Poor Xena has been a mess this afternoon. She has always been gun shy and reacts strongly if anyone in the district is shooting. Today someone up the road was doing target practice and Xena turned into a quivering mess. She even pushed and crawled her way under the computer desk to be close. Everytime I move she is stuck to my thigh and even followed me into the toilet. She won't let me out of her sight. I have now turned the telly on with the volume up to help hide the noise. Poor baby. It is very hard trying to ignore a quivering velcro hound.

Poor Xena, Taog is also very gun shy and does a good quivering mess impression. It's so hard when they look so sad not to try and make a big fuss over them!

Poor girl. It is so difficult to reassure them.

Poor Xena, hope she has settled now. We are sending her lots of ear rubs

I symphasise, its horrible to see your dog so frightened. Ben was never afraid of noises when younger, I once out walking when a storm came from nowhere. The lightning was very close with an instantaneous bang and he didn't flinch.

The Terrier is and has always been terrified of bangs and firework night is a real worry. Last year Ben also seemed slighly worried by my neighbours fireworks so I do wonder if he learnt to be frightened from the Terrier?

Ben is terrified of Bees and Wasps, he was bitten on the nose when he was a puppy. If he sees one he will go hide and start shaking. I have to take him out for a walk to calm him down. The Terrier never used to be bothered but now also seems to be getting frightened of them. Can dogs pick up fears from other dogs?

My heart goes out to Xena & you. You must feel helpless as just like fireworks, someone shooting is beyond your control. My previous dog was scared to death of fireworks & gun shots. At least on Bonfire night /weekend you can deal with it to a degree - TV or Music on load in the house, but shooting is less predictable !
Give Xena a cuddle from me XXX

Xena says thanks for all her hugs She did settle after an hour. It is unusual to have shots during the day. Normally they are at night, like at 11:00 when you are asleep and get woken up by an almighty bang. Then Xena ends up lying on your head
She hates flys to. If she can't catch it quick she is under the bed. I wonder whether it is the noise that hits a certain pitch and irritates them.

Jock hates fireworks with a passion! Every year they seem to start earlier and he shakes bad. We always walk him on a lead at this time even in the park because he would just take off. Dougal on the other hand, no bother! Wierd dogs!

Murray is fine with fireworks and storms but Smokey greyhound really suffers so can really sympathise with Xena. Here is a kiss from us to her

Our first Lurcher was terrified of guns shots, fireworks and thunder. He was kennelled with other dogs, none were frightened. One by one they died, the Lurcher also died and we had one cranky greyhound bitch left, Meg. She became a house dog but inherited the fear as soon as he died, so they do pass it on.
Mine are fine about them now, though on 5.11 they don't like the screamer ones. Try not to show her any fear, ignore her fears and carry on as if nothing is wrong. You should never say things like "Poor little baby, it's ok" cos they pick up on it.

Give her a nice ear rub and a treat from us here in the UK

Last night we had a thunderstorm roll in. Xeen doesn't like thunder either but she doesn't react quite as bad. She became very sticky and breathing quick but wasn't trembling. Bree and Lockie aren't bothered.
When Dana and Bree were pups, I made sure I took them out in thunder storms to show them they were harmless and it worked. Unfortunately Xena's fear was already ingrained when we got her.

On a good note, we finally have RAIN!! Now the ground is sodden as it has been so dry. All the top soil has been washed away. We had some really heavy rain and it rained most of the night.
My fuschia's will be happy We have probably lost a couple of sparrows as they seem to nest at the end of the gutters It was so nice listening to the rain on the roof and even better that I didn't have to go to work

Hoorray for the rain !!!!May there be more , and gentler , longtime one .....

I have had a few dogs with fear of firework/thunderstorm/shots - currently have one badly affected ( Disa , shots are by far the worst for her , even very distant ones ) and one , who just started to show a bit of fear reaction to this when she turned 6 last year , Na'lee ( who , in my mind , clearly is following Disa- if Disa isn't with us or doesn't show any major signs of fear Na'lee is just happy and fine ) . I have done a lot of work , Tellington TTouch and other , with her and have had some good success over the last 2 years - in her case , thunderstorms are barely a bother any more and , for the rest , the recovery time is drastically reduced . One thing I always carry when hiking , is a tshirt - when she starts shaking (after hearing a gunshot somewhere ) I will "dress her up " and it really , really helps her calm down , feel a bit safer and recover quicker . I started the tshirt at home , without any direct connection to shots and similar , tying it up on either side with a scrunchy , so that she won't trip/step on it - she loves it !And my othe girls leave her alone . Now , that she has worn it so often she reacts faster and faster to it , meaning , she relaxes sooner .
I did give various homoeopathic remedies ( kalium phosphoricum being the most important one , after a very high potency of arnica ) and also rescue remedy . What I also use , beside the actual Ttouches , are ( in bad cases ) " dog appeasing pheromones "( aka DAP ) - one can get them at the vets , they should at least be able to order them . I used to have a pump spray bottle with me and would put a little on her tshirt when she needed it - it did help her to calm down to a degree. Now I have a " plug in version " at home , which I will activate when I have to leave and there is a " severe thunderstorm warning " for our region . And yes , I do take a deep breath and exhale equally deeply and (try to ) stay calm and act normally ,friendly , matter of fact in order to help her best , myself and also the other girls .

All the best and a big extra cuddle for the poor girl,


Verena

P.S.: A little tip I got some time agao and which helps me when my nerves are frail and the emotions runing high is , that I breath deeply and imagine having a shower - this will always bring me down to earth and make me much calmer....

I did the breathing thing with Xena last night due to the thunder. I did some deep breathes and then yawned and she settled and snuggled up next to me.

Poor baby, I used to have a lurcher that was pettrified of fireworks and thunderstorms, till he was deaf. Bless him. Try an desensitise the little girl. Tape gunshots and fireworks and any noises that she is frightened of. Play this tape to her as background noise. While you are there doing everyday things very softly at first so that she does not notice it, even if it takes a week. When she is used to it turn it up slightly and do the same again, repeat the process untill she takes no notice of it at all. Please do not try and rush things. let us know how you get on.