Fireworks and dogs

[Stubby]

Hard to think of anything more to do....

I gave up with Sally, but there was never a problem with her pups

 

Is she enthusiastic about hunting and or retrieving?

Perhaps build on that?

If she likes hunting, throw out a dead pheasant and get her to retrieve it , then when she gets enthusiastic about retrieving try to get her to realise that a bang is linked to having fun......just bang two sticks or similar to start with?

 

She is dead now mate . Died at 15 . She would hunt like all spaniels even bring back wounded game from the previous day . First bang and she went to pieces .

[Lucan]

If you've got spaniels there is a great book by Joe Irving i'd recommend. When talking about introducing a dog to shot, he talks about importance of knowing the difference between gun-nervous (solvable) and gun-shy (unsolvable, just unfortunate genetics).

[Stubby]

If you've got spaniels there is a great book by Joe Irving i'd recommend. When talking about introducing a dog to shot, he talks about importance of knowing the difference between gun-nervous (solvable) and gun-shy (unsolvable, just unfortunate genetics).

 

Hes the bloke who used to keep raw tripe in his pocket !

[Asimina]

I'm not sure what is available in your country, but in mine dogs can take Alprazolam, which is Xanax. It works great to calm a dog down. One of my regulars takes it before every groom and she is like a different dog when she takes it. I can't groom her without it.

 

If it were my dog, I would also put him/her in a comfortable crate and cover it with a blanket. My own dogs prefer to stay in theirs if they are scared or we have company. They view it like their own little respite.

[Dan Curtis]

My lab was going to be a gundog, she comes from great working lines but unfortunately she's petrified of guns, even in the distance. Strangely enough she isn't bothered by fireworks in the slightest, sometimes she doesn't even seem aware of them. I've always walked her at night so she became exposed to fireworks from a distance. To start with we were so far off that they were clearly visible but inaudible to me. We've progressed to the point now that when we let a few off at the weekend, she's more annoyed that we're outside without her than she is about the noise.

 

Knowing how she is when she hears guns I really feel for anyone with a firework shy dog, must be horrible to deal with. At least guns can generally be avoided and don't go off every night for the first fortnight of November.