Ollie and Fireworks

327 Views 15 Replies 5 Participants Last post by krandall, 18 d ago

CarolineS

Discussion Starter · 19 d ago

I was concerned about what Ollie’s reaction would be to fireworks this weekend. I’m on the sixteenth floor of a high rise so can see (and hear) more than one display in the area. Not only was Ollie not bothered by the noise, he stood at the window and watched them! 🤣

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krandall

· #2 · 19 d ago

That is great, and an encouraging sign. However, firework and thunderstorm phobias normally develop when dogs are a bit older. Typically around 3 years old.

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krandall

· #4 · 19 d ago

mudpuppymama said:
Mia did not develop a fear of storms until age 7 when thunder struck close to our house. There was a huge bolt that took out some appliances. It was not normal thunder.

Yeah… THAT is COMPLETELY understandable!!! Poor thing!

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krandall

· #7 · 19 d ago

CarolineS said:
Well, darn! And here I was so proud of him. LOL The only thing I’ve seen him nervous of at all is when Canada Geese fly low enough overhead that you can hear them honking. I live near a river so he’s going to hear a lot of that. The first time he heard them, he turned tail and ran. I thought maybe I could get him to associate the sound with a treat but he was too nervous to even take one. Yesterday, he heard them for the second time and was noticeably nervous, but did take a treat. Hopefully I can desensitize him more on future walks. It’s weird sometimes the things they react to. 🤷‍♀️

That’s a tough one, because you’d like to start treating him before he reacts, and it is likely that he can hear them LONG before you do!

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krandall

· #12 · 18 d ago

CarolineS said:
That’s what happened today. He suddenly stopped and looked off into the distance. I wasn’t sure what he was seeing or listening to but gave him a treat just in case and then I heard the honking. He did eat three treats today and then listened, but didn’t try to run, until the geese disappeared. I‘ll have to take my cues from him and treat him if he looks worried when we’re in the spot where the geese tend to fly over. He may end up with a few more treats than usual but he won’t mind. 😉 He did recover faster today when the honking stopped. He gave himself a good shake and continued on his way with his tail up. 😀

That’s a GREAT way of handling it!!!

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krandall

· #13 · 18 d ago

Heather's said:
Scout is a Canadian Goose chaser!

Pixel, who tends to be a worrier, saw a turkey INSIDE our fenced backyard. She FLEW after it and it jumped up and flew out of the back yard, over the fence. She SLAMMED on the brakes and turned to look at me. “Did you SEE that?!?! I chased it away!!!” She was two inches taller, all day long! LOL!

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krandall

· #16 · 18 d ago

Tom King said:
We probably have the most bombproof (literally) horses that anyone has. I used to sit out there with them years ago, but now they don't even lift their heads from grazing.

I had a crazy neighbor here for a while that really worried me beaus he'd set fireworks off RIGHT over our paddocks, where the sparks would land IN the paddocks, potentially on summer-dry grass or hay piles. We DID stay out in the paddocks when the firework crazies were out, just to make sure they didn't set the horses on fire. (the horses never seemed to mind!)

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