I now HATE fireworks!

[Lynn in TN]

I am normally a person who loves to watch the fireworks and sing the Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July. Love the colors and the sounds and appreciate all of the people who fought to make this a free country.

Last year Kelly was not phased at all by them, on New Years she jumped a few times nothing major.

Tonight it was like the real thing, I stepped back in time to 1776 and all hell was breaking loose, and Kelly was going to battle against those fireworks. She gave new meaning to the CAIRN SCREECH OF DEATH, and she wanted to be outside. If we had a wooden door instead of a metal one it would have a hole in it. I decided to take her outside as she was wrecking havoc inside ( bad idea) She almost jerked my arm out of socket pulled me to the point I fell and that did not stop her. How can a little 13 pound dog be so strong?

She was going to get them fireworks no matter what. Talk about Obsessive Cairn Behavior. We tried everything the vet on the news said to do for a dog while the fireworks was going on. Nothing helped! I tried at one point to hold her snout for a second like we did when we were teaching her no bark or enough! That just made it higher pitched. The weirdest thing about it was she was wagging her tail almost the whole time. We couldn't really tell if she hated it or was enjoying making more noise than they were. Barking, growling, and screeching oh my! What noises she made and all the while wagging her tail. I am surprised her screech didn't break the glass in our windows.

I would have filmed it but my camera was dead. Dog gone it I would have liked for you all to hear what we endured for 4 hours. LOL

I hope that all of you had a quiet 4th.

[kieiras mom]

kelly was having a ball with the fireworkss. Keira does the same. Never afraid of anything

[Malcolm's Dad]

Malcolm has been barking now for 2 hours nonstop. Not the screech though thank goodness. You have my sympathy.

Dogs wag their tails because they are happy or they are excited. Sometimes people will see a dog barking or showing it's teeth and say but its wagging its tail. Its wagging because the dog is excited and not happy in this case.

[Tami]

Last year no problems either but tonight there's been a couple fireworks that are a bit louder. Fearghus just barked a bit but nothing more than what he does when he hears a super loud delivery truck coming down the street. Looks like he's settled down again so all's well again.

[Idaho Cairns]

It is the old "fight or flight" thing and it sounds like Kelly has decided it is fight when it comes to fireworks. We left the girls at home tonight even tho they have enjoyed or tolerated the displays in the past. You never know what the dog is going to do with all the noise and bright explosions and the last thing I want is to terrify a dog for forty minutes under a bunch of fireworks. Since there is a firework ban in my neighborhood due to wildfire danger the girls were fine at home this year.

[Tuesday]

Murphy is scared to bits of thunder, so anything that resembles that noise has him on edge. He'll start by growling at it, then barks, then just walks really low to the ground, sort of pacing, and tries to get under something. Usually the nightstand or bureau will work. We do not pet him and we do not say "okay". Normally when there are thunderstorms, we just put him in his kennel and he will totally shut down and does fine - it's his safe place and he finds comfort in there. Last night he did much better than normal, so we hung out in bed, I read and he kept alert, you know, just to make sure.

[hheldorfer]

Buffy finally got some good exercise last night, running from one end of the yard to the other and barking her fool head off at the fireworks. Luckily the neighbors on either side of us were gone and everyone had their AC running. We let her go for about half an hour and then brought her inside. Any longer and she would have collapsed from heat exhaustion.

[tlwtheq]

We keep our TV turned up pretty loud, and it runs through our stereo speakers (at doggy ear level) so

we didn't have a problem. What irritated me is one of my neighbors behind my house had illegal

fireworks and was setting them off for about an hour. THAT was very LOUD.

Glad everyone's pups survived the din!

[Hillscreek]

Angus's first fireworks. Neighbors letting them off.

He wasn't too bad. Barked at the noise but not manic or screeching (thank goodness). Very soon fireworks were followed by a thunderstorm. No problem. He knows that noise will go away when he tells it to!

[pindrop]

Living in Maine has been, for the most part, a peaceful existence. Up until a few weeks ago - now Maine is allowing individuals to buy fireworks! Well...on one side of me are firework fanatics and on the other side is a guy who's wife has left him and he has set up bales of hay, attached a huge picture of his wife and is taking target practice with all sorts of firearms. Combine this with recent thunderstorms and I'm ready to win a lottery and buy an island in the middle of nowhere just to get some peace and quiet. Needless to say, Layla barks at the slightest sound so you can imagine what she does when all these sounds go off at once. Earplugs would be very welcome in our neck of the woods.

[Dempsy's Mom]

Dempsy isn't to bad with fireworks - but he does tell them off.

[Hawkeye]

All was quiet on the homefront for us, we didn't really hear too many going off even.

Sorry to hear how Kelly lost it. I use to have a cairn who was afraid of the thunderstorms and it's tough to watch them spaz out like that. My Radar has done that "CAIRN SCREECH OF DEATH" it is AWFUL.

[Ivy & Lucy's Mom]

It sounds like Kelly was more fearless than fearful, especially if she was wagging her tail.

[bradl]

Ugh. As a kid I of course loved fireworks. Now I find them cruel on behalf of the dogs. But, it's a rambunctious world at times and some things we just have to cope with. Sigh.

Haggis being essentially deaf was blissfully unbothered and his routine was as normal. Echo seemed most distressed while Stella and Dundee barked at a few of the closer explosions but most of their barkage seemed to be more at the over-the-fence antics of the neighbor kids and their dogs. Once we all went to bed they basically stopped reacting (once in a while a loud boom would get a short answering response). Overall I'm grateful they seemed to cope very well. My learning is to simply go to bed earlier next time.

[Zekey's Mom]

There were fireworks somewhere nearby, as soon as it got dark. Not too many neighborhood firecrackers. Zekey was unfazed by them, but Gavin was agitated. Not too bad though, considering. The evening was topped off by a thunderstorm, but I was glad for the rain.

One Cairn owner I know swears by the Thundershirt - said it worked like magic on one of her guys.

[tlwtheq]

Well...on one side of me are firework fanatics and on the other side is a guy who's wife has left him and he has set up bales of hay, attached a huge picture of his wife and is taking target practice with all sorts of firearms.

Eek! Sounds dangerous!

[Lynn in TN]

@ pin drop that definitely sounds dangerous, so be careful. We have a husband and wife ( that are both alcoholics) that live behind us and they fight all the time and occasionally they get out their guns. Talk about scary to have 2 alcoholics shooting guns right behind us. I feel for you.

As far as Kelly goes she is fine and dandy this morning.

I honestly believe she liked the fireworks as her bark and excitement was like when Eric(DH) comes home from work, or company comes, or neighborhood children playing outside and she wants to join them, or like a thunderstorm in which she has the same reactions but with the fireworks it was the reaction times 10, with obsession thrown in. In a way it was like watching my boys when they were little and they would get so much for Christmas (they are the only grandchildren on both sides of the family) They would be so happily excited that they didn't know what to do with themselves and would run and scream and jump, to the point that we changed how we did Christmas.

She is afraid of a few things trash truck being on of them and I am glad this was not the reaction she was giving with the fireworks as they lasted so long. I don't know how these people could afford that many,but they were gorgeous, they were shooting off the big beautiful ones last night and they live right nest door so getting away from them wasn't an option. Turning up the tv wasn't an option either as they were to close.

I am glad it's over the excitement was too much for me!

[Newman]

Fonzy really doesn't get bothered by them. Honestly he just acts normal.... Our other dog (A Shitzu) goes nuts and almost has a panic attack...My mom bought him some pills from the doctor to make him relaxed but they didn't even help, I believe my mom got ripped off around 20$ lol.

But whatever.

[Hillscreek]

Wow pindrop. Be sure to stay far away from that neighbor!

[lindasue]

Pegi hates fireworks; we had the screech of death, barking, etc. And fireworks are ILLEGAL in Mass., but would never know it. I live a few towns south of the NH border so all the idiots run up to NH to buy them. Fortunately after about 45 minutes the police showed up (we live right off a main road and I could see and hear their sirens), and it became blistfully quiet.

Brad, one of the blessings of being an old dog like Haggis is no longer hearing the noise.....

[kjwarnold]

Even though we have a burn ban and strong warnings against home fireworks this year because of the heat and dry weather, they were everywhere here in the Missouri Ozarks. We went out on the boat to watch them and left the dogs in their crates at home. They were okay with that, but after we got home and neighbors were still setting them off, Packy got a bit stressed and went back into his crate. Kirby barked some but finally settled down once we were in bed. Same lesson learned here, Brad -- go to bed and they're okay.

[Pepper Bug's Mom]

Pepper barked on and off for 3 hours! I was trying to watch a movie... Then I knew she had to go outside to go potty - ha ha - she was going to get those fireworks if it killed her! Bark Bark Bark! After trying to catch her for 10 minutes - brought her in and had to wait until after midnight to get her to go outside and potty. What a tough little girl she is!!!

[cairnrescueleague]

When I lived in NH, the town fireworks display was in the school parking lot catty corner right across the street from my house. I used to pile the cairns in my Honda Element and drive around, far away from fireworks, until they were over. Cubby was extremely reactive to fireworks, and I had senior and special needs fosters, so I didn't want them to get too worked up.