Keeping pets calm on bonfire night
Pets can find firework season really distressing, especially as the period during which rockets are set off seems to get longer every year.
As a pet owner I hate seeing my dog looking stressed and confused while whizzes and pops go off outside our house. I don’t begrudge people celebrating but I do want to reduce the impact on my pooch. She’s usually such a happy soul.
There are a few things we do each year to help TBD get through the fireworks:
- We close all the internal doors to try to block out the sound of fireworks going off outside
- We turn on the TV or radio and close the curtains to drown out the bangs
- TBD has chosen a ‘safe place’ for times when she is feeling nervous which is under our dining room table. We make sure the chairs are moved out and we put her bed under the table to make her more comfy when she needs to retreat
- When TBD was a puppy we learnt all about the benefits of rewarding the behaviour we wanted to encourage and ignoring bad habits like barking or jumping up. Even though it’s hard, when fireworks are going off and TBD looks nervous we try not to cuddle her as she would think she was being rewarded.
Here’s some more tips for keeping pets calm on bonfire night:
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| Source: Petplan |
Disclosure: this post has been written in collaboration with Petplan. All opinions are my own.
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It’s awful that they get so distressed. My staffie has gotten better with age, but these days he’s more annoyed at the fireworks than scared of them!
I don't think TBD has been too bad this year. She's still freaked out but I don't think she's as much of a quivering wreak as some years. Poor pup! X
Tin Box Dog often finds what she thinks is the furthest corner. Bless them x
Glad this helps x
Thanks lovely x
It's horrible seeing them distressed, isn't it x
These are great tips Clare!! I have a cat and he used to be bothered about fireworks before but to be honest lately he is pretty well behaved I think he got used to it by now as he is completely fine which is great really!! Thanks so much for sharing this at #KCACOLS. I love having you here!! 🙂 xx
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Great post – we have 4 cats (yes four) so these are helpful! Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS
They are very useful. I noticed that my dog felt the best while closed in bathroom, it was the furthest room from the disruption and without window, on his own bed that was moved from kitchen especially for one night. If you have not already, you can connect with me me at: https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/igaberry-13323143 & https://instagram.com/igaberry/ Have a lovely day, Iga x
This is brilliant advice. Even though I've never had a pet (sob sob) it breaks my heart when I see or hear scared animals around fireworks events 🙁 Thanks for linking up to #KCACOLS and hope to see you back next Sunday! Mim x
Great tips, our dogs hate fireworks. I don't much like them as it is so stressful for animals. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
That's good. I think every pet is different. Certainly both Tin Box Dog's parents were working dogs and weren't bothered by bangs. They were trained for competitions as well. TBD has a very different temperament 🙂
These are good tips. My cat was always a house cat as got her when in flat. Now in house & she can go out but prefers indoors and rarely does. She's never been bothered by fireworks though cats we had growing up were. I've always put that down to being an indoor cat – I don't think she worries about things outside much as she never thought she might get put out there. I think she ignores it as something that does not involve her! #thelist