I played firework noises for my dog from day 1, and I HIGHLY recommend it

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beslowtoanger

New member
10 hour YouTube videos of firework noises, specifically. Got my pup at 2 months old. I would always accompany videos with play/treats etc. Now, he has almost zero sensitivity to the errant loud noise. Tornado sirens, planes flying over the apartment, even thunderstorms. Dog is nearly unphased by these things. In fact, when he hears fireworks he gets really excited. So, come NYE fireworks, July 4 etc., its like he's celebrating with us! He'll be dead asleep, wake up right at midnight with the fireworks, tail going crazy.

I will say that severe thunderstorms required a bit more work. When lightning strikes, I always say 'THUNDASTORM!?!?' very excitedly, then give him a treat. Problem solved.

I'm posting this after having seen a lot of posts regarding loud surprise noises leading to lost dogs, or anxiety, or worse. Has anyone else done anything similar?
 
@nathanjs I also played a lot of video games while he was a pup, sleeping on my lap. Turns out Red Dead 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and a lot of other games have wolves that bark loud and try to kill you.
 
@gringolobo Huh. I just played it for my cat who's tucked under my arm, and he looked at it for awhile before resuming his face-washing.

Kitten noises though, always get my cats worried, and they have to check that there aren't any real kittens involved.
 
@lovecraftfan Highjacking top comment to mention that part of the reason op is so successful is because they started at 2 months old, before the sensitive period window closes at 12-16 weeks of age. After 16 weeks of age the volume, frequency need to be much lower/shorter and MUCH more gradually introduced, and the treat value and frequency MUCH higher, and may never fully be successful.
 
@lovecraftfan I used this with all types of sounds from a playlist on Spotify. They had garbage truck noises, kids yelling, fireworks, etc. and our dog basically doesn’t care about any random noises other than barking at the window when he sees strangers walking by.
 
@beslowtoanger Great recommendation!

I need to do this for loud unsuspecting noises like storms and fireworks (though fireworks aren’t a problem here in my neighborhood) but it’s still good desensitization. I’m taking my dog to his first long road trip and we’ll be staying in a hotel next week. I’ve been playing ‘hotel ambience sounds’ (it sounds like people talking in a crowd, footsteps, bell ringing, doors shutting etc - ‘realistic’ sounding to my surprise) and doing it at soft volume, normal, and loud. To prepare him for the sounds of the hotel.
 
@beslowtoanger I did this with the sound of baby crying. I got pregnant when my puppy was 4 months old, and then desensitized baby crying sounds for my whole pregnancy. By the time baby was here, he didn’t care at all about crying.
 
@beslowtoanger We did lots of these kinds of exercises in puppy preschool (the height of her socialization period). I did it with train noises, car noises, sirens, etc. OF COURSE, I completely forgot about fireworks at that time. So while she's okay with most loud noises, she cannot tolerate fireworks. I still try to food pair when they go off. Now, we use a medication specifically for noise aversions. We use it on all firework type holidays. Of course medication works better in conjunction with training, so I have a treat jar next to me.
 
@eerrr1 What if you took her outside to do her fave activities, and had firework sounds playing kinda quiet in the background, and worked up from there? Like slowly incorporating the sound into every aspect of her life so she can practice life going on like normal.
 
@mtollett Unfortunately, she doesn’t “listen” or care for sounds coming out of electronic devices anymore. Fireworks from afar are actually tolerable for her. The problem is the next door neighbors that are blowing up illegal fireworks. It’s so bad that it rattles our house/windows. I even get startled.
 
@beslowtoanger Can’t hurt to try this, but know that it won’t always work. I’ve had many dogs through my life and none of them cared about fireworks until we had one that did. And we tried to desensitize her but it didn’t help because Snoopie doesn’t bat an eye at sounds played over speakers 🤷🏻‍♀️ But actual fireworks and thunder are super scary. I wonder if it’s something about way the windows vibrate? No idea
 
@aquadoodle I guess that works with us too. Gunshots in a movie? Who cares. Gunshots down the street? I would freak out. It seems your dog just has greater discernment abilities.
 
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