Post-July 4Th Behavioral Change

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

As soon as we stopped closing the gate that was keeping Bang in the bedroom with us at night, she started sleeping on her living room bed. We interpreted this as her feeling secure and at home in the entire condo.

 

4th of July was 3 days of incessant fireworks in the hood, much of it in close proximity to us. It only really ceased on about the 8th (and there was one LAST NIGHT!). It was her first July4 post racing career, and she was very unhappy. She became a spook; didn't want to go for walks, off her feed, and spent most of the time cowering on our bed looking very sad.

 

Post-barrage, it became one firecracker = 36 hours of nervous dog.

 

The big change is that she reverted to sleeping in our bedroom and shows no sign of returning to the LR at night.

 

Oddly, she is completely unaffected by thunder. I guess she heard T-storms all her life in Wheeling.

 

~D~

[Guest greytloves]

Poor Bang, and kind of ironic that her name is Bang.

 

I have a weenie mix where fireworks put him into a bad place. We now stay home during firework season, retire to the bedroom before they start, turn the TV loud and turn on the portable A/C unit we use in the summer. Then we completely ignore him and the fireworks. He normally hides under the bed for awhile and then will come out and act as normal. I hate that I can't communicate with him like a human and convince him it is OK, but he is a dog after all.

 

You have to think, getting them acclimated to it is useless when it happens once or twice a year. Give her some time. Eventually it will pass. She may have now decided that being closer to her people at night is where she needs to stay. I know mine HAVE to sleep in the same room as ME. (not DH as they know who feeds them!)

[Houndless]

We kind of had a similar experience with Tank. He HATED the fireworks this year (didn't bother him last year) but thunderstorms are fine.

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Poor Bang, and kind of ironic that her name is Bang.

 

I missed that connection completely! Glad her name isn't Poop.

~D~

[IndyandHollyluv]

I so feel your pain. Really. Adopted new hound in March. Had SA, but coming along nicely until 4th of July. Fireworks = new dog was a mess. Hiding in bedroom. Would not go out to potty in backyard (and still does not want to go out). I committed a training error and kinda forced him to go out. Peed and pooped in house. In my infinite wisdom, I added to his stress level. Sigh.

 

So now we go out the front door. Click and treat. Sometimes we go out back. Ay carumba!!!!

Edited July 21, 2010 by IndyandHollyluv

[2ndChance]

First 4th w/ Chance too and he HIGHLY disliked the fireworks as well. He wasn't as severe, but he didn't stop panting and shaking like a leaf for 3 hours. Wouldn't sleep w/ me either....went right to his crate which he hasn't been inside in months. Glad i hadn't folded it up for good yet.

 

Poor babies!

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

I've got the same problems here, but adding in a thunderphobic dog that has gone off the deep end with all these storms too. I've had her two years, and she is somewhat of a shy dog, took me a half hour to get her past a flag flapping in the wind one time, but it's gotten so much worse this year. She is now a thunderstorm ariel, I can tell when one is coming because she starts pacing and panting well before the sky darkens now. Okay...so now add in the fourth of July fireworks. Oh...and the week after the fourth was our home town "heritage days" complete with a giant fireworks display less than a mile from the house. She won't go outside at night now, because the flashes of lightening (even heat lightening) & fireworks scared her a couple nights in a row, so now she looks for it every night. Good thing she has never gone in the house, or I'd have problems with that too. This last storm we had, she climbed on TOP of me while I was on the couch, and she does not get onto the furniture. Not sure what I'm going to do with her, she's now afraid of any loud noise and still won't go out after dark. umm...it gets dark here at 5pm in the winter!

[Guest kiana325]

Let me add another "me too" to this thread! Boo's first 4th, he hated it! I think we had a real break through this evening to tell you the truth. He was a much happier dog before the fireworks. He goes outside more willingly during the day, but when it comes time to go out before bed, he is a mess! He pants and worries and tucks his tail. Pulls to get back in the house. We've just been doing short walks so he can pee before bed. Tonight, he went out the door willingly, we went for a bit longer walk. His tail unclamped and when we got back to the house, he didn't immediately dart off to hide in the bedroom! I feel miserable for him though, because he was so different a month ago. I'm sure we'll get back to that, but it's going to take time and patience, again. I don't have a whole lot of advice other than, be gentle and generous with the treats. I thought about trying to feed Boo his dinner or breakfast outside, but I haven't done that yet.

 

Good luck everyone! Such a sad situation to be dealing with.

[sobesmom]

Can I just say PLEASE work through this. We had a foster dog - that we were asked to foster for a "special" family. They had a special-needs child. So - our group asked our track contacts to find the BEST MOST BULLET PROOF dog in the world for them. They picked one, after a couple months of looking at every adoptable dog. Then - he was sent to my house - for fostering - and bootcamp. Our instructions were to put this dog through hell. After 1 day of accimating - we starting hugging him - taking his food dish out from under him while he was eating. Laying on the floor and screaming. Startling him while he was sleeping. Grabbing his feet - his tail. We brought in crying babies, crazy 2 year olds - the works!

 

We hated it. He never flinched. We did everthing you should NEVER do to a dog. So - he passed - he got adopted to that family. He lived happily there for several months - LOVED their special DD to pieces. Helped her, guarded her. When I brought him to meet them the first time - the DD ran her hands all OVER him, looked in his ears, held up his tail, crawled under him - and he licked her.

 

Then - came the 4th of July. He got freaked out. Was afraid to go outside. Started tearing at the blinds, and messing in the house. The mom wouldn't take any advice - and decided the dog was "screwed up" - and "dangerous" to her DD - and returned him. The DD was DEVASTATED. She sent his favorite toy with him so he wouldn't be scared - she was 4 yrs old with Downs Syndrome - and she cried BUCKETS for that dog.

 

An amazing dog lost his pefect home - with his perfect girl - over fireworks - no - over the mom's unwillingness to DEAL with the effects of fireworks.

 

I know this is an extreme story - but fireworks fears can be dealt with.

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

Wow! THAT is a really sad sad story! That dog sounds perfect, please tell me he happily living in cozy home with people who would never get rid of him because he's afraid of something!

 

Piper will settle, I know this. If the crazy storms around here would settle down, just for a month, she will go back to normal, I know it. WE all feel a little battered around here with all the tornado warnings and hail/severe storm warnings. The electricity in the air around here has the humans edgy too!! We will be fine here, I promise!

[IndyandHollyluv]

Just an update here: my hounds have a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l vet who also embraces alternative modalities. We're starting my mentally fragile hound (who freaked out over the 4th) on Shen Calmer, a Chinese herb (he is also often very warm to the touch, has sparse coat, dryish skin, not very confident). Thyroid panel came back within normal limits (but that doesn't mean it's normal for him). Anyway, we're trying something new, so will let you know how it goes.

Edited July 26, 2010 by IndyandHollyluv

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

An update -- Bang has settled back down again and is more like her old self, although she still sleeps in the bedroom with us, instead of in the living room. But she's excited about walks again, is eating fine, and plays with her toys as usual. The other night a single firecracker went off and she retreated to the bedroom, but after a few hours, seemed to forget about it and come back out again.

 

It's so nice having our girl back!

 

--Gina

 

As soon as we stopped closing the gate that was keeping Bang in the bedroom with us at night, she started sleeping on her living room bed. We interpreted this as her feeling secure and at home in the entire condo.

 

4th of July was 3 days of incessant fireworks in the hood, much of it in close proximity to us. It only really ceased on about the 8th (and there was one LAST NIGHT!). It was her first July4 post racing career, and she was very unhappy. She became a spook; didn't want to go for walks, off her feed, and spent most of the time cowering on our bed looking very sad.

 

Post-barrage, it became one firecracker = 36 hours of nervous dog.

 

The big change is that she reverted to sleeping in our bedroom and shows no sign of returning to the LR at night.

 

Oddly, she is completely unaffected by thunder. I guess she heard T-storms all her life in Wheeling.

 

~D~

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Just an update here: my hounds have a w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l vet who also embraces alternative modalities. We're starting my mentally fragile hound (who freaked out over the 4th) on Shen Calmer, a Chinese herb (he is also often very warm to the touch, has sparse coat, dryish skin, not very confident). Thyroid panel came back within normal limits (but that doesn't mean it's normal for him). Anyway, we're trying something new, so will let you know how it goes.

 

 

What thyroid did they test for (just T4 or did they send the sample off to MSU for the full screening?) Also, does your vet know that the "normal" range for greyhounds is considered low for all other breeds? So he may actually have elevated levels.

 

Chad

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Bang now seems recovered from the terrors of the 4th, EXCEPT she still is sleeping in our bedroom instead of alone in the LR. Which is fine except for the 3:00 AM dreams she has occasionally that require her to make odd yipping noises....

 

~D~

[Guest NQ3X]

Interesting phenomenon.

 

Our Melody used to be fine around loud noises. We're reenactors - we do a LOT of living history, and our business is built around it - and we'd taken Melody and the other hounds to events all the time.* Muskets going off, cannons firing, people shouting, the clang and clash of steel on steel, they didn't care. Usually they'd just find a convenient sunbeam and nap.

 

Then, last summer, there was a fireworks display a couple miles from the house. Everything was fine until the finale, when they set off all those BOOM BOOMITTY BOOM BOOMBOOMBOOM thunder-flashes. I wasn't home, but according to my wife Kass it sounded like PA was shelling NJ, and we live right on the Delaware River!

 

Kass got mildly freaked. We think Melody caught the freak, because Sebastian remains fine, Leo was fine (RIP), and Preston slept through the whole thing. Because Kass started freaking then cuddling Melody. Remember these dogs are really sensitive about picking up your "vibes" - if you're freaked, even slightly, they will be, too.

 

Several times after that, we made the mistake of making a big deal about it every time Melody would start freaking at loud noises outside, giving her cuddles and fussing. This merely reinforced the behavior.

 

We tried ignoring it when she'd freak. We now think that's counterproductive: if she's telling us she's in distress, it adds more stress when her monkeys - the members of the pack she trusts to Make Things Better - simply ignore her distress. So we read around a bit on Teh Intarwebz.

 

We're solving it by doing things she likes when she starts to freak. We take her out on-lead (like we're confusing her "OMG it's NOIZY OMG**BBQ!!!!1!!11!!" with wanting to poop ), give her a favorite stuffy to savage, stuff like that. We're trying to associate good things with loud noises. It's working, slowly but surely.

 

That's something you may wish to try: Training. Distraction works. It has an added benefit of distracting both Bang and you if you're even the least bit freaked out by the noises. Reinforce Come, Heel, Shake, whatever command-based behaviors you have already trained, so he can concentrate on something other than the noises. That's what we're doing with Melly and her squeakies: Tossing them to her, getting her to play, praising her mightily when she savages the poor squeaky, with freeze-dried liver to seal the deal.

 

Some people recommend taking Bang for a long tiring walk if you know there are fireworks scheduled for a particular night. If she's exhausted from walk/romp/etc., she might sleep right through it.

 

I hope you come up with the appropriate answer for your hound!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

 

* Greyhounds are wonderfully historically-accurate dogs for any time period!

Edited July 29, 2010 by NQ3X

[sobesmom]

Wow! THAT is a really sad sad story! That dog sounds perfect, please tell me he happily living in cozy home with people who would never get rid of him because he's afraid of something!

 

Piper will settle, I know this. If the crazy storms around here would settle down, just for a month, she will go back to normal, I know it. WE all feel a little battered around here with all the tornado warnings and hail/severe storm warnings. The electricity in the air around here has the humans edgy too!! We will be fine here, I promise!

 

He came back to us after he got "booted". WAY overweight, and absolutely dripping hair- apparenty he was shedding like mad from anxiety, and was "too freaky" to brush. A total load of crap. My hands took about 2 lb. of hair off him when he was kissing me when I picked him up! Nobody had touched him in a couple weeks. A greyhound that nobody even petted!

 

Anyway - the first day he was returned here - he was FINE. We kept him for a couple wekks, just to make sure he truly didn't have any issues - and he didn't.

 

He got adopted by a nice, loving family and lives happily ever after. I'm happy for him, and them - but truly - he was an EXCEPTIONAL greyhound - the kind that you reserve for the families that NEED one.

 

He's my most extrordinary foster story. What a mess that didn't need to happen.

 

Bang now seems recovered from the terrors of the 4th, EXCEPT she still is sleeping in our bedroom instead of alone in the LR. Which is fine except for the 3:00 AM dreams she has occasionally that require her to make odd yipping noises....

 

~D~

 

Glad Bang got over it. Usually these things work out if you're willing. I eventually learned to sleep through odd noises in the night - hope you do too!

[Guest Olivia0208]

What worked for us is we began giving treats as soon as fireworks, thunder started, since Olivia looked frightened and upset. This has worked and she doesn't need treats anymore to soothe her. Just a very little sweet talkin' i.e. It's fine Livvie, go lay down. We were calm and she was calm. Hope this works for you.

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Can I just say PLEASE work through this.

 

All Bang has done is revert to a previous behavior which was no trouble to us anyway. Bang is our dog for life. Nothing short of her suddenly going Full-tilt Cujo could make us give her up.

 

I know this is an extreme story - but fireworks fears can be dealt with.

 

I find it incomprehensible that the family could not fathom that the pup being afraid of fireworks had no bearing on whether he was safe with kids. Their daughter was wiser than they; too bad she and the dog were the ones who suffered.

 

~D~

[sobesmom]

Can I just say PLEASE work through this.

 

All Bang has done is revert to a previous behavior which was no trouble to us anyway. Bang is our dog for life. Nothing short of her suddenly going Full-tilt Cujo could make us give her up.

 

I know this is an extreme story - but fireworks fears can be dealt with.

 

I find it incomprehensible that the family could not fathom that the pup being afraid of fireworks had no bearing on whether he was safe with kids. Their daughter was wiser than they; too bad she and the dog were the ones who suffered.

 

~D~

 

I certainly never meant to imply that your situation was anything like our fosters- I just hijacked your thread to tell my off-the-wall-crazy fireworks story. Hope you didn't take offense.

 

And yes - the DD was FAR wiser than the parents.