Author Topic: fireworks, thunder, gunfire, & dogs (Read 6868 times)

rober · « **on:** July 03, 2016, 10:25:08 am »

has anyone successfully acclimated a dog to loud noises. my redbone hound gets totally stressed around loud noises. he runs around the house & barks non-stop. he perceives the noise as a threat.

neillsayers · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2016, 01:18:58 pm »

Rober,

I honestly don't have any good suggestions. I used to gun train mules and horses by tying them while they eat and firing a starter pistol nearby and reassuring them if they got upset. Most of my dogs are hunting hounds and they will run to gunfire. I had one girl that was terrified of lightning but not thunder or loud noises. Interestingly, she was killed by lightning strike near her kennel a couple years ago. I have wondered ever since if she had a premonition.

rober · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2016, 01:36:41 pm »

I also broke some gun-shy pups by shooting .22 rifles while they were nearby. this dog is a redbone coonhound & is a natural hunter. it appears he's not so much afraid as he is perceiving a threat. oddly what does frighten him is psssst sound my trim gun or air stapler makes when i'm nailing. he shudders & cowers & even leaks a little poop. with the weather we're having this weekend all 3 loud noises are present & he is a nervous wreck. I dig get anxiety meds from my vet that are helping somewhat.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #3 on:** July 03, 2016, 06:37:58 pm »

I break at least one pup each year to the sound of gun blasts. The simplest way is to take the dog on a walk someplace where there are "things" that they get excited about and want to chase. I'm a bird dog guy so the "things" in my situation are generally birds. When your dog gives, chase, often yelping with excitement, shoot your gun. I use a 22 blank but a live round is ok is you have a safe direction to fire. If the pup shows no response, shoot again and maybe again if the pup is still giving chase. The idea is to have the dog associate noise with something they love. If the dog stops and looks at you when you shoot, just keep walking and try again when he(she) gives chase again; when they pay no attention to the noise, you're getting close to a broke dog. Repeat and gradually increase the volume (a bigger gun and noise) till they pay no attention to your noise at all. You'll know you've solved the problem when the dog gets all excited when you get your gun and walk outside

Whether you hunt or have a dog that hunts, conditioning them to sound is an important part of their education. We live in a noisy world and dogs are a big part of many of our lives.

rober · « **Reply #4 on:** July 03, 2016, 08:25:34 pm »

thing is this dog was a rescue & is already 2 years old. I do not know his true history. what I do know is that fireworks & thunder stress him out. he runs around & barks as long as the noise persists. he is also intimidated when I pick up a water hose. that is probably from some past abuse. he was found running the streets in bolivar, mo when he was 7-8 months old. he was extremely underweight & had 3 different types of worms. he's adjusted pretty well to life with us but still has some quirks. he'll often move his head to the side when I move to pet him so he was likely cuffed some.

Chip Euliss · « **Reply #5 on:** July 03, 2016, 09:24:30 pm »

Might be a tough study but I'd bet you can get him past it with some work. Age isn't as big an issue as trust. Find something that reall get's him excited is a positive way and introduce him to noise when his excitement peaks. Just like my example with a bird dog pup, chasing a bird and a pop of a gun or some other noise maker. Idea is to make the noise part of the excitement and they will almost always get used to it unless there has been some previous and negative thing that has happened. If so, it's tougher but still doable but you'll need to go slower and gradually work was a soft noise to a louder one. Depending on your objective with the dog, the work may or may not be worth the time investment. If it's just the 4th of July, it may be simpler to find a quiet place for a day. If it's a regular occurrence, it may be worth the effort.

Wandering Man · « **Reply #6 on:** July 03, 2016, 10:20:22 pm »

After three years our rescue dog is finally OK with thunder, as long as he has his thunder shirt on. But fire works still cause him to bark and shake.

We solved it this year by pulling our 5th wheel to the Goliad State Park, where fireworks aren't allowed.

We'll sleep here the next two nights with happy dogs, and happy dog owners.

There will likely be fireworks debris in our front yard and up and down the street when we get back.

efmesch · « **Reply #7 on:** July 04, 2016, 02:08:53 am »

just saw this article---I hope it's not too late to be of help:

http://www.bustle.com/articles/170536-how-to-help-your-pets-get-through-july-4-fireworks-with-ease

rober · « **Reply #8 on:** July 04, 2016, 08:10:08 am »

we've discussed this & next year we're heading to a fireworks free location yet to be determined. it's too late for that new drug since our vet is closed. I will ask them about it tomorrow though as i'm sure the fireworks will continue for the rest of this week, last night was bad, tonight will be the worst. i'm not sure what's changed but he was not this bad last year.

rober · « **Reply #9 on:** July 04, 2016, 08:41:21 am »

I just read up about the med our vet gave us & I might be looking for a new vet. the drug is acepromazine & is used as a sedative & pre-anesthetic. the description goes on to say it does not help with anxiety & could make anxious behavior worse. it definitely was no help last night. sileo, the drug from the link elf provided sounds like the way to go. thanks elf.

Wandering Man · « **Reply #10 on:** July 04, 2016, 09:58:59 am »

We could still hear fireworks last night, but they didn't bother the dogs. Distance seems to help. We went back to the house this morning, and can see that our neighbors across the street put on a huge display.

We'll be back in the trailer tonight.

I can't blame them for wanting to entertain the kids. I just wish they'd do it at one of the city parks.

We live outside city limits, and shooting fireworks and guns is legal.

Bakersdozen · « **Reply #11 on:** July 05, 2016, 04:48:37 am »

I am glad you found a workable solution to your problem. Fireworks aren't allowed here either, and we planned accordingly so that we would be home. I always find bottle rockets on the back deck and yard. It's just not safe.
People with autistic children complain that fireworks cause unnecessary stress as well.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #12 on:** July 05, 2016, 08:36:46 am »

My closest neighbor is probably a half mile distance, and we are not bothered by fireworks noise. We could faintly hear them in the distance last evening. I say faintly, and I wear hearing aids. The wife may have thought they were in our yard.

In our previous location the fireworks would put our cat under the bed, but our cat is a sissie.

Speaking of autism, it seems there are more and more autistic children. I wonder why?

I think Chip Euless gives the best advice on conditioning dogs to fireworks.

lazy

iddee · « **Reply #13 on:** July 05, 2016, 08:46:04 am »

""Speaking of autism, it seems there are more and more autistic children. I wonder why?""

In my opinion, it is a deficiency. Kids at one time obtained liberal doses of "red bottom". It cured many ailments. Now that it is no longer given, kids are coming down with all kinds of ailments.

lazy shooter · « **Reply #14 on:** July 05, 2016, 09:14:47 am »

Iddee:

I think you may be correct. Also, most states now do lots of testing for educational purposes. If the school can categorize children as having "learning disabilities" the school is no longer responsible for what the child learns. Per example: In Texas, students in certain grades are given state tests to access what the students have learned. Autistic students are exempt from the test. Hence, if you have a slow, lower than average students, and if you can get that person designated autistic by a "certified" counselor then that student does not participate in the required testing. By deleting the less apt students, the test scores will be higher and the state will love the scores and the funding will continue and the school will brag about doing such a good job and gaily clad locals and all the state bureaucrats will beat themselves on their chests about how great the schools are performing and all be joined in a love fest. Yes, the previous sentence was a "run-on" sentence, and all of you should become accustomed to them as they are the future with our current educational system.

lazy

My wife is a school superintendent and she fights against the above system daily. She still believes we should educate all children to the best of their ability. It's an outdated concept. The new politicos have to brag that their system is working, and in order to do that, the test scores must be acceptable. We still have enough good students to make good test scores. Especially, it the lesser ability students are exempt. It's analogous to just testing your best bee colonies.

rober · « **Reply #15 on:** July 05, 2016, 09:50:57 am »

without access to a vet because of the holiday I was not able to get any sileo. we did try a naturvet product called quiet moments which did absolutely nothing. I even tried a human anti anxiety med to no avail. we bought a thunder shirt & after a wrestling match getting it on him he just pulled it off. we turned the tv up as loud as we could stand it & cranked up a radio in the basement. it was a long evening. these fireworks will persist for a few more days so I will try to find some selio today.
as far as autism I think it's like a lot of other things these days. it's not so much that there are more autistic children than before it's that we are more aware now. in the 30's a lot of autistic kids were institutionalized & neutered. I have a grand daughter who has PKU. until a person with money & influence was affected & became an advocate, these kids slipped thru the cracks. now most kids are tested at birth. I have a mild case of Tourette & was/am ADD. i'm not vocal but have a lot of tics which increase with stress. because of this as a kid I was not always treated well by school authorities. the other kids were not always kind either. because of the ADD my hearing was tested. when the nuns figured out I was not listening & because of the Tourette had a hard time sitting still they started slapping me around which raised my stress levels & of course increased my movement disorder which increased the nuns......it was a viscous circle. around 6th grade 2 nuns ganged up on me & when they finished in frustration I exclaimed sisters of mercy ( their order ) my a*s. at that point they used clenched fists.
our education system is deeply flawed. at the carpenter apprenticeship school in the st louis area 80% of the graduates from poorer neighborhoods cannot pass the basic math tests required to get into the program. 40 % of the middle class grads cannot either. if you watch on internet forums there are a lot of people who cannot spell.

neillsayers · « **Reply #16 on:** July 05, 2016, 12:06:06 pm »

Rober,
Thank you for sharing that, I doubt it was easy. Adults often think the answer is to beat a kid to get control. My Dad enforced his will on me with a belt, board or whatever. My sisters were terrified of a whipping. I didn't care, I figured it was the cost of doing as I pleased. One size does not fit all.

Wandering Man · « **Reply #17 on:** July 06, 2016, 09:09:19 am »

I'm sorry the Thundershirt didn't work for you, Rober. Frank will "ask" for it when we get thunder storms now.

It looks like at least two of our neighbors had large fireworks displays Monday night. A short holiday in the State Park was a good choice for us. We'll return for New Years.

rober · « **Reply #18 on:** July 06, 2016, 09:32:36 am »

we have a friend near the big piney river that's always bugging us to come down. next year we will for sure. i'm still trying to figure out what changed with him. he has never cared for loud noises. he would literally bite the front wheels of my lawn mower hard enough that would move the mower. he's stopped doing that & is now ignoring it. but this year he became super sensitive to the fireworks. last night there were some firecrackers off in the distance & he started up again. he runs around barking & huffs when breathing. if he goes outside he does not want to come back in & runs back from fence to fence barking.

apisbees · « **Reply #19 on:** July 06, 2016, 12:26:09 pm »

could be medical with an ear infection or something in it creating an irritation.

What's the matter with our forum spelling? Spell check is our friend! I have a slight case of Dyslexia I realize this and double check and use spell check. but in school it definitely effected test scores. No teacher ever clued on to what was going on I figured it out by cutting to many boards the wrong size. A board that I would take a 54" measurement for, I would cut it at 45" It didn't take to many of these to realize a pattern. After this I trained myself to take a second look at the tape both when measuring and cutting the length. A few years later I heard about Dyslexia That's what I have!