My Golden is afraid of FireWorks.....

[GoldenKisses03]

Hey I kinda need some help, My Golden is REALLY afraid of Fireworks, and right now, they are shooting them off right now, just a block away from me... and I'm not sure how to calm harley down. I'm thinking of putting cotton balls in his ears so he wont' hear them. Does anybody else have any more suggestions, on how i can help harley not to be afraid of the fireworks???

[Goldenheart]

Forget the cotton balls:lol :lol Knowing these guys he would probally push them down further in his ears then you would really have problems.

Stay with him, act cheerful and happy....whistle if ya have too:) that is if you can here yourself over the fireworks. Basically act as if their no big deal. Not sure of his age so it may be worth you editing your post just so everyone knows that.

Whatever ya do, don't let him outside now unless your right their with him....if he is terrified of them he could run out in the road, or run away and not be able to find his way home. I'm sure others will come in with more suggestions for ya

[GoldenKisses03]

My golden is 2 years old. Whew! the fireworks are over now. But do you have goldens' that are afraid of fireworks???

[Swampcollie]

GH has covered it pretty well.

DO NOT make a big deal about it or coddle the dog because of it. You will make the problem worse.

[Goldenheart]

Nope GoldenKisses, Bianka is not afraid of Fireworks....infact she will lay right down here by me at the computer when their set off and not even flinch. She has no fears of Thunderstorms or a vacuum cleaner as well. If I am outside with her and someone lights one off, or even if we do she just perks her ears up and is alert to them but she has no fears of them whatsoever.:) She won't even bark at them.

She was worked with as a puppy on these types of sounds and I haven't had a problem with her since when I am with her.:)

[ChicagoCanine]

Also-- Just found this... Dogwise sells a series of CDs to help sound-sensitive dogs, and they have one for fireworks:

www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB658 (http://www.dogwise.com/ItemDetails.cfm?ID=DTB658)

[GoldenKisses03]

Thanks guys! I think part of my problem is, He wasn't around that kind of stuff when he was a puppy, so therefore, he is terrified of them, because he wasn't used to it, or around it when he was a pup.

[ChicagoCanine]

GoldenKisses I think that is a likely reason... Many dogs develop a fear of sounds/people/surfaces/etc they are not used to because they were not exposed to them as puppies... That is why socialization in as many different situations as possible is so important!
On the plus side, you can still help adult dogs, it's just more difficult since they already developed a fear of the sounds... When I found Ginger she was shy and loud/unusual noises scared her. I just took her with me everywhere and took her places with different noises while giving her commands and giving her lots of treats when she didn't act scared... Now she is very confident!