Fear Season Episode 3. | Are we dealing with fireworks night in the right way?
Fear season returns for 2024 - and with fireworks night right around the corner, I think it’s well worth talking about how we help the dogs that suffer with chronic fear in these challenging scenarios.
The first thing to mention - fireworks ‘night’ is anything but. It seems like these days, rather than just being guy fawks night or the various new years, all of the different festivities and religious holidays that we each celebrate in the winter season - down to birthdays and anniversaries - are an excuse for fireworks. Which means that explosions can go off at pretty much any time from October onwards if you live in an urban area.
Should you build a Den?
So. What do you do about it? The standard advice or best practice when it comes to dogs and fireworks is to make your dog a den. A ‘safe place’ where they can go and hide. It’s one of those things that makes a lot of sense to do if our dogs have a tendency to panic - but is it actually the best way to handle the situation?
In my experience - the problem with allowing our dogs to retreat to a den is that they become ‘unsafe places’ rather than ‘safe places’. What tends to happen over a longer period is that our dogs tend to retreat to these areas increasingly often, and rather than going there to relax and calm down as we would hope, they actually remain just as stressed as they would be anywhere else. Once they start to do this, it can be very difficult to get them out, and we end up with a situation where our dogs are stuck in a very dark metaphorical hole.
By comparison, I much prefer to advise clients to put their dogs on a lead, and keep them close by your side, under a weighted blanket, or with some other form of weighted compression. It’s really important to me that our dogs learn to find safety in proximity to us, and remain part of the social group in times of stress. Correctly timed, and with the right energy - deep tissue massage can also be an effective way of removing tension from the muscles - but it all starts with blocking our dogs from running and hiding away. Instead, I want my dogs to stay close, stay calm, and stay with the group.
“This point in particular highlights a fundamental flaw in “Positively Only” Training. You cannot even begin to think about opportunities for Positive Reinforcement with fearful dogs until these underlying negative reinforcement pathways are resolved - because with fearful dogs we cannot control and cannot limit a dogs exposure to fear when they live within it every waking moment of the every single day.”
Should you use a calming spray or plugin?
This is one that has been covered before - but scent is associative, and many of the commonly marketed plug in sprays and scents have no magical properties. If you want to take the time 6-8 weeks before to form a calm, relaxing association with a particular scent, by introducing it during times of calm and relaxation, then your dog may certainly benefit from this - but to introduce a scent on fireworks night will only have the effect of associating the scent to the sound that our dogs fear - which achieves nothing.
Does it work to desensitise your dog by playing firework sounds?
This is another technique that is in most cases a complete waste of time - unless you are willing to play sounds loud enough, and through powerful enough speakers, that it has the same frequency and energy as fireworks. Dogs are responding as much to the vibrations as the sound itself - so you might as well play some music you love through the speakers if you want your dog to get used to the loud noises. Love to play movie soundtracks? A bit of Howard Shores Lighting of the Beacons Anyone? Or maybe you light to rock out to some heavy bass. Whatever you enjoy - play it on high quality speakers with a strong subwoofer, and build up the volume gradually.
Unfortunately for my poor dogs, they are regularly subjected to my poor music tastes at substantial volume on the way to and from work every day - whilst they are sleeping in the back of the car!
“Know your least bad options. Know your progressions - and learn how to nurture these decisions in the short term, to open up opportunities for something even better in the long term.”
Exercise really does help.
Basic though it may seem, it’s worth your dog being tired ahead of a difficult night. Get your dog out whilst it is light, drain as much energy as you can. Make sure they are tired and fulfilled. Exercise is more than just about draining energy - the hormones released through things like running and playing will make it easier for your dog to handle the stress of a difficult night. So plan ahead, and get them out whilst it is easy to do so - double up on your normal exercise routine if you need to - but certainly don’t start dipping out on your evening walks.
Pick your battles, and know when you’re beaten.
The hard reality is that for some people, where they live and their proximity to fireworks makes it impossible to create a safe and calm environment for their dogs - and trying to force change when your dog is too far gone in a given environment will just make things worse. When we work with clients, we want people to know that building confidence and resilience is done through the long months of summer to prepare them for the winter. But if you live next door to the guy who wants to set off a professional display in his backyard - you may have to admit defeat.
A lot of our clients now choose to book holiday cottages and take some time out to relax around fireworks night - turning a horrible experience into something extra special for everyone. And thats absolutely okay - because you cannot always control other peoples behaviour, and sometimes it’s better for everyone to take a step back.
