While humans love fireworks, they can pretty much suck for our pets.
Many fireworks-phobic dogs will attempt to escape, hide, pace, pant and just wont be able to settle.
Tips to help your husky during the Firework weekend:
Provide plenty of exercise earlier in the day.
Make sure your dog is wearing an ID tag with a properly fitting collar.
A micro-chipped dog is most likely to be reunited with its owner.
Keep your dog indoors during fireworks, preferably with a human.
Never bring your pet to a fireworks event.
Prepare a calm retreat. This might be a bathroom or a basement, or a place with no windows. Provide a crate in the space with a covering for the sides and make the inside as comfortable as possible. distractions like a frozen Kong with favorite treats or new squeaky toys will help keep their minds occupied.
Cuddle as needed. Far from reinforcing fearful behavior, an owner’s comforting arm and presence can help a phobic dog to cope as long as the owner remains calm at all times.
Desensitization. It may help by gradually exposing your husky to audio recordings of fireworks at low volume levels while playing a game or feeding tasty treats. Keep these sessions short, about 10 mins a time. Take a five minute break and repeat slowly turning up the volume. Observe if your dog continues to play the game or eat treats. If the dog shows signs of stress, you’ve gone too far, too fast. Go back to the previous level and build up the noise level again and pair with a reward for being calm. Pay attention to your dog’s body language.
Thundershirts. We have heard good things about the Thundershirt. It provides a gentle, constant, soothing pressure. Their website reports that over 85% of Thundershirt users see significant improvement in noise anxiety symptoms. Most dogs respond with the very first usage; some need 2-3 usages before showing significant improvement.
Calming Aids. Your dog may also benefit from aromatherapy aids such as canine calm, or a natural tincture like rescue remedy or products that use dog appeasing pheromones such as DAP collars or room diffusers could be worth a try too.
Start working with your dog now to help reduce their stress.
(this information is not intended to be used as an alternative to medical advice. we are not vets.