Fireworks and Thunder: Helping a Frightened Dog Through the Loud Nights

Here's something that surprises a lot of owners: you cannot make your dog's fear worse by comforting them. Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour you're rewarding. If your dog climbs into your lap during fireworks, let them. 🐾

The most useful thing you can build is a den — small, dark, interior, soft, and crucially chosen by the dog weeks in advance. Feed meals near it, hide chews in it, never shut them in or call them out. By November it should already be their favourite place.

Watch for the quiet signs, not just the shaking. Panting in a cool room, pacing, lip-licking, and especially refusing food they'd normally take. A dog who won't eat chicken is well past mildly worried.

And if your dog genuinely panics — scrabbling at doors, inconsolable for hours — that's a welfare issue, not a personality quirk. Speak to your vet now rather than in the first week of bonfire season, so there's time to trial something on a quiet evening.

Our full guide covers the night-of checklist and how to desensitise to recordings without rushing it.

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