What to do if your dog is afraid of fireworks?
Even calm dogs can fail into a terrible panic at the sound of fireworks. Unfortunately, this is a very common reason for losing pets during the holidays because a scared dog can run for the hills.
Christmas and New Year will come very soon, and it's time to remind our followers about the safety rules.

For a dog, fear of unexpected loud sounds is natural. Moreover, fireworks are also accompanied by light effects. A dog's hearing is many times more sensitive than ours, the explosions and crackling of pyrotechnics cause it much more discomfort than we could have in this situation.

The fear of such things must be removed from an early age, preferably before 6 months. In short, the rules for this are as follows:
🎆 Do not promote the fright of your good boy or girl. Behave naturally when the fireworks sound, letting the animal know that nothing terrible is happening.
🎆 Distract the puppy with a game.
🎆 If the dog is scared, wait for it to calm down and reward it with a treat. It is important to do this precisely when the animal has already calmed down - after all, we want to reinforce the correct behavior, not the startle response.
🎆 Do not force the puppy to get close to the sound source. The shock method will not work, but the fear will become established.
Usually, after several "loud" episodes, the puppy gets used to the fact that firecrackers and fireworks will not harm him. And it will begin to perceive them calmly.

But what if the problem already exists? Obviously, you won't retrain your dog before Christmas. Here are some tips.
🎄 On holiday nights, when the "cannonade" begins, make sure that the dog cannot jump out into the street, through the gate.
🎄 Attach the badge with your telephone and address to the collar, just in case.
🎄 If the dog is hiding in panic, let it hide, do not get it out from under the couch, from the bathroom, and so on. It really needs shelter.
🎄 Don't hug the dog. This will not calm it down, on the contrary - restriction of movement will cause even more horror - after all, you are depriving the dog of the opportunity to escape.
🎄 Do not wail or comfort your pet with a loud voice.
🎄 Do not try to scold the animal! It already has a hard time ((
🎄 Behave naturally and at ease, as we wrote earlier, this convinces the dog that there is no danger. Loud expressions of joy can also scare the dog in this condition.
🎄 If you know your dog is very sensitive to the sounds of pyrotechnics, you can give him a sedative prescribed by your veterinarian.

And have safe and happy holidays!