Our dog Gatsby is absolutely terrified of fireworks and thunder. When we lived in the UK, it was a nightmare between September to November- with fireworks non-stop for months due to Diwali, Eid and 5th of November.
I would lie down with her and try and not fuss- at times it was really awful. It has been a blessing to live here in our little hamlet- and even better than she is now death as a post- and will only react if she feels the vibrations. So I do understand how distressing it can be, both for dog and owner.
My reply was a response to the 'it is common' to give strong drugs long term- as I'd hope it would be only exceptional and for extreme cases, rather than 'common' = 'normal'.
Certainly with 3 dogs, if the drug route is seen as necessary I'd want a trial run, one dog at a time- just in case one of the dogs as a negative reaction, as it does happen- if you do a bit of research. I Googled 'adverse reaction to Xanax, dogs, and it was evident this can happen and be pretty bad. Good luck Mrs Doolittle- my comment was my sincere reaction to your question. Do keep us informed as to how you get on. Bonne chance.
I really like the idea of the body shirt Edot, and also 'Rescue Remedy' (which I use for myself in difficult and stressful times).
I don't know if our dogs could manage a 5 hour walk, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't though...
I appreciate all the helpful comments and suggestions.
Of the three, one dog doesn't need anything. The two other dogs have both had Xanax on one occasion with no negative reactions, though it was not the long acting pill. Our dog who is almost deaf is the most terrified.
Good to hear they have had the drug before without adverse reactions- so it should be ok again. I suppose your deaf dog feels the vibrations- has s/he been deaf for a long time? As said, for our Gatsby, becoming deaf has 'cured' her- so a blessing. Good luck.
I seriously doubt with posts like this that anyone will want to hire you as a dog walker, permit or not.
That sounds pretty bad indeed. Based on my past experience, I kinda assumed private fireworks were illegal here and you had to go to the centre (lake) to "enjoy" some.
Mind you, I think a lot of people leave Geneva during the holidays to celebrate elsewhere, so there might not be too many people left to light some. This Christmas some places looked absolutely deserted, like western ghost towns.
But who knows, I might be blown away this year. We'll see... I think my cats are conditioned pretty well though; we have surround sound with one of the speakers directly above their cat-tree (and we watch plenty of action movies), they're never afraid during storms and we live right next to a building site where big cranes make lots of noise throughout the day. They don't get startled by these things anymore. The vacuum cleaner on the other hand...
One more word of (redundant) advice though: pets can sense fear and other emotions in their owners like no other, so keeping calm yourself is very important. Good luck all!
Storms and fireworks are not the same, though. Mine doesn't turn a hair at storms. And the firework aversion is new since NY last year
Lily sometimes anticipates a storm, could be air pressure changes.
So here in the Netherlands we're having lots of fireworks. Lily is sleeping on the floor in her thunder shirt. No drugs. I'm amazed....this is a really good result.
Bella and I spent 2 hours last New Years Eve hiding in the central apartment cupboard listening to the Swiss radio this was even though she had had half a Xanax! I do think it helped a little and after discussion with our vet (post New Year) we could have given her another half but too late I think to have had any effect as she was too far into her panic. She did seem a little groggy the following morning but I would not hesitate to give it again if necessary. Luckily we have decamped to our very rural house in France this year and the only noise we will hear at midnight is Bella's not so gentle snoring. I will be thinking of you all and hope all your loved ones come through unscathed.
One of my dogs hates thunder and fireworks, I let her up on the bed to snuggle, put the duvet over her so it completely covered her head (just her nostrils poking out) and she calmed down. I found if I put the duvet just covering her head and shoulders (her backside poking out) that also worked. Don't know why it worked the dark, can't see anything, closeness?
I like edots news that thunder shirts work.
So, here is the update on Xanax. Although we gave it well in advance to take effect, it did not do the trick. I would say it helped very little.
There were no adverse reactions, the two dogs we gave the Xanax to were very sleepy this morning. The oldest dog who is fine with the noise was waiting for the other two to wake up so she could have breakfast.
For August 1 we are looking into hiring one of these to get away from the noise.
I'm sorry it didn't work, Mrs D. :-(
We made it to yesterday morning with no meds. But since the fireworks started at 9:00 am on NYE, i gave lily a meprodil. She had a morning walk before it was bad. She was fairly calm, with the occasional barking and pacing. It's a freakin' war zone. In the afternoon, i put on her thundershirt, so i could take her for a decent walk. Once it gets dark on NYE, no hope of that. Around 6, i gave her another meprodil and she was good, dozing most of the evening. My husband took her out at 1:30 am for a quick walk, but it was still pretty crazy out there. Lily went to sleep after that. I, however kept waking up every time there was another boom. This morning, Lily's perky and fine.
I'm very pleased with the thundershirt. But it might not work for everyone, and it may not work for us every time. I will continue to use the meprodil for long trips and for events like nye and aug 1 with the thundershirt because those are extreme events and i don't like to see my pup in distress.
Hope everyone else had a good NYE!
I'm sorry to hear that your two lovelies had another rough NYE, Mrs D - I think your idea of a camper van to get away on 1 Aug is a good one.
Hope your girls, and Edot's Lily, are feeling better today.
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Sad reminder of how rough the fireworks can be for some dogs: On this morning's walk I spotted a 'dog lost, ran away after being spooked by fireworks' poster. Paws crossed that this poor pup makes it home safely.
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This happens every year. Despite warnings to owners to be careful, dogs run off in fright.
To those out walking today, all across Switzerland: If you spot a dog who looks to be alone, please don't assume that the dog is only off-lead for exercise as might be the case on other days. If possible, hold onto the dog until an owner appears - and if no one does within a few minutes, take the dog to the police or local emergency vet, and then contact the cantonal Meldstelle.
These firelights must be typically Swiss German. Luckily we don't have those in our part for NYE. Some cars honking and drunk people in town, sure, but except in the very centre of towns it's pretty silent.
All your posts, and especially the pics of Rusty make me miss my beautiful dog Lacey. She was a fantastic character, a beautiful soul and she taught me so much. Who would believe an animal could make you a better person.
Blessings to all animals and their simple souls that are so much more truthful than ours. We must seem such monsters in their eyes.
we have tried regular Xanax on our most nervous dog and it didnt help, it just made him anxious about why he felt so weird, lol. The thundershirt did seem to help though. also sorry for all the ignorant and rude responses you have received
I gave mine a double dose of Rescue Remedy and whilst he wasn't very happy, and refused to set foot out of the door between about 4.30 yesterday afternoon and 9.00 this morning (thank Dog he has a bladder of steel), it most definitely took the edge off it. Unsettled and unhappy, but not panicked
So sorry to hear your pups had a rough night :-( luckily there will be several quiet months and time for planning. Hoping they recover quickly!!
When the sun finally decided to appear we took the dogs for a walk and all was fine until we heard a crack. Living so close to the Rhine and Waldshut we get the echo from fireworks in Germany.
That did it for Abby, the most nervous of the bunch, who could not wait to get home and promptly headed downstairs. She spent most of last night hiding near the nook where the parrot sleeps. The parrot has a night cage in a nook under the stairs that is reasonably quiet though apparently she didn't sleep well. This morning there were a ton of feathers on the bottom of the cage.