It's that time of year ... fireworks and thunder

[Boxergirl]

I wanted to share an excellent article by Patricia McConnell. Lots of good information.

http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/th...ail&utm_term=0_28cc1bbe4e-3dceb53ea0-75353693

Please no Acepromazine for sound phobias! Most vets have stopped using if for things like this, but there are still some out there that prescribe it. Ace has it's uses, but not for fireworks and thunderstorm sensitivity.

https://www.preventivevet.com/dogs/why-you-shouldnt-use-acepromazine-for-cats-and-dogs

 

[Sheila Braund]

Great information.... Bella is good with loud noises...It's Sunny that is terrified with loud noises and house flies....she was bit by house flies years ago when a storm was coming and ever since them if there's a fly in the house she sits on me just shaking until I kill it...and then it can take her a good hour to feel safe again.

 

[April Nicole]

Same here. So far Logan is OK with loud noises and thunder. This will be his first fireworks show, so have to see how he handles it. But Sophie, poor thing, she is terrified of thunderstorms. She shakes and tries to hide...

Thanks for the info Boxergirl. I was thinking about getting a wrap for her. My hubby usually wraps Sophie in a blanket, and holds her close to him during the storms, and it helps. He has a soft spot for her.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Our Ebony the female black lab would jump up on our bed during thunder storms, and fireworks was not a favorite thing to endure. Coal and Chev, my present dogs, don't seem to mind, probably thinking, "Silly humans !!" Have a great weekend.

 

[Michele]

JC used to be terrified of thunder. I trained him to get a toy and start playing. He's old now so I don't think he gives a shit about any noises...LOL

 

[Jarena]

Thanks for the article! Lettie is fine with thunderstorms. She was fine last year with fireworks but she was only 10 weeks old at the time. This year she is showing some fear to the loud bangs. The article mentioned acting happy when there is a boom. I think I’m going to try that. Lettie seems to be pretty good at matching my reaction to things, so it might just work. I hadn’t thought to try that before reading the article.

Sheila, I know it’s not funny that your pup is afraid of houseflies..but I saw this a few days ago and thought it was funny, Lettie has recently started “stalking” houseflies.

 

[Boxergirl]

Same here. So far Logan is OK with loud noises and thunder. This will be his first fireworks show, so have to see how he handles it. But Sophie, poor thing, she is terrified of thunderstorms. She shakes and tries to hide...

Thanks for the info Boxergirl. I was thinking about getting a wrap for her. My hubby usually wraps Sophie in a blanket, and holds her close to him during the storms, and it helps. He has a soft spot for her.

Nicole, I use anxiety wraps. Ella is the one with severe sound phobia and they weren't really effective for her and seemed to cause her more stress. She doesn't like clothes, lol. Now she just has her safe place in our bedroom closet and she gets an event med. It helps a lot. Al, my special guy, wears an anxiety wrap often. It really does help him. Oddly enough, thunder and fireworks are two things that don't make him at all anxious but let him see a new sign across the street and the world is ending. Silly boy. Anyway, there are several kinds of anxiety wraps. I like Thundershirt and I also like the knock-off made by AKC. The AKC one is more secure for Al because he has a deep chest. Check on Chewy.com. I think it might be worth a try with Sophie. I've also found Melatonin to be helpful for thunder and fireworks anxiety. You might try that as well. There's tons of info online.

 

[April Nicole]

Nicole, I use anxiety wraps. Ella is the one with severe sound phobia and they weren't really effective for her and seemed to cause her more stress. She doesn't like clothes, lol. Now she just has her safe place in our bedroom closet and she gets an event med. It helps a lot. Al, my special guy, wears an anxiety wrap often. It really does help him. Oddly enough, thunder and fireworks are two things that don't make him at all anxious but let him see a new sign across the street and the world is ending. Silly boy. Anyway, there are several kinds of anxiety wraps. I like Thundershirt and I also like the knock-off made by AKC. The AKC one is more secure for Al because he has a deep chest. Check on Chewy.com. I think it might be worth a try with Sophie. I've also found Melatonin to be helpful for thunder and fireworks anxiety. You might try that as well. There's tons of info online.

I didn't know about the melatonin. I'll have to try that.. I think I might try the wrap also. I've been seeing them on commercials a lot lately. Sophie has a big chest also. It makes it hard. She's very small but her chest makes an xs too small. But a small is too big.

 

[Boxergirl]

I would definitely pair a wrap with melatonin. Make sure that the wrap is pretty snug. If she's hard to fit, you may want to take her to the pet store and try on a Thundershirt to get the fit right. If you order it might not be the right size. Al uses that one most frequently, even though I like the fit of the other one better. He seems to prefer it.

 

[Sheila Braund]

Thanks for the article! Lettie is fine with thunderstorms. She was fine last year with fireworks but she was only 10 weeks old at the time. This year she is showing some fear to the loud bangs. The article mentioned acting happy when there is a boom. I think I’m going to try that. Lettie seems to be pretty good at matching my reaction to things, so it might just work. I hadn’t thought to try that before reading the article.

Sheila, I know it’s not funny that your pup is afraid of houseflies..but I saw this a few days ago and thought it was funny, Lettie has recently started “stalking” houseflies.
View attachment 61030

Oh some days it's funny....it's really my fault the poor thing is petrified of the flys...when she was just about a yr old I took her to the lake with me....I had mentioned to my family about Sunnys fears....I had said I needed to grab her a picnick netting that you put over food to protect her from the flys....So one night as the sun was going down a storm was rolling in and of course the flies were bitting again.... so I threw the netting over her that my niece had bought for her...
Then I noticed that Sunny was trapped under this netting and there was a fly trapped in there with her.....I was laughing so hard because of the face she was making....I grabbed my camera and took pictures of her....then I saved her....well now the poor thing is petrified of them....I see if I can find that picture

 

[Sheila Braund]

Yes this is that moment in time that Sunny developed a fear of house flies.....She was all good enjoying digging in the sand until she spotted that fly on the inside with her.....it's ok you can laugh...I did. But now the poor wee thing when she sees a fly in the house she shakes for like an hour even after her seeing me kill the fly...
Yes I was a bad mommy

 

[Nik]

Thanks for the article! Lettie is fine with thunderstorms. She was fine last year with fireworks but she was only 10 weeks old at the time. This year she is showing some fear to the loud bangs. The article mentioned acting happy when there is a boom. I think I’m going to try that. Lettie seems to be pretty good at matching my reaction to things, so it might just work. I hadn’t thought to try that before reading the article.

Sheila, I know it’s not funny that your pup is afraid of houseflies..but I saw this a few days ago and thought it was funny, Lettie has recently started “stalking” houseflies.
View attachment 61030

Oh my goodness. Diesel has recently started catching and eating flies. After seeing him do it a few times Kahlua picked it up and now they both do it. lol

 

[Sheila Braund]

Nicole, I use anxiety wraps. Ella is the one with severe sound phobia and they weren't really effective for her and seemed to cause her more stress. She doesn't like clothes, lol. Now she just has her safe place in our bedroom closet and she gets an event med. It helps a lot. Al, my special guy, wears an anxiety wrap often. It really does help him. Oddly enough, thunder and fireworks are two things that don't make him at all anxious but let him see a new sign across the street and the world is ending. Silly boy. Anyway, there are several kinds of anxiety wraps. I like Thundershirt and I also like the knock-off made by AKC. The AKC one is more secure for Al because he has a deep chest. Check on Chewy.com. I think it might be worth a try with Sophie. I've also found Melatonin to be helpful for thunder and fireworks anxiety. You might try that as well. There's tons of info online.

I like the idea of melatonin....I'll have to check with our vet on what would be a safe dose for Sunny. That may help her on those days or nights when the flies are bad....thanks for the idea.

 

[Sheila Braund]

Oh my goodness. Diesel has recently started catching and eating flies. After seeing him do it a few times Kahlua picked it up and now they both do it. lol

Too bad I couldn't convince Sunny that their edible lol

 

[Nik]

Too bad I couldn't convince Sunny that their edible lol

I must say as disgusting as it is it's also kind of convenient not having to run for the fly swatter. Typically they catch the flies before I have a chance to even try.

 

[Jarena]

I saw this on Facebook and thought of you all

 

[Jakesmum]

Thanks for the article! Lettie is fine with thunderstorms. She was fine last year with fireworks but she was only 10 weeks old at the time. This year she is showing some fear to the loud bangs. The article mentioned acting happy when there is a boom. I think I’m going to try that. Lettie seems to be pretty good at matching my reaction to things, so it might just work. I hadn’t thought to try that before reading the article.

Sheila, I know it’s not funny that your pup is afraid of houseflies..but I saw this a few days ago and thought it was funny, Lettie has recently started “stalking” houseflies.
View attachment 61030

Oh my god!!!! Jake does the same and we've been calling them skyraisins for years!!!!! I had to send that meme to my husband! It'll make him laugh!!!!!!

 

[Bailey's Mom]

We have been amazed at how tolerant Bailey is of storms...even in the worst storms when we are out in the van and it is rocking with the wind and the rain and the sky is trembling with lightning strikes, she's just super calm. This year, however, she became alarmed at the sound of fireworks and no amount of reassurance would make her feel safe. She kept charging the windows looking for the culprit. I think I should have taken her to fireworks parties as a puppy and let her get used to it. Now that she's in her mid-age, she's getting a little grumpy when things are out of sorts and the fireworks are definitely rare around here.

As for flies, that's Mom's and Dad's department, though we use Bailey for radar tracking. She sees them and points them out and Dad and I swack them. She seems to appreciate the effort on our part, and, factually, she's such a fussy eater that she'd turn her nose up at it, even if she did manage to catch it. She's such a girly-girl.

 

[Smokeycat]

We have been amazed at how tolerant Bailey is of storms...even in the worst storms when we are out in the van and it is rocking with the wind and the rain and the sky is trembling with lightning strikes, she's just super calm. This year, however, she became alarmed at the sound of fireworks and no amount of reassurance would make her feel safe. She kept charging the windows looking for the culprit. I think I should have taken her to fireworks parties as a puppy and let her get used to it. Now that she's in her mid-age, she's getting a little grumpy when things are out of sorts and the fireworks are definitely rare around here.

As for flies, that's Mom's and Dad's department, though we use Bailey for radar tracking. She sees them and points them out and Dad and I swack them. She seems to appreciate the effort on our part, and, factually, she's such a fussy eater that she'd turn her nose up at it, even if she did manage to catch it. She's such a girly-girl.

Kryten is like that with fireworks but it's not based in fear, it's guarding behavior. He is ok with loud bangs as we live within hearing distance of an outdoor gun range. It's only after dark that loud bangs will set him off.

 

[Pastor Dave]

Here Lettuce....Come here, Lettuce. Lettuce, get down. Lettuce, stop barking. Lettuce !!!