Fireworks Fears & Your Pet

Some pets may develop phobias of loud noises from a single experience (one learning event), while others may only develop a noise phobia from exposure to the fearful sounds over time. Although some dogs react with only a mild fear response of panting and pacing, others may become extremely agitated, panicked, or destructive. These more pronounced reactions can be due to a genetic predisposition and sensitivity to loud noises or, in some cases, due to exposure to noises coupled with a highly traumatic experience associated with the stimulus. Dogs who are fearful of firework noise will usually become more severely frightened and reactive with each exposure. Unfortunately, when well-meaning pet owners stroke their pet in an effort to calm them during the fireworks, the soothing attention, vocal intonations, and petting actually provide positive reinforcement for the panicked behavior and can intensify these behaviors. However, an owner raising their voice or punishing an animal who is having a phobic response tends heighten the pet's dear of anxiety as well. So what can you do if your dog is fearful or anxious when fireworks are going off? Some dogs react severely enough to hurt themselves while trying to escape from the sounds of the fireworks, especially if left alone, and they require both the help of a behavior consultation with a professional animal behaviorist and drug therapy to prevent injury and destruction. However, many dogs experience a less profound phobia and can be helped with behavior modification or a "retraining program" that owners can use on their own. Treatment of fear, in simple terms, involves exposing the pet to the fearful stimulus at a low volume until it sees that there is nothing to fear and settles down. If exposure to a fearful stimulus such as fireworks noise can be turned into a positive experience with highly desirable treats and rewards, over time the pet may actually develop a calmer attitude when exposed to fireworks. This is a training practice known as "desensitization and counter-conditioning." You desensitize or accustom your pet to hearing fireworks noise at a volume low enough that it doesn't cause fear and then counter-condition or teach the pet to feel and to behave relaxed (the opposite of its usual response) by associating fireworks noise with your pet's favorite rewards. In order to effectively set up a retraining program for you dog, you must first find a means of reproducing and controlling the intensity and volume of the fireworks sounds, such as a tape recording. You can create this on your own or order it online at www.soundsscary.com. You should briefly test the recording to ensure that it does indeed produce a fearful response. When you are attempting to desensitize and counter-condition your pet to fireworks noise, you must prevent your pet from having any new fearful learning experiences, including exposure real fireworks noise outdoors, that you cannot control. You can do this by placing the pet in a favored resting area in a room that has been sound-proofed and playing the television or some calming music; this may help mute out any background fireworks noise and relax your pet. Try not to leave your pet unattended during times when fireworks can be anticipated. To help alleviate phobic and anxious responses to loud noises, you might need to use anti-anxiety medications such as Alprazolam, a long-acting drug with mood calming effects similar to Valium, that can be prescribed by your veterinarian. Another medication commonly prescribed by veterinarians to tranquilize dogs suffering from fireworks fears is Acepromazine. However, this is not the preferred medication since it acts to immobilize your dog without relieving its anxiety; it simply keeps the dog from physically responding to the anxiety that it is experiencing. Thus, the dog's fearful response to fireworks is being reinforced, not diminished. Preventing exposure to fireworks noise can be extremely difficult to do during July so it is best to get a head start on training at least one month prior to that time, before the festivities begin. Begin the training without the fireworks noise. Your dog must already be able to respond to basic obedience commands such as "sit", "down", and "look at me" (done by holding a treat near your eyes to encourage your dog to make eye-contact with you and then rewarding them when they do this). Training these behaviors for rewards in a positive way will help you gain control before your pet is exposed to the fear-evoking fireworks noise. The treats (such as tiny bits of cheese or hot dog) must be highly desirable to your pet and only given as rewards for this training. Practice these behaviors all year so that when your dog is exposed to a fearful stimulus you can reliably prevent a panicked response before it happens simply by asking it to do something more calm and relaxed instead. However, once your pet starts to show anxious behavior, as hard as it may feel, you must look away and ignore it. Trying to calm your dog actually rewards that panicked behavior and it will get worse over time. Next, once you have a recording that you know will cause a fearful response in your dog, play it quietly in the background during brief training sessions. Gradually and patiently increasing the volume of the fireworks sounds while continuing to ask your pet to sit or lie-down in a relaxed position to earn its favorite food rewards. You must only reward the response you want: a calm and attentive dog. Ignore the dog if an inappropriate fear response is seen. Remember to go slowly to avoid the fearful response. Keep the training sessions brief (10-15 minutes) and do them as frequently as you can; each day, if possible. If you evoke a fear response you must turn down the volume of the recording so that it is below the "threshold" for causing a noticeable reaction in your pet. Then, once your pet is settled, begin the commands again and always try to end the training sessions with a positive outcome. Remember only to reward with treats and attention when your pet is calm and relaxed. Eventually your dog should learn to calmly take the food rewards when it hears fireworks noises. The goal of the retraining program focuses on getting your dog to accept longer lasting food rewards such as chew bones and stuffed "Kong" toys or marrow bones, and remaining quietly in a favorite resting area to receive these rewards despite the sound of the fireworks. The resting area should help to comfort and provide security for the dog and the food rewards are intended to teach your dog to associate nothing but positive events with the moderate fireworks noise. Gradually the volume can be increased so that your dog may learn to tolerate the real fireworks celebrations without the help of medication. With patience and effort, you can help your pet join the family for a safe and happy 4th of July celebration!