The Ultimate Guide to Helping Your Dog with Firework Anxiety

Firework season can be a nightmare for dog owners whose pets are afraid of the loud bangs and firework noises. If your dog is scared of fireworks, you’re not alone!

I recommend you starting at least 4 weeks before Bonfire Night, if not earlier. But don’t worry – if you’re a bit later than that then you can still get started to help your dog improve before the big night.

Some facts about dogs and fireworks anxiety

• 49% of dogs are affected by noise sensitivity, with fireworks being a major trigger for stress and anxiety ​(The Veterinary Nurse).
• Up to 50% of dogs show signs of fear during fireworks, including behaviours such as trembling, pacing, and whining ​(The MIT Press Reader)(American Kennel Club)
• Noise sensitivity can get worse over time, meaning dogs may initially show mild stress but could develop more severe reactions, like panic and escape attempts, if left unmanaged​ (American Kennel Club)
• The day after major firework events like Bonfire Night or New Years’ Eve, there is often a rise in lost pets, as fireworks increase the risk of dogs attempting to escape​ (American Kennel Club)
• Following fireworks, the recovery time for dogs experiencing stress can last up to two hours or more, with some dogs showing behavioural changes that last multiple days ​(PLOS)

For this guide, we’ll be following the Scary Sounds Programme from Dogs Trust, plus I’ll be sprinkling a little of my own training methods on top.

A few important points to remember before we start:

• If your dog is reacting severely even at a very low volume, then this might not be the right solution for them – I’d suggest speaking to your vet for more information.
• You might not reach the perfect end point where your dog doesn’t react at all, but you will hopefully see some improvement, so still use all your same coping methods such as playing music, having a safe space for your dogs to retreat to and avoiding walks at night closer to the 5th November to prevent your dog from running away.
• A recording of fireworks is different to real fireworks – and how dogs hear sounds is different to the levels that humans can hear, so dogs will probably be hearing a wider range of sounds in real life than what we hear in a recording. However, it’s the closest thing we can do to mimic fireworks.

Getting Started with Firework Anxiety Training – The First 3 Days

So, for the first 3 days, I recommend you don’t actually use any recordings and instead you handfeed your dog all their meals before starting the programme.

• Reward for eye contact and calmness, so if they make eye contact with you then give them a peace of food. If they are settling on their bed, give them a piece of food.
• This helps to turn them on to focusing on you (instead of the noise outside).

For the rest of the programme we’re going to be using all of your dog’s meals as part of the training. If they have wet food, then you can spoon a bit out each time, or if they are on kibble it’s much easier.

So fill up your pockets and treat bag with your dog’s daily food and start rewarding for eye contact and focus.

Why I Use Handfeeding in my Dog Training

You don’t have to always feed from your hand (although if you have more than one dog I recommend you feed hand to mouth). You can:

• Bowl treats
• Throw them
• Roll them
• Drop at your feet
• Feed in specific positions like at heel

The point is NEVER to make our dogs hungry. The point is to create a new system where our dogs are working for their food and earning it, creating a new mindset and work ethic.

Over time, you don’t have to keep handfeeding and most dogs will continue to work hard for their food because of that bit of work you put in a few years back. And most dogs, with mild training issues, only need a few weeks of handfeeding all meals before you move back to a mix of in the bowl if you wish.

Because I’ve handfed all my dogs their kibble at some point, now I can take out kibble on walks and they will train for kibble as if we’re training for high value treats (even my non-food-motivated Rommies).

Here’s the secret, I DO feed my dogs in their bowls. Why? Because I’m lazy, really, and I run out of time. But they do prefer me spending the time training with them and earning the food than me just dumping their food in their bowl.

But we’ve done the work already, and whenever we have a hiccup I go back to handfeeding. Or say I was taking one of my dogs to a training event, I would hand-feed for the week before.

There’s also research (not just my own anecdotes where I see my dogs LOVING working with me for kibble), that shows animals enjoy working for their food. The technical name is contrafreeloading. It’s a behavioural phenomenon in which an animal chooses to work for food that requires effort, even when free food is available.

However, my personal view is that the ultimate kindness we can give to our dogs, is to help them become free of fear. Sometimes that requires hard work on both our parts – but ultimately our dogs will be happier – and most dogs really thrive on the programme.

Can you train a dog to not be scared of fireworks?

For dogs with mild to moderate fear of firework noises, then yes, you absolutely can make a big difference to your dog’s fear of fireworks.

For moderately fearful dogs, you may need a long period of desensitisation to fireworks, which could mean many months of training with fireworks sounds.

However, for severe anxiety, you may need vet advice (see below) in order to progress with any training.

How to get started with your firework desensitisation training

After 3 days of feeding purely for eye contact, we can start working on the firework sounds.

The point is to play the firework sounds at a level where your dog is aware and listening but not showing any signs of stress, such as a very worried look, getting up to move away, whining, trembling, or hiding. This is your starting sound level.

We want your dog to take notice of the sound, but not be worried about it at this stage.

When the firework track starts playing, mark the sounds with a “Yes” or “Good” (choose one marker word and stick to it!) and feed your dog. Keep doing this for the entirety of the track at the same sound level.

To get the best results, do this 3 times a day (you could do at your dog’s normal mealtimes for example).

So here’s the process:

1. You start playing the firework recording at a low level
2. You mark with a “Yes” or “Good” marker word
3. You then feed your dog

Continue feeding your dog while the firework sounds play, marking with your marker word. As soon as the track finishes, stop feeding.

How does the firework anxiety training for your dog work?

In technical terms, we’re using desensitisation and counter conditioning!

But in simple, normal terms, we’re doing three things:

1. Getting your dog switched on to working for food, and building a really strong connection between your marker word (such as “Yes” or “Good”) and their food
2. Playing the firework recordings at a low level to get your dog gradually used to the sounds, until they’re not bothered by the noises at all
3. Pairing the sounds of the fireworks with food to help your dog feel more comfortable with any of the noises they have heard on the recordings

Why do I have to feed all my dog’s daily meals during the firework recordings?

The reason for feeding ALL your dog’s daily meals during this training when a recording is playing, is to have the biggest impact possible on your dog’s anxiety and fear around firework sounds.

If we just use some additional treats, then it’s just the icing on the cake. Handfeeding all meals during the recordings helps to bake the sponge of the cake, and create some strong foundations. When we’re looking at a problem like noise sensitivity where we’re dealing with deep-rooted emotions and feelings about a scary thing (fireworks) then it takes more in-depth behaviour change to affect those emotions, that a few additional treats won’t address.

Your dog will still get all their daily meals if you keep the recordings at a low level until your dog can cope with the sounds getting louder – they just get it during the recordings instead of in a bowl.

But here’s the kicker – dogs often really like these programmes, because it means they get to spend more time engaging with you compared to being fed in a bowl. It’s like playing a game to our dogs – it’s fun and engaging.

Simple Techniques to Calm Your Dog During Firework Season

There are a few other things you can do to prepare your dog for Bonfire Night.

When to see a vet about your dog’s fear of fireworks

If your dog is very stressed by the sounds even at a low level and nothing is working, then speak to your vet as they may be able to suggest medications to help.

Here are some signs that your dog might need more help:

• They spend more than 3 hours of their day in a worried state about noises and sounds
• They are worried about a wide range of different sounds, not just fireworks
• They are displaying intense physical symptoms, such as:
  • Hiding
  • Drooling
  • Trembling
• They are unable to cope with the fireworks recordings even at the lowest level
• They cannot settle for a long time after they have heard a sound that worries them