This time of year we receive MANY phone calls here at HAWS from people asking for help with dogs and fireworks. Seems lots of our canine companions don't enjoy the sounds of summer quite like we humans do! (And we would also like to decrease the number of strays that come in who have run away from home because of the noise.)
HAWS business partner and animal behaviorist Claudeen McAuliffe, M.Ed. offers these suggestions for helping your pet deal with "The Big Bang."
About Fear
Those of us who live with dogs know that fireworks and thunderstorms can stress some animals to the point of panic. Some simply retreat to a dark place such as under a bed or in the bathtub. Others are so terror-stricken that they injure themselves by jumping through screen doors or windows. Lest we think ill of our fur kids, understanding the nature of the problem may not only improve our opinion of their behavior. It may also give us hope in a toolbox full of options to improve it.
Some fears, such as those toward strangers, children, boxes and ceiling fans, are learned through association with upsetting situations. But in some individuals fear may occur with no conditioning or learning whatsoever, because the brain already contains the circuits that respond to a limited spectrum of stimuli, such as the loud and sudden crack of a lightning bolt. As our dogs get older, their sensitivity to storms and other loud, sudden sounds may increase.
While some fears may be linked to a past event, such as being tied out during a storm, or taken to a Fourth of July event during a critical fear period, often there is no such connection. Some breeds, such as Border Collies, German Shepherds, and Labrador and Golden Retrievers seems to have a genetic predisposition to develop noise phobias, although it's possible we just see more storm and noise phobias in these breeds because they are more popular than other breeds.
What You Can Do to Help Your Dog
Besides behavior modification, the best results for helping dogs with sound sensitivity are obtained by simultaneously teaching the dog self-control and coping skills, such as running to get a tennis ball when a storm approaches, or using bodywork techniques like The Tellington Method® to facilitate a learned response to a word like "easy." And as alternative and complementary treatments become more mainstream, we find there are actually quite a few things we can do to help our dogs. Though they may never be completely calm at the approach of a storm, they may be content to lie at our feet rather than exploding through a screen door.
There are many other things you can try, including flower remedies, aromatherapy, herbs, homeopathy, pheromones, and pharmaceuticals. For more information see the booklet "The Big Bang: How You Can Help Your Dog Cope with Storm and Noise Fears" (Mc Auliffe, 2006).
By the way - Claudeen's book, "The Big Bang," is available at HAWS - stop by today and pick up your copy, so you're prepared before the fireworks start - and before that next round of thunderstorms sweeps through!
