Preparing and helping your dog cope during fireworks

Preparing and helping your dog cope during fireworks

Firework season use to be one night in November and then again on New Years Eve, but with fireworks so easily available to purchase they can be set off throughout the year.

Here are some tips on how to prepare your home and your pet for firework season

If you know that there will be local displays, walk your dog before it gets dark and make sure they have been out to the toilet

Make sure your dog is wearing a collar with a tag that has up to date details on it. When a dog is in public, legally it should have a tag on its harness or collar with the owner’s details.

For Cats try and keep them inside before it gets dark. Supply multiply litter trays for them and somewhere high up for them to hide.

For rabbits and guinea pigs or other small furries kept outside, if possible, bring them inside or into a garage to help block out the noises. If you can’t then cover the cages over with a sheet can help reduces the noise and block out the flashes

Make sure your pets microchip details are up to date, its easy to forget updating any mobile phones or your address if you have moved house recently.

Make a den – Make a safe space, like a den for your dog. This can be a crate with a blanket over the top to make it darker and feel more secure. Keep the door open so the dog can choose to go in and out as they please. Keep a favourite soft toy or blanket inside that has theirs and your smells on it to add comfort.

Keep curtains closed and tv and radio up! This will help block out any visual and sound effects from the displays. Some radio stations play music specifically aimed at dogs to help chill them out. Do be aware on new years eve, a lot of tv stations will play the firework displays so make sure you choose a channel that doesn’t have them scheduled.

Calming aids – There are a variety of calming aids to help your pets. These including collars, pug in diffusers, tablets, liquid drops, sprays and even waterless shampoo. These work but using a synthetic version of pheromones to help calm your pets. We recommend coming by the shop to chat to our fully trained staff to see which product is suitable for your pets.

If you pet shows multiply signs of stress and anxiety when fireworks are going off i.e heavy panting, pacing, unsettled and becoming destructive then we recommend speaking to your licenced vet about what prescription medication can be of help. Ideally, we want to prepare our pets for fireworks but unfortunately some dogs just can’t cope.

Many Thanks SweetPea Pets LTD Canada Way Lower Wick Worcester WORCS WR2 4XA 01905 427544