Dog & Puppy Training Tips

For Independence Day

Should You Take Your Dog to a Fireworks Display?

Dogs are social creatures that benefit from being included in family activities. However, if a dog is afraid of fireworks, Independence Day can be a terrifying experience for them. 

For these dogs, their fear response is so intense that their primal flight or fight response is triggered by the vivid sights and sounds of a fireworks display, and the resulting adrenaline rush prompts them to "run for the hills" to get as far away from the scary event as possible. This is why so many dogs turn into escape artists and go missing over the 4th of July!

To ensure the holiday doesn't turn into a traumatic experience for both you and your dog, it's important to have a plan for keeping your dog safe and comfortable when the fireworks go off that includes safeguarding your home to prevent them from running off. 

Here’s how to test the waters and what to do to get your dog ready for Independence Day.

Test the Waters: Play an Audio Recording of Fireworks for Your Dog at a Low Volume

If you just adopted a puppy or a rescue dog, you may not know what to expect from them when they hear something as intense as pyrotechnics.

It’s a good idea to test the waters by playing a YouTube video of fireworks going off to see how your new dog or puppy responds.

Start out by playing the video at low volume and then slowly turn the volume up to gauge what intensity of pyrotechnic sounds your dog can handle. 

If they seem curious or don't seem to care at all, that's a good sign! They may fare well during a fireworks display as long as you plan to keep them on a leash and close by.

However, if they respond fearfully with ears pinned back and a tucked tail between their legs - possibly running off to hide somewhere - they may not be ready for a full-on fireworks display just yet. 

For these dogs, it’s best to keep them indoors in a safe, contained space when the fireworks go off to ensure the experience does not overwhelm them and, possibly, scar them for life.

Yes! Fireworks are often the scariest thing a dog will encounter in their whole entire life and can become a phobia for your dog or puppy if you are not careful to moderate their first exposure to them.

Create a Safe Space for Your Dog Indoors

If your dog has already had an intensely fearful response to fireworks in the past, you may have already witnessed just how traumatic the event can be for them - they may have cowered under a bed or in a closet, shivering or even drooling uncontrollably the whole time. 

For these dogs, it's important to create a safe space indoors that can lower the intensity of the experience for them as much as possible, either by creating a den-like space for them in which to stay like a crate covered in blankets or by tucking a bed inside a closet.

Stay with Your Dog Indoors When the Fireworks Go Off

If you have a new or fearful dog, the best thing you can do to help them feel safe is to stay with them indoors when the fireworks go off.

Additionally, feeding them high-value treats or playing with them during this time is the fastest way to calm them down and reassure them that nothing bad is happening.

If your dog is really scared, you may need to stay nearby and give them a massage to help calm them down and feel more secure while all the “craziness” is going on.

Safeguard Your Home and Yard to Prevent Your Dog from Escaping

If your dog does receive an adrenaline burst from hearing a fireworks display, it may prompt them to turn into an escape artist that can suddenly scale a high fence or decide to jump out an open window. They may even try to break through a screen door in order to hightail it away from the danger they are sensing.

Make sure all potential escape routes are blocked off by shutting windows and doors including those that have screens, check that all fence gates are locked, and make sure to have your dog or puppy on a leash if you plan to bring them outside with you.

Training a Dog to Get Used to Fireworks

If you eventually want your dog or puppy to join you for the celebrations, there ARE ways that you can fully prepare your furry companion for the experience, if you plan ahead. 

One of the ways to get your dog used to the sound of fireworks is through a slow exposure process known as desensitization and counter-conditioning, which helps your dog habituate to the sights and sounds of fireworks in microdoses.

Desensitization is a training principle that involves finding the tolerable intensity for a dog to experience a stimulus and not react to it, also known as your dog’s threshold.

Counter-conditioning generally involves pairing food with a stimulus in order to change the way your dog feels about it, and that's how the high-value food rewards come into play.

To start, play a recording of fireworks at low volume to determine when your dog becomes aware of the sounds, but doesn’t have a bad reaction to them yet, and then feed your dog high-value food rewards like real meat leftovers or cheese to lay the groundwork for creating positive associations with what they are hearing.

Work day-by-day and week-by-week to slowly turn up the volume until you can play fireworks at full volume and your dog does not react to the recording. Once you've achieved this, your dog will be prepped to hear the real thing and, hopefully, not be as terrified when real fireworks go off anymore!

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Alexandra Bassett is a certified dog trainer and the owner of Dog Savvy Los Angeles, a Los Angeles dog training company that specializes in game-based dog training and solving problem dog behavior like dog separation anxiety, leash reactivity, and aggression. She is certified as Knowledge Assessed by the Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) and is available for online dog training sessions via Zoom.