With Guy Fawkes night fast approaching bright colours fill our night sky with beautiful cascading fireworks. However, what we don’t consider while we are wrapped up in our winter wooly’s is our dogs.
Dogs, in particular, can hear four times the distance of a human, as well as being able to hear higher pitched sounds, at a frequency range of 67-45,000 Hz. Therefore, while you are setting off your fireworks in the garden, all your petrified dog will be thinking is “why are there are huge bangs and explosives in the sky?”
Tracey Teague, a local dog walker from Derby explains that her beloved flat coat retriever “Marley” shivers herself to sleep while the bangs are taking place.
“She [Marley] will jump into my daughters bed for comfort, laying there and shrieking, it’s a horrendous experience”.
Tracey continued that she has to “turn the radio on to mask the noise and give her [Marley] lots of love and affection, so that she knows we are there”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BpxeOF0nQuN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
he's scared of the fireworks so my mom put on some dog videos for him ❤️ pic.twitter.com/VTjYa6YIcK
— emily (@spaghemily) July 5, 2016
So what can you do to help them?
According to the RSPCA these are the following precautious you have to take in order to help your dog this fireworks night.
- Walk them during daylight hours to avoid times when fireworks are likely to be set off
- Close windows and curtains to muffle the sound of fireworks
- Put on some music or tv to mask the firework sounds
- Create a quiet space where your dog can feel in control
- Create some hiding places around your home
If this is a continual problem for your dog, you can contact your local Clinical Animal Behaviourist.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWWoM38mDss]
Contributors: Maddy Ireland, Alex Burnell, Jakub Machacek, Daniele Fochtaite
