4th of July

[nelliegirl]

Hi to All!!

Since the fourth of July is coming soon. I had a question is anyone else's chow deathly afraid of firework noises? Nellie last year was literally beside herself with fear. She would not go outside if it was dark out. It took two weeks after the 4th to get her to walk normaly on the leash at night (not the frantic, tail between her legs walking). I had only had her for about 2 months at that time so I am not sure if it was her adjusting to her new environment that set all of this off or if this is common in chow's. How do you handle it because she will have to go out at night during that time? I was so panicked about her that I called the behaviorial hotline at the shelter that I adopted her from because I didn't know whether to comfort her (as comforting would reinforce the behavior...but she was so stressed) or scold her. The lady suggested a low dose sedative during that time of the year just to calm her down. I have not discussed this with my vet but Nellie is going for her yearly check up in a couple of weeks and I do plan to bring it up. I just want her to be as comfortable as possible during that time and she is a completely different dog then she was 10 months ago ( hard to believe next week we will be together for one year!!).

Thank you for you input...

[chowpups]

Oh, I understand what you're saying .. I don't think its just a chow thing its a DOG thing.. I had my daughters shar pei/pug watching it for them and the kid across the street threw a firecracker into the street and Brady torn threw the spindles of the fence .(didn't think he could get threw with his little block head).. but he did. and took off.. We live in the country so it was all night looking till the fox and bats kept us from going anyfurther. Then at day break we went out and there he was walking up the driveway like he just wanted to run in my arms. (he was only 4mos. old). He was petrified from then on of fireworks. Our vet said the same thing about a sedative.
Good luck I hope it works. But I do think its alot of dogs have this fear.

[bama]

My Princess Buttercup is very afraid, she hides and shakes. So....I'm a party pooper, if anyone has fireworks in our neighborhood,
I politely ask them to put them away, as it is against city ordinance to have them.

[kingalls]

On our street, 4th of July is a very big thing...we do a block party and then at night, it's the street fireworks - AND the time for me to sit with my 2 Chowdren and try to tell them "it's okay, it's okay". My Chowdren do not like the fireworks. I don't get to bed until about 1 or 2AM - just hoping the fireworks are over.

[Auddymay]

Pip was afraid of thunder, and any noise like it. After we got Lily, we took them both yo the fireworks. We stayed in the car, but had excellent seats, so to speak. Pip was more interested in the hoard of people, and Lily just didn't care. Once Pip knew what was making all the noise, and that we liked it, she was fine. After that, her thunder fear reduced greatly. Lily will run to the window and bark at the thunder, except the big cracks that start out sounding like a redwood falling. I would not recommend this therapy, I think I just got lucky.

[Piff Poff]

One thing I like about living in where I do in Alberta opposed to the UK is the lack of fireworks They only seem to be let off locally at the end of Westerner Days (near us) and on Canada Day/New Years day at the nearby lake 20 min drive away. Your also not allowed to have personal firework displays in your home. The local Fireworks are far enough away not to terrify Henry.

In the UK we have the November 5th Guy Fawkes night and Diwali is around the same time so every night for at least a month everybody seems to delight in setting off fireworks morning, noon and night. Our cat we used to have was terrified, thankfully that was before Henry's time.

I personally think that only public displays should be allowed as there are far to many accidents caused by mishandling of fireworks.

[Coco Chow]

When we just got Coco, we moved to a new apartment where the refurbishing was not done yet. It was really noisy, but Coco learned really quick that strange and loud noises are normal, so since then she's cool whith any noise, and fireworks as well...

[Sirchow]

We had the final night of a local music festival last night. Firework and drumming etc and I thought Bramble would have been scared of them but at the moment they started, she got a live mouse off the cat and never even heard the fireworks in her efforts to stop us getting the mouse out of her mouth. When we finally prised her moth open (I have a real fear of rats and mice having fallen in a food bin full of them when I was little on the farm) Tony pulled the still wriggling very wet creature out her mouth and threw it over the hedge. Our neighbours love us! So to get back to the point I don't know if in normal circumstances Bramble would be scared of fireworks or not. I know what you mean about the UK and fireworks Piff Poff, in our old house they lasted from mid October through to first week of Jan as lots of people celebrate the new year in Scotland now with fireworks too.

[chowpups]

We have a place called Longwood Gardens and they set off fireworks through out the summer and we can sit on our front porch and watch them . I like it from a little distance they do a nice display.. and Nikki has grown up with it so it hasn't effected her like it did my daughters dog .. But we'll see this is only her 2nd year and shes more intuned to noises now .. she never barked at people walking up our sidewalk before either and she does now.. and these fireworks are put on by professionals and they shake the house.. so we'll see this July..

[Sharons Chows]

Fireworks and thunderstorms in my house is pretty ugly!
Poor JR has dug through one couch and part of another and 2 chairs over the years.
I do not like to sedate him but I have no choice anymore and give him 1/2 of ACE before the holiday fireworks and if there is a really bad storm. He is almost 13 and gets worse as he ages.
Thank goodness he has no ill effects from the sedative and becomes my JR again when the noises stop.

Cheyenne on the other hand doesn't give a hoot about anything...she just goes her merry way and does what she wants to as she does everyday!

[kiwani]

...I have no choice anymore and give him 1/2 of ACE before the holiday fireworks and if there is a really bad storm. He is almost 13 and gets worse as he ages.

Acepromazine isn't recommended for noise phobias, because it doesn't do anything to help the anxiety and makes a dog *more* sensitive to the noise instead of less sensitive. The analogy used is that the med is like a chemical straight-jacket, but it doesn't help with the anxiety.

[kiwani]

Excerpt: Noise Phobia/Ace

Because of their ability to alter perception while rendering the animal relatively immobile, such agents may worsen anxiety-based conditions, not improve them. This is one rationale for advising against the use of acepromazine for the treatment of noise phobias.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 140215.htm

http://forum.chowchow.org/viewtopic.php ... 15&start=0

[Judy Fox]

The old boy who used to live next door and who died a little while ago was absolutely terrified of fireworks - I have never seen a dog so terrified. He would literally rip up my neighbours home until we found the solution - She gave me a key and as soon as a firework was heard, Fred or I would zoom round and into the house and sit with him.
Here in Crewe we have the annual carnival on the August Bank Holiday weekend and then the fireworks meander through until 5th November when again, there is another firework party over in the park which is not far from us. Then on and off every weekend until New Year so it was an absolute nightmare for him.
The vet would give tranquilisers for 5th November which did help but as he was getting older he would only give for the one night.
Milly and Mabel are not bothered at all - they sit in our back garden and can see the displays and they just sit and watch. Hector on the other hand, was not happy with them but not terrified like Shade.