Firework free zone?

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Adopted a rescue greyhound and he's getting very stressed out at the fireworks so far. Wondered if there was somewhere quiet I could spend the evening with him when it gets even worse?

I don't have my own underground bunker or cellar.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Our two current dogs don't seem to mind the odd firework. One dog I had in the past used to get very very stressed until one year a firework went of unexpectedly (it was nowhere near GF night) when we were on a walk and she realised that along with the bang, there were also pretty lights in the sky. She was fine after that as long as she could see the lights that went with the bang.

Otherwise, loud music or loud telly or head up to the Chase.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
My previous two dogs were okay, wouldn't go for a walk with them going off obviously. But this dog has incredibly good hearing and he's only been with me 3 and a bit weeks, so he's still getting settled in and this is probably the worst time to be dealing with fireworks. Even though he's three years old, the ex-racers are like puppies when you get them in terms of what they know. He's also a little anxious on walks unless I take him over the chase.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
The best way I've dealt with fireworks with dogs is to distract them with treats or something better immediately after the big bangs and they remember the good "bribes" after the nasty bangs and bright lights.

Far better than trying to keep them away from it, I think.
 

Thehooperman

Well-Known Forumite
The best way I've dealt with fireworks with dogs is to distract them with treats or something better immediately after the big bangs and they remember the good "bribes" after the nasty bangs and bright lights.

Far better than trying to keep them away from it, I think.
Ps I hope this helps 😊
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Our two current dogs don't seem to mind the odd firework. One dog I had in the past used to get very very stressed until one year a firework went of unexpectedly (it was nowhere near GF night) when we were on a walk and she realised that along with the bang, there were also pretty lights in the sky. She was fine after that as long as she could see the lights that went with the bang.

Otherwise, loud music or loud telly or head up to the Chase.
I saw a bloke out with an elderly dog one night, about ten years ago, during the peak of the firework obsession - it does seem to have faded over recent years. The sky was ablaze with explosions and the noise was bizarre, but the dog was utterly unperturbed. I felt it necessary to comment on this and was told "Actually, he likes to watch them, that's why I've had to come out, he likes to sit at the top of Prospect Road for a good view".

It's not very handy for an evening trip, but Ireland is largely firework-free. There are four types of fireworks that can be possessed or used without a licence - caps for toy guns, (small) sparklers, Christmas cracker snaps and, the very largest of all, party poppers - everything else requires an explosives licence. Stuff does get smuggled in, of course, but I've only heard one this century, having been there for about a total of three years.

This was today's haul from their annual Operation Tombola anti-fireworks activities.

FDHB2fWXsAYsEmL


Apparently, Chile also has similar restrictions on fireworks. They are one of the many things that, if they were suddenly to become available today, for the first time, there would be huge restrictions on them, without any real complaints.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Having had horse stables as a family business once, you soon lose appreciation for fireworks when you see what happens to the horses who are spooked by them. Honestly, they should only be allowed to be let off on the 5th and no other day. I don't see the appeal of them these days, the ones I had as a kid were much smaller and more varied, now they're all the same.
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
From someone whose birthday is on Bonfire night (NOVEMBER 5TH, for those that have forgotten) there is absolutely NO NEED for noisy fireworks, if they have to have noise then they should only be let off on that one day..... Not on the 2 weeks leading up to or the 2 weeks after, speaking as, a pet owner whose cat was killed by a firework, I know how much upset and anxiety it causes to pets, owners, anxiety sufferers, & ptsd sufferers.


Noisless fireworks should be compulsory.
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
It's the supermarkets who push them and they're selling them for weeks before and after.
Not many do now, but don't believe the hype, it's not because they want to protect animals.... Its because they don't want to pay for the licence or the training that the staff have to have to sell them..... It's all about COST.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Not many do now, but don't believe the hype, it's not because they want to protect animals.... Its because they don't want to pay for the licence or the training that the staff have to have to sell them..... It's all about COST.

Oh right. Well, I imagine rules do change and last year I didn't really visit the big stores. But I think it is about time they were outlawed for all except professional displays.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Ps I hope this helps 😊

Sadly, he won't even touch treats tonight. He is just panting non-stop from being stressed out. He was shivering the first time he heard them. In the past few months he's been abandoned, put in the dog pound, rescued, had the snip, put into a foster home with people he's probably missing and then had to leave that foster home to live with me. That's a lot for the poor chap.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Not many do now, but don't believe the hype, it's not because they want to protect animals.... Its because they don't want to pay for the licence or the training that the staff have to have to sell them..... It's all about COST.
Oh right. Well, I imagine rules do change and last year I didn't really visit the big stores. But I think it is about time they were outlawed for all except professional displays.
The level of random firework activity has definitely been dropping for a few years now, fairly steadily over the last decade. It used to start around the end of September and run virtually daily until the second half of January.

I'm not sure what new restrictions shops may have, and I only really frequent Lidl, but theirs have been an 'under the counter/top shelf' item for a while now - you have to ask and they get them from the stores (if they still do them?) - that may be the case elsewhere, too?

Of course, Aldi and Lidl both don't sell tobacco, again largely for cost reasons, I suppose.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Of course, Aldi and Lidl both don't sell tobacco, again largely for cost reasons, I suppose.

They've probably worked out that it's a big time sink, although they have started selling lottery tickets. Go to the kiosk in Co-op stores (which is forced on you as they rarely have staff on the checkouts) and you can be stuck behind people buying spirits, lottery, tobacco (with them hidden from view and all sold in the same looking packs just to make it even slower), collect plus and people paying bills.

Whatever happened to the 10 item express checkouts? I guess stores put no value on their customers time now.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Yeah, I'm sure that's definitely the case with tobacco, rather than a desire to avoid selling it - it may steadily become the case with fireworks, too, especially if demand drops, as well, and, possibly, supply issues, even if temporary.
 

PeterD

ST16 Represent.
It's perhaps too late now but after years of having dogs that were completely petrified of fireworks, we tried Youcalm. You start it a couple of weeks prior to the start of fireworks and it's a tablet every afternoon. Last year my dog was trying to burrow down the side of sofas and whimpering in fear. This year so far she has barely raised an eyebrow. Of course the worst is yet to come.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Thanks. I'm going to give the Adaptil plugin scent diffuser a go. He heard some bangs last night and was panting all night due to stress. Still not himself today either, he's currently sleeping upstairs and when downstairs keeps looking out of the back window.
 

gilesjuk

Well-Known Forumite
Read that Sainsburys have banned sales of them, ASDA have changed to sell low noise. ALDI on the other hand have done nothing except say that they are clear that animals should be kept indoors, erm, does the sound not travel through glass then? they should visit my dog who has spent much of the day upstairs hiding after last night.

Needless to say I'm not setting foot in ALDI again.
 

littleme

250,000th poster!
Read that Sainsburys have banned sales of them, ASDA have changed to sell low noise. ALDI on the other hand have done nothing except say that they are clear that animals should be kept indoors, erm, does the sound not travel through glass then? they should visit my dog who has spent much of the day upstairs hiding after last night.

Needless to say I'm not setting foot in ALDI again.
Sainsbury stopped selling them over a year ago.
 
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