Category Archives: Fireworks
Happy 4th of July
~Here’s to Hoping it is A Good One
Every year we hear about the Weimaraner shaking and scared of fireworks–but it is not true for every Weim. Recently we heard Bart and Jorga are unfazed. Possibly a big part of this phenomena is they were forced to become more adaptable. Jorja traveled to Belgium (where she spent the first part of her life), and recently she returned to the Pacific Northwest. That kind of journey requires acclimation to loud sounds, unfamiliar territory, and adaptability.
Bart was here longer than the average OwyheeStar puppy. The family slated to get him opted to wait for a future Longhair. He received more time and some attention to learning how to adjust and adapt. Possibly this worked in his favor. Also, his family was very savvy at the transition–careful not to overwhelm him. That is no longer an issue–he travels in large crowds (dogs, children, and noise are not a problem). Below are the notes we received yesterday.
We have opted to keep Bernie’s litter here an extra week. Having them out and about amid the 4th of July Fireworks and the additional potential exposure to Parvo didn’t seem wise.
Dan Reported
Bart (Atti X Boone) There were some fireworks the other night and Bart just looked up and kind of went “what was that?, huh? oh well, back to what I was doing”. We’ll see about tomorrow.
Eileen Writes . –Jorja’s First (Rosie X Zee)
Wa fireworks, doors open fireworks exploding and she is snoring away! Xoxoxo to a relaxed girl,
Safe 4th Of July
Happy Birthday, America!
As birthday celebrations go, American’s Independence Day is spectacular. It tends to begin early and drag on for days afterward. This scenario is to many a person and their pet’s chagrin. Even the rock-solid gun dog may well shake and quiver at the barrage of blasts coming from seemingly ever direction. It is no secret that every year shelters are filled to overflowing, and workers are scrambling to reunite pets with their families. We trust everyone has their pet’s microchip on file with AKC Reunite–this can get them back to you quickly should the unthinkable happen.
Separation is not the only untoward situation stemming from this holiday. Fireworks poisoning is a thing–click here to get the details. If it isn’t enough that so many pets are traumatized by the blasts, there are other ways to get into trouble. We don’t want to think about those things on a day like to today, but ingested fireworks can lead to an emergency situation. For the pet that isn’t afraid of anything, they might chase and capture the pod–they might swallow poison or get burned. Then too, while you have your eyes on the sparklers or whatever, who would see the Weimaraner’s stealthy action at the food table or in the garbage. Cooked bones (in particular poultry) can be deadly. Long after the plate is cleaned (or the trash raided) the reality can surface. It is hard to be vigilant 24 X 7 on a day such as today. The Weimaraner is paw-ty smart and manipulative by nature.
Thank you, for including your Weimaraner in the family activities. Only you know what is appropriate. We mention these potential dangers because it is impossible to think of everything in the midst of all we are doing to make the day special. We don’t want your holiday ruined due to one moment you let down your guard. Here’s to hoping everyone comes through without a hitch. Have a fabulous 4th of July!
PS: This photo at the top is of Lily–from her Daycare this week where they celebrated the holiday early.
It Begins
Kaboom!
Yes, folks, we are at the juncture of the two-week nerve-racking celebration of our Independence. All too many Weimaraners shake and hide during the hoopla. Most Weim parents do the exact opposite of what will help prevent this horrid situation. It is good to keep in mind that the most natural response is typically the wrong one. Here are some suggestions for survival and if your Weimaraner is not afraid of noise–to prevent ingraining a fear of loud sounds.
Rupert Requires the Thundershirt
Fireworks are a Thing
- Even if you hate them, stay calm and unfazed by the fireworks. Your Weimaraner takes their cue from you, and they are a reader of their human’s deepest thoughts.
- Work on desensitizing them to the noise. You might even try some small explosions –staged with you doing something fun. Possibly, you sit on the sofa, and you have a neighbor light off a smaller explosion. Hopefully, your Weim will not take notice. As with preparing the Weimaraner to accept gunfire, a gradual increase is the best approach.
- If they are staying in you might consider very thunderous music and putting them in a small inner location (crated). For example, move a crate to the laundry and set up a radio that blasts music (rather than calming music consider something like Rock with ups and downs to cover the outdoor blasts.)
- Some of you might want to plan a trip to the mountains (or the beach) away from the city.
- Others might opt for a daycare situation that has this covered. That would not be something we would suggest unless your pet uses the daycare on a regular basis.
- The Thundershirt, worn by Rupert (Topper X Dusty) is always a good option. Many folks, report it helps a lot. You still have time to get one shipped if you act today. Chewy is amazingly fast–click here to order one!
- Make sure your pet’s microchip is registered with AKC Reunite. Every 4th of July Holiday, the shelters see an influx of lost pets. Should the unthinkable happen, be sure you will receive the phone call that retrieves them quickly back to you.
- Finally, you may want to consider anti-anxiety medication for this particular situation. Discuss this with your Veterinarian.
There are countless posts that address helping your pet cope with this holiday–for a good reason. It is a tough one. Even some gundogs do not like the fireworks, while they are unfazed by working in the field. No matter how you feel about any of this, one thing you can do is to remain calm. You may want to escape with your pet or pets. Try to find a place that fireworks are not allowed. Be safe and enjoy the festivities. Thank you, for thinking of your Weimaraner’s best interest.
Red, White, and Blue
Stylish Arliss
There is nothing that draws more attention or comments than the well-behaved and sleek-looking Weimaraner. Doesn’t Arliss look great for the holiday weekend?
All of us at OwyheeStar, wish you the best of holidays. 
Toes and Nose
Happy Independence Weekend
Be Like Maverick
Navigate the day with grace, skill, and style. Keep your nose in the game and stay on the tips of your toes. Have a beautiful Sunday!
Fireworks and your dog
Steve Snell
Steve Snell is the president of Gun Dog Supply. He hunts quail, pheasant, duck, and dove. He currently has 17 dogs: 1 retriever, 10 pointers, 3 Brittanys, 1 GSP, a mutt his brother picked up named “Georgia”, and a cocker spaniel named “Lucy” that his wife made him buy.
Steve offers a lot of products for sale. His Gun Dog Team is there to help. Questions? Comments? Feedback? Send Steve an email or call 8-6 CT weekdays at 1-800-624-6378. Or visit his information Gun Dog Supply Website for more information.
Please read Steve’s article on Fireworks and your dog. There is no reason for us to invent the wheel (per say) when Steve has written this comprehensive article such as this one.
Be Careful with Your Dogs and Fireworks!
Fireworks can screw up a dog faster than anything.
Everybody needs to be careful with fireworks around their young dogs and older dogs that have not been properly conditioned to gunfire (see video).
Fireworks are unnatural. You don’t have a lot of control over when or where the noise happens. Fireworks can screw up a dog faster than anything. It’s a lot harder to fix a gun shy or noise sensitive dog than it is to prevent gun shyness in the first place.
This year, only one of my dogs is showing a little gun sensitivity, so Loretta is going to stay in the house over the holiday while the neighbors are shooting off fireworks.
Here are some tips to prevent fireworks sensitivity in your dogs:
- Keep your dogs as far away from fireworks as possible.
- If possible, bring your dogs inside in a closed-off, interior room.
- Block out the noise with a TV, radio, or white-noise maker.
- Check with your neighbors about their fireworks plans.
- Ask for a phone call before they start.
Sometimes the fireworks start before New Year’s Eve or the 4th of July and run a few days after the holiday.There is NO REASON for a dog to be around fireworks, and I do everything I can to keep my dogs away from them. Usually dogs conditioned to gunfire can handle the noise of fireworks, but there really isn’t anything good about them as far as dogs are concerned. We sell a couple of products that are designed to help dogs get over the fear of fireworks, but I really prefer NOT to have to sell them.
CONCERNS
My biggest concern is that a dog will hurt themselves trying to get away from the noise. My second concern is that exposure will create a gun shy or noise-sensitive problem where there doesn’t have to be one.
NOISE-SHY DOES NOT EQUAL GUN SHY
Just because a dog is noise-sensitive to fireworks, does NOT necessarily mean that will translate into gunshyness, but why take a chance?
My best gun dog ever, Em, never had a problem with gunfire, but she was so afraid of thunderstorms that we had to build a special top for her kennel run so she couldn’t climb out or hurt herself trying.
HOW NOT TO EXPOSE A NEW PUP TO FIREWORKS
I was at a party a few years back, and watched a new dog get exposed to fireworks completely the wrong way. The dog was in her kennel, but still in full view of everything that was going on. Once the fireworks started, she became more and more upset, and wanted out of the kennel. To calm her down, they let her out of her crate, and she made a break for it. They didn’t find her for two days.
The volume and brightness of fireworks is just too much for most dogs and nothing good is going to come from it. Please take the time to protect your pets while the possibility of unexpected explosions are around.
I do my best to keep all my dogs away from any kind of fireworks. Even dogs that have been properly conditioned to gunfire can become upset or nervous when exposed to fireworks. It just isn’t worth it.
Fireworks happens twice a year with New Year’s and Fourth of July. You might want to condition your dogs to fireworks, especially if you live where your dogs will be exposed a couple of weeks out of the year. It never hurts to check with your neighbors about their fireworks plans. Give them a heads up that you have a young dog and ask them to give you a call before they start.
People don’t think about fireworks until it’s too late, so think about it a little now. Majority of dogs don’t have a problem with it, but some do. Why take a chance? No point in stressing your dogs out.
Remember, if you want to shoot fireworks, be safe and have fun. Just keep in mind that unexpected noise and stress could create a problem where one doesn’t exist. — Steve
Breeder’s Comment
We have spoken about the upcoming holiday and how to prevent issues. We have admonished you to registered the microchip with AKC Reunite. That way, in the event of the unthinkable, you have a much better chance of getting them back. Steve Snell is well known among the Gun Dog crowd. Others of you may not be aware of him, or find hunting repulsive. Nonetheless, he understands and trains sporting breed dogs. He is right to say avoiding this issue is the wise decision.
Kaboom Talk
Are You Covered?
![20151222_173757[1]](https://owyheestar.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/20151222_1737571.jpg?w=169&h=300)
Picked Up and on the way home.
If you have another microchip–no problem, they will register your microchip too! Trigger was Lost, but he made it home again. We are all so very happy his parents had registered with AKC Reunite.
On Blog Last Thursday, we spoke about preparing in advance of the holiday. We hope you find this information useful and that your Weimaraner is sound-proofed before the 4th of July Holiday. If not, then we will discuss other options in a future blog coming soon.
Trigger on a better day long after his return
Coming Soon
Kaboom!
Do you remember last year? How did your fur-kids react to the noise and hoopla? Maybe your pup joined the household in the last few months. It is time to think about the coming celebration. There is still time to condition the young pup prior to the barrage. Your goal would be to desensitize them to the noise. A Weimaraner that has been conditioned to gunfire and loud noise may not even give the explosions much notice.
Don’t Lose Your Weimaraner
Every year, the shelters are filled with pets who got spooked and ran. You don’t want to be searching for your Weimaraner. You might be asking how you can I desensitize them to loud noises. This is best done while they are younger; however, it is not a lost cause for the adult. It would take considerable work. 
You need the right location and some help. You want to be doing something fun with the Weimaraner. Have your assistant and with the noise making far enough away it would hardly be noticed. (It is best if they cannot be seen, or if you are not looking their direction–you need to ignore them too!) Once the Weimaraner is conditioned to the current sound, you will want to increase the noise. Keep playing but ask your helper to move a little closer.
Stay Calm and Focused on the Fun
Whatever happens; remain calm. Do not tell the pup they are OK and console them. This act of kindness is a good way to ingrain the fear of loud noises. The pup will think you are saying they are right to be afraid. When we say stay calm, we mean do not get frustrated, upset, or concerned about the noise. Everything is fine even if the Weimaraner acts afraid. Your calmness will go a long way toward achieving a positive outcome. If they notice the noise, you should make every attempt not to take notice. Go about the business of having fun as usual. Once things are rock solid at that sound level, you will signal your helper (probably via the cell phone because you do not want to draw attention to them) that they should move slight closer and begin the same exercise again.
Over time, with patience, the process works. Cliff says he would never introduce a gun closer than 300′. Most of our pups are not sound sensitive when they leave OwyheeStar; however, there are many transition points in their life where they can become alarmed–afraid of something. These can be unforeseen events. Always stay calm and get out of the situation, and go about your business. This time of year you could pick up a few fireworks and eventually add them to the mix. Please be selective and avoid the dramatic ones. With patience, this method will work. You can start out ever so small with a metal kettle and a spoon making a very light ding when you are cooking in the kitchen. Be creative and help them get ready for the big event. It is coming soon!
Here are a few links that you might find useful. People try to find a solution. Most try to console their Weimaraner. We suggest you change their attitude about the sound. Regardless, whatever you do–Keep them Safe!
- http://positively.com/2011/07/01/dealing-with-fireworks-anxiety/http://calmaudio.com/fireworks.html
- http://throughadogsear.com/canine-noise-phobia-series/
- http://scarednomore.com/
Preparing for the future…
Owyheestar Weimaraner's News 