October 29th, 2020 by Amy Varley

With the spooky season just around the corner, you may be wondering how you can help your dog to feel safe when there are fireworks going off and people dressed in scary costumes! Here are our top tips for a stress-free Halloween and Bonfire Night.

Halloween

Halloween can be a strange time for our pets. People get dressed up in spooky-looking costumes, carve pumpkins and go trick or treating! While you may not think too much about your furry friend and how they are feeling about what is going on around them, they could be feeling very anxious, and may even get themselves into mischief!

Walk your dog earlier

It’s a good idea to take your dog for a walk early on Halloween evening, especially before dark if you are able to. This should mean that they don’t see anything strange that might spook them – which will decrease the risk of them running away! If you can’t walk your dog before dark, you could skip the walk and think about fun ways to tire your dog out mentally at home. Scent or search games, learning a new trick or eating their evening meal from a food toy – something that gets their brain going will tire them out just as much as a walk!

Trick or Treating

While trick or treating might not be on the agenda this year because of Covid-19, you should still take some precautions in case you do get anyone knocking on the door! Keeping your dog occupied with food games, perhaps a Kong stuffed with their favourite treats, or even filled with yoghurt and then frozen to make it last longer, will make your dog happy and take their mind away from any doorbell ringing or persistent knocking. It might be useful to make your dog a den or use their crate as a safe space for them to stay away from anyone coming to the door. Try to see things from your dog’s perspective – children dressed up in scary costumes are likely to be very unsettling for them so it’s best to keep them out of the way. If your dog is really nervous you could put a sign on your door asking politely for people not to knock.

Sweet Treats

A major part of Halloween is the treats! While we may enjoy eating chocolates and sweets, these could be very harmful to our pooches if they manage to get hold of any and eat them! Chocolate is toxic to dogs, as are any sweets that contain the sweetener xylitol – which can prove fatal if not treated immediately! Keep all sweet treats out of your dog’s reach, and if you suspect your dog has managed to sneakily get a hold of any, you should contact your veterinarian immediately.

Bonfire Night

Bonfire night is often a pet owners’ worst nightmare. Many dogs are afraid of the sound of fireworks – mainly because they can’t understand what the noise is. Constant loud banging can cause major anxiety in dogs if they haven’t been desensitised to the noise – as they don’t know that the loud bangs and flashes can’t harm them.

Desensitise

Getting your dog used to the noises that come along with bonfire night is important. You can try playing firework noises on YouTube, in the weeks leading up to the event – starting with short sessions with the volume low, and gradually increasing the volume and duration as time goes on. While your dog is listening to the bangs and cracks, you can reward them for being calm and settled, and hopefully when the real things are going off outside your dog will not be so bothered by them.

Create a Safe Space

Making your dog a den will definitely make them feel safer. If your dog is crate trained this is a brilliant place for your dog to retreat to when they are feeling unsure about the situation and the noise. Covering your pooch’s crate with a thick blanket will block out any flashes of light and will help to muffle the sound. If your dog is not used to a crate, you could try making them a den, either with a large cardboard box to go over their bed (with a door cut out of course!) or a blanket over two chairs over their bed. Putting treats in your dogs’ bed, or giving them a stuffed Kong to keep them busy will also help them to feel more at ease.

Prepare for the evening

You should go for walkies before dark, and try to tire your dog out during the day. If they are tired, they are more likely to sleep and not get themselves too worked up over strange noises. You should bring forward their evening meal too. Feed your pooch earlier as an anxious dog is less likely to eat. Make sure your dog has plenty of freshwater too – nervous dogs drink more.

When you take your dog out to go toilet on bonfire night you should keep them on the lead, in case they get spooked and make a run for it! Even the most well trained and confident dogs can be easily spooked by fireworks, and may jump a high fence if they feel like this will help them to get away from the noise! You should also ensure your dog is wearing an ID tag in case this happens. Not only is it the law for your dog to be identifiable, but it will make reuniting you with your pup a lot easier!

Compression shirt

If you know your dog is likely to feel overwhelmed with anxiety around bonfire night, you could look at getting (or creating your own) compression shirt. These are essentially jumpers that apply gentle pressure around your dog’s torso – which can help to calm an anxious animal. This brings your dog reassurance, just like being held tightly does.

Firework-proof your home

Close all blinds and curtains and keep the lights on as this will eliminate any flashes from outside. Turn the television or radio on quite loud (but not too loud so you don’t upset the neighbours!) to try and drown out the sound of the fireworks, and create some sort of ‘air-lock’ system in your home, so that if you need to nip in and out of the house your pooch won’t be able to bolt past your legs and do a runner!

Relax

Most importantly, relax! Our dogs feed off of our energy, so if you are feeling stressed about the occasion, your pooch will feel like they need to be stressed too! Keep as calm as possible in the days leading up to bonfire night, get some of your dog’s favourite treats in and try to relax with your dog. If you are feeling at ease about the situation then your dog is more likely to as well!