How do I keep my pet calm during fireworks?

The fear is of sudden unpredictable loud noise plus flashes. You cannot remove the fireworks, but you can substantially reduce how much of it reaches the animal and give it somewhere it feels safe.

What you'll need

• A quiet interior room
• Blankets and a covered crate or box (optional)
• Radio or television (optional)

Step by step

1. Prepare a den before the evening.An interior room away from windows, with familiar bedding, a covered crate or a box, and somewhere to hide. Let the animal use it freely rather than confining them.
2. Close curtains and windows.It reduces both the noise and the flashes. Flashing light is a significant part of what frightens animals.
3. Put on familiar background noise.Radio, television or music at normal volume. It masks the sudden bangs, which is what makes them startling.
4. Walk dogs before dark and keep cats in from late afternoon.Fireworks often start earlier than expected. Frightened animals bolt, and this is when most go missing.
5. Check microchip details and collar tags are current.Before the season, not during. Firework nights are when the most pets are lost, and current details are how they come back.
6. Behave completely normally.Excessive soothing signals that something is wrong. Calm ordinary behaviour is more reassuring than sympathy.
7. Do not punish frightened behaviour.Hiding, pacing, panting and toileting indoors are fear responses, not disobedience. Punishment makes the fear worse.
8. Cover cages and hutches for small animals.Bring small pets indoors if possible, or cover hutches with blankets while leaving ventilation and giving extra bedding to burrow into.

Tips

• For severe distress, speak to a vet well before the season. Anxiety medication and desensitisation programmes both exist and both need time.
• Desensitisation recordings, played very quietly and increased over weeks, genuinely help — but they need starting months in advance.
• Do not take a frightened dog outside to 'get used to it'. It confirms the fear rather than reducing it.

Common mistakes

• Excessive soothing and reassurance — It signals to the animal that there really is something to be worried about. Calm normality is more effective.
• Letting cats out or walking dogs after dark on firework nights — Startled animals bolt, and these are the nights most pets are lost.
• Waiting until the evening to prepare — A den only helps if the animal already knows and trusts it. Set it up days beforehand.

Questions people ask