 Halloween, fast approaching, obviously, and with it comes fireworks every year, and despite the warnings just to be careful there's always accidents and also there's always the stress for animals, in particular dogs, and again this year we're being advised to look after our family pets and just to protect them from the the worst from the the noise and the stress. The Moray, our dog expert, joins us now, and it is a stressful time for dogs, especially if they happen to be outdoors and exposed to fireworks going off, it can be very distressing for them. Well, it can be, especially if it's their first year and they've never heard before and they don't know what they are, and some dogs are afraid of them when they hear them, some dogs run out and bark, there's different reactions that dogs have. Some dogs cower in the corner and there's no pacifying them, they just get so upset and so fearful, and so there's some say every dog has its own reaction to it, so depending on how your dog reacts, if it's one of these dogs that likes to run out and bark at them, then it's still afraid of them because it doesn't know what they are, it's not sure, but at least that reaction is better than whenever you look at a dog cowering and shivering and that's quite upsetting to actually look at, you know, and some dogs do react that way, and if they do then there are a few things that you can do to help. Number one is to be incredibly careful about opening doors because if you open a door and the dog's scared they'll bolt and they could run out in front of a car, they could run off and get lost, and that causes extra anxiety for the dog. For you, for charities who find them landing on their doorsteps, there's a lot of knock-on effects to Halloween, and so, you know, try to make sure that if you open a door that you either have the dog by the collar or the dog in your arms or have another door that you have to open before you actually open the outside door, if you know what I mean, if there's like a porch or something that just kind of has a buffer zone so the dog can't just charge past you and get out, so be careful of that. Yeah, and I suppose it would be good advice to people just to try to have their dogs indoor as much as possible over the weekend when most of the fireworks are going off, and they have to have exercise and to do it during the day. Yeah, well that's a really good idea because the fireworks tend to go off mostly from by tea time onwards where people are let them go with different random times, you know, so during the day make sure that your dog has had a good run somewhere or a good walk, you know, a lengthy walk, so they're fairly tired and relaxed at the time it comes to that time of the evening and that they've had their dinner and all before it comes as well because sometimes if they start hearing things like that they won't eat them because they're too scared, so you don't have all that out of the way for us and then you can actually just, you know, sit down if you want on the floor beside your dog and have them lay their head on your lap or whatever while you're watching TV or reading a book or doing whatever or you can just gently massage them as they're lying there so that they're feeling pretty relaxed, you know, you can put on a bit of music if you're going out somewhere so that they have something familiar or some noise in the background, my cat loves relaxation music so you can try what you want, whatever works for your dog, like you know, you know, yeah, things like that just or there's calming coats that you can get as well, you know, they're like a little warm fleecy coat that's nice and tight and snug on them, that can also make them feel a lot more secure for anxious dogs, you know. Okay, would it be better to keep them in a very quiet environment, like put them in a back room or down the hallway or something? Or are you better just to put them somewhere where there's a bit of music on or where the TV is on and normal activity? Well, I'm one for believing to just go with the day, you know, have it like any other day, it's not a different, a shooter goes off like a bird shooter or, you know, it's like thunder, they've the same reaction to things a bit because dogs do react to your reaction very often. So if you're going about your business, you're putting the dishes in the dishwasher, you're making dinner, you're doing whatever you're doing. If you're just carrying on as normal as if there was nothing happening, the dog will actually take courage from that and feel more relaxed by that because they'll think, well, it's not bothering them. So it can't be that bad, you know, and the see that you haven't died suddenly. So, you know, it means that they can actually relax a little bit. So just keep your day as normal as possible. But if you notice that they are very upset, then have a place for them that they can go to in the corner of the kitchen or in the corner of a room, but try to keep them in the general area where other people are and there's activities and there's things going on around them. You can cover over a coffee table even with, you know, a sheet or something that don't go underneath that if they feel better, you know, but other than that, keep things as normal as possible. I'm trying not to have big, long, lingering looks at them, put them on things because then they'll really think there's something wrong with the see that, you know, this could be particularly tough for those that who rely on on guide dogs or a comfort dog. And the effects can be so bad that some dogs aren't actually able to support their owners then afterwards and have to be retired. We've heard stories of dogs having to be retired early because of the stress that was caused simply by the loud bangs of fireworks going off at Halloween. They get so stressed out by it all that they then they just can't go outside and they're not the same afterwards. So it's important that we, you know, suppose that this that the effects aren't understated and that we are, we are mindful and conscious as well, you know, those of us that have fireworks and we're setting them off, they were conscious of the effect that they can have. Yeah, well, if you try to keep them to the time when they should be gone off, you know, which is a celebration on Halloween kind of thing. And if you try to keep them till that time, at least it's all happening within a short space of time and it's happening all on the same time. But not everybody does that. People let them off here and there. Young ones trying them out. That's a bit of a novelty, you know, yourself, that's every year the same thing. And it's not hard for dogs. And it's not hard for people with babies who are trying to sleep. And it's hard for a lot of sorry, things in the neighborhood. But you know, in general, try to keep your dogs as close to you, try to keep them that, you know, they can rely on you for strength. They can look to you to see that you're not, you know, upset in a way, you know, keep the routine as near to normal as possible. Exercise them early, you know, but what you can do during the year, all year round, you can desensitize a dog to that because a lot of the dogs that are used for gay dogs of that, they're already desensitized through their training to sudden noises, loud bangs, stuff like that, because they can't always be started and running off in the middle of things. So it's part of training to help them settle down. Now you get dogs of different personalities, some are a lot more anxious than others and they might need a wee bit more help than others. But desensitization in general is a big help to a lot of dogs. And by that, I mean, just getting them used to low level noise first, sudden things going off, maybe something dropping in the kitchen, something like that, that they don't suddenly jump up and get started by everything. Now a lot of colleagues in particular are very easily started and upset by noises. So just watch out for some dogs are a lot more sensitive than others. Would it be? Sorry about the cough and just getting over the cold. I totally understand, a lot of that going around. It would be fair to say that most dogs will get over this, that it's the one we get in the year where there's just a concentrated noise levels outside and bangs and bright lights and stuff and that they will get over it. Or is it the case where an awful lot of dogs, if they hear these noises, that it stays with them? Well, if you've got a dog that's easily startled and has a noise sensitive to begin with, if that's not treated and that's not sorted, that actually gets a lot worse every year. Every single year that comes, that actually magnifies and gets worse. So you really do need to treat dogs that are very fearful like that to help to relax them about because they end up, eventually, the dog can get a heart attack in the end, you know, because they just can't take the stress anymore as they get older. They're just nerves are shot at that stage. So it is a good idea to work with them and help to settle them down. And there's an awful lot of different ways that you can do that depending on the dog's personality, what they respond to and things because every dog's an individual at the end of the day. So it's not a one thing fix everything, you know. Finally, Kathleen, a question. My daughter wants to take the dog trick or treating and I'm worried the dog will be startled by the fireworks. Should we take him? Depends on the personality of the dogs. Lots of dogs are quite okay with things like that. But if you take a dog trick or treating you to come to a house where there is a dog and another dog and it could end up on the dog quite especially with children around things like that. So that would be my biggest fear more than the fireworks that you're bringing your dog into other people's territories. And if a dog bolts past somebody out through the door, starts snarling behind the door, you know, it could end up on a bad accident where somebody could get bitten. So be very careful if you're taking your dog out and going around houses, you know. It's tricky. I wouldn't advise it. Better to leave the dog at home for that. Take the dog for a walk later in the neighborhood if you want. Okay. Listen, thanks for that, Kathleen. And I'll have to cut off nice lemon and honey. Happy Halloween to everybody. Okay, thanks, Kathleen. Good luck to you. Okay. Bye. 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