sounds. He gets very alert and still until he figures out what they are. I try to help by explaining the sounds to him. To help him cope with 4th of July festivities, I took him for a long walk in a cool, hilly forest early in the morning, then went shopping for dog food. He slept much of the afternoon. I did some grooming and training games early in the evening, then we watched TV and tried to ignore the booms and bangs outside. He did just fine!


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## Dogs4Life (May 27, 2018)

Fortunately my two current dogs do not react, other than to initially bark because they think they hear a car door slamming. It was very, very loud when I had to take them out last night (2 major firework events going on at the same time!), and they didn't respond to the noise at all. We hear fireworks for at least 2 months during the summer.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

94Magna_Tom said:


> Sounds like a good way to start his fireworks conditioning. You're on your way!


I've worked with him over the years, but he did not improve much. I have no clue how his first family handled such things. He definitely conquered a bit of a snappy tendency in his early years with me. So a big improvement there 😊.

My late cat adored fireworks most of his life, but in later years became intolerant. My last dog was just fine with them, but I worked with her early on and the treats and dance party made the 4th a non-event for her.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

It is all about conditioning, being calm and happy, naming stuff. Poodles have big vocabularies! Yay, you and Elroy. Buck wasn’t fazed, but the neighborhoods dogs had a chorus going. I’m frankly sick of fireworks and they are not environmentally benign. Why can’t there be great light light shows with music? Let the neighbors do drone light shows or stop at sparklers. Magical thinking is the best!!!


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Someone down the lake from us is having a massive fireworks show tonight. (I can't imagine the cost; it has been going on for an hour.) The boys are mostly ignoring it, which confirms my suspicion that last night's barking was a reaction to the yelling at the parties around us. However, we now have a fox screeching in the woods behind us. It's got my boys and a dog on the next road over pretty wound up.


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## Starla (Nov 5, 2020)

People were shooting off fireworks around us tonight, not directly nearby but close enough and Phoebe had no reaction at all. It makes me hopeful for the future for her.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I hope no one feels like it was their fault if their poodle reacted badly. Positive socialization and training are important, but they’re not the whole story with this stuff. Your pup had life-shaping experiences before you ever laid eyes on him or her, and not all life-shaping experiences are within human control anyway.

I have a phobia that I can trace back to an event that occurred when I was two or three years old. It was no one’s fault—in fact it didn’t even leave an impression on the only adult present at the time—but it planted a _deep_ seed in me.

I’m sure genetics also play a big role. And it’s not surprising to me that explosions might trigger fight-or-flight in an otherwise very even-tempered animal.


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## Silverbelle (Mar 24, 2020)

Belle and my Doberman did fine. When the noise started she went to the door to see where it might be coming from. It sounded like a war zone from 10:00 - 12:00 midnight. I had to put a pillow over my head, shut the window and turn up the air conditioner to finally go to sleep. The dogs slept fine.


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I hope no one feels like it was their fault if their poodle reacted badly. Positive socialization and training are important, but they’re not the whole story with this stuff. Your pup had life-shaping experiences before you ever laid eyes on him or her, and not all life-shaping experiences are within human control anyway.
> 
> I have a phobia that I can trace back to an event that occurred when I was two or three years old. It was no one’s fault—in fact it didn’t even leave an impression on the only adult present at the time—but it planted a _deep_ seed in me.
> 
> I’m sure genetics also play a big role. And it’s not surprising to me that explosions might trigger fight-or-flight in an otherwise very even-tempered animal.


Thank you so much. I do believe there can be very early events that help shape us.

In fact, it's how my late cat undoubtedly felt welcoming to fireworks. He was born feral near the Broadway tunnel (very near/in Chinatown), so would have been completely in hearing and sight of fireworks at around three-to five-ish weeks of age, before his rescuer lady pulled the litter off the street. No wonder my love enjoyed the boom booms 🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍🥰😍😥😥😥. We miss him. He was so good with Oliver.

ETA: no details, but I clearly recall a situation into which I was coerced at age five (all legal and legitimate, but horrible for me then) that many years later I came to understand was linked to some massive failures in my life. Life changing issues. I realized too late. And all was well-intentioned by the adults involved.


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## Mel (Apr 4, 2012)

I agree. Sometimes it’s has nothing to with their experiences or breeding . It’s just their personality. Like I have a fear of heights in certain circumstances that makes no sense but I can ride roller coasters.

Sandy is afraid of the beeping of the fire alarm when runs out of batteries but she hangs out us watching fireworks with no problems 🤦‍♀️🙄. Nova just looked at Sandy when she was a trembling mess like “ What’s wrong with you?” . That noise is the only one she is afraid of and it takes her awhile to get over it even after it stops.

Some fears can get better and then there are some that never will .


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## Mufar42 (Jan 1, 2017)

PeggyTheParti said:


> I hope no one feels like it was their fault if their poodle reacted badly. Positive socialization and training are important, but they’re not the whole story with this stuff. Your pup had life-shaping experiences before you ever laid eyes on him or her, and not all life-shaping experiences are within human control anyway.
> 
> I have a phobia that I can trace back to an event that occurred when I was two or three years old. It was no one’s fault—in fact it didn’t even leave an impression on the only adult present at the time—but it planted a _deep_ seed in me.
> 
> I’m sure genetics also play a big role. And it’s not surprising to me that explosions might trigger fight-or-flight in an otherwise very even-tempered animal.


This is true, some dogs no matter how well you tried to condition them..just aren't able to be calm. In training hunting dogs there are some that can't handle the sound of a gun and consequently fail out. Just like people many of us can handle any sounds we hear but are displaced by a so called silent sound of a ultrasonic bug repeller.


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