Hey folks! Tomorrow is one of those days when planning and preparation can save our furry friends a ton of anxiety and distress, so let’s talk about some solutions we can have in place to keep them from stressing over the explosions in the sky.
Here is an article from Patricia McConnell (author of Control Unleashed and other force free training books) that goes over some things we can do or not do to keep our buddies below threshold. While the article is certainly about dogs, many of the guidelines (including about counter conditioning) can be applied to our feline furballs too.
What are your go-to’s for making the 4th as comfortable as possible for your animals? Is your companion highly sensitive to noise? Share your tips and tricks for other folks to adopt if they haven’t already made a plan.
mcconnell also has cautious canine - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/678120.The_Cautious_Canine - more of a leaflet than book, where she describes classical counter conditioning of fearful dog.
basically what you described, but it is summarized pretty neatly for people not familiar with the concept.
That’s a great resource too!
I set myself a calendar reminder for the middle of June so I can remind folks who need to order any scripts for their furballs in advance. Sorry for the oversight this year.
We’ve been counter conditioning for fireworks since our first July in our home - our cats had not grown up being very close to fireworks, but when we moved into a more rural area every neighbor and their cousin set off fireworks for a week. The basic premise of counter conditioning is simple: pair something good with something scary. Think lollipops at the doctor for getting a shot. We’d play clips of fireworks from yt on very low volumes and hand out treats whenever one of them paid attention to the bang, raising the volume every so often to move closer to recreating the actual sound they’d hear. When we got our pup, we started off doing the same with him and now it’s just another day, albeit a somewhat noisy one.
Some other things that help us manage their stress: closing windows and doors, playing music or movies at slightly above normal volume levels, and occasionally playing small quick games during the noisiest parts to distract their brains.
explosions in the sky
Good band! Saw 'em live in Oxford, MS way back when.
Thanks for the reminder Lally :) I highly recommend a Thunder Vest for your animals if they’re afraid of loud noises in general. One of our cats, Pancake, always runs and hides when he hears loud booming noises (thunder, fireworks), but if we have his Thunder Shirt on in time he will come out a lot quicker. And sometimes he doesn’t hide at all! Promise I’m not a hidden marketing rep for this company, but it’s the name brand I know lol.
Another thing I’ve read is that dogs pick up on the actions of their owners, so some people throw goofy little dance parties with their dogs so they understand there’s nothing to be afraid of.
No judgement for suggesting something that’s worked for you, friend! I know a few folks who swear by them too.
I love the dancing idea, but don’t think our guy would go for it. Luckily tug is life
Fortunately my two cats don’t care about fireworks which in my country are only used during the New Year celebration. They either sleep or watch the show through the windows. I think that replacing my old wooden windows with new PVC soundproof ones does most of the job for me as I am afraid they wouldn’t be so calm if I kept the old ones.
