Having to take care of another being comes with responsibility, but with happiness too. Having a dog makes your everyday life more interesting, funnier, and more challenging, as you need to find ways to cope with the personality of your dog.
Even though one might think that all dogs are the same, this is not true. Each of them has its own personality, shaped by his experiences. You might have a dog with separation anxiety, and so you need to find ways to comfort him. Or, you might have a playful and full of energy dog, and finding new games and puzzles to entertain him is needed.
However, according to essay writers and canine lovers from Dissertation Today, the nights with fireworks are the most hardcore and challenging, both for dogs and their owners. Dogs are naturally scared of loud noises, as they can hear higher frequency sounds.
You have probably noticed that your dog is scared and anxious when hearing fireworks. This is the moment when your dog’s survival instinct comes to play and urges him to move away from those sounds. Many shelters are full after nights with fireworks, such as the 4th of July or New Year’s Eve, because many dogs run off of home from fear.
What can you do to help your dog cope with fireworks? How to do it?
Keep Your Dog Away from Fireworks
Fireworks are nice and entertaining only for humans, but animals are experiencing them differently. Not only dogs, but other animals such as cats or birds are scared of the loud noises of fireworks. Those are moments of pure terror for our pets, so you need to keep your dog away from the fireworks.
According to professional essay writers and pet wellbeing consultants from the best essay writing service 2020, you should avoid going to fireworks shows with your dog. And you should also take him inside, as staying outside alone can be really frightening and scary.
Safe Spot
When fireworks begin, your dog might start to look for a safe spot to hide. Make one for your dog so that he learns that there he is protected and secure. Experts in dog anxiety from the best dissertation service say that buying a crate for your dog will help him cope with the loud sounds of fireworks.
Add a crate bed, comfy and cozy blankets, and his favorite toys to make things a little better and more familiar. Your dog will probably hide in his safe spot until fireworks will end.
Exercise with Your Pet
We usually know when the evenings with fireworks take place, as they are usually used to celebrate an important occasion. Make sure you take a long walk with your dog during the day. As the saying goes, a tired dog is a happy dog, so make sure you exercise and play with him a lot.
If your dog is tired, it might prevent him from getting overly anxious and fearful during fireworks. Make sure that your dog is on a leash when you go out and do it before fireworks start.
Shut Doors and Windows
Fireworks are usually very noisy and bright and these are the stimuli that trigger your dog anxiety and fear. To create a safe and comfortable environment, you need to block these stimuli from reaching your dog.
Shut down all your doors and windows as this will make the sounds less intense. Also, be sure you block your cat or dog flaps to prevent them from running away from fear.
Comfort Your Dog
One of the most important tips that will help you keep your dog safe during fireworks is intuitive. Standing by his side during these scary and strange moments will make him feel more at peace, secure, and safe.
Keep in mind that you are the most important being in his life and comforting him when fireworks scare him helps your dog cope with this stress. He might even look for your comfort, so make sure you do not ignore him as this will make things even worse. If you can, stay home with him and try to distract and keep him away from the stressors.
Sound Therapy
Experts from dissertation services say that sound therapy is a rather new but efficient technique to use to keep your dog calm during fireworks. You can find online playlists with psychoacoustic music specially designed to reduce a dog’s anxiety.
The trick is that you need to play the music for a few hours before fireworks start, when your dog is calm and at peace. This will help him associate the music with his feelings at that moment, so whenever he will listen to it, the feelings of anxiety and fear might decrease slowly. Let the music play during fireworks too, as it will calm and relax your dog.
However, make sure you do this on a constant base, not only when there are nights with fireworks. Only by constantly exposing your dog to this habit will help with coping with anxiety and fear. And you can also play the same music when your dog is scared of thunderstorms or other loud noises.
Desensitization
Desensitization is the process of exposing your dog to the stimuli that trigger his anxiety and fear but in a controlled environment. This means that you will firstly expose him to low-intensity noises of fireworks or thunderstorms, over time helping him prevent noise-phobias. Desensitization is used wildly with anxious pets, and you can get assignment help on this topic from professional veterinarians.
An important aspect of desensitization is that it must be used together with counter conditioning to make it efficient. Counter conditioning means using reinforcement-based techniques to change your dog’s response to fireworks. Combining desensitization with counter-conditioning will help you acquire the desired response in your dog’s emotional state and behavior too.
Conclusion
Even though fireworks are fun for humans, animals are terrified of loud noises and bright flashes. To keep your dog safe during fireworks, make sure you exercise and play with him ahead and that he has a safe spot to retreat to if he is scared.
Shutdown windows and doors and keep your dog inside during fireworks to prevent him from running away. Comfort him and use sound therapy and desensitization to help him become more comfortable with fireworks sounds.
About the Author:
Tiffany Harper is an experienced writer and proofreader, currently works as a consultant with Essay Writer For You. She is a subject matter expert for the custom paper writing service and assignment help on topics such as the wellbeing and mental healthcare. Tiffany has adopted three dogs and two cats with challenging personalities.
