When the firework season is upon us, people often despair about how their pets will react. While some dogs are not bothered much, just as many are petrified by the bangs and flashes which seem to get louder and brighter year after year. My Labrador was so scared of fireworks that he would refuse to go outside after nightfall over the whole of the winter period. I will now explain how we cured him in the hope that, in future years, you can train your dog to ignore (and sometimes even enjoy) the firework season.

The secret of this training is noise association. For this you will need a CD of firework noises and other scary sounds that are available from many dog accessories on-line shops (e-bay for example). There are various CDs about – search for names like "Sounds Scary", "Fear of Fireworks" or "CLIX Noises and Sounds". I used the "Sounds Scary" CD and helped it along with a DAP diffuser plugged into a socket in my training room.

Now this method takes a bit of patience, but it works. Firstly you adjust the volume level of your CD player so that it is barely audible to you. Dogs have much more sensitive hearing, so they will still be able to hear it. Next you can close the curtains so the room gets a bit darker, but not too dark. With the CD playing and your DAP turned on, play with your dog with its favourite dog toys, always being positive and enthusiastic. When your pet plays back, give it a dog treat to reward it for playing and not worrying. Do this for about half an hour per session per day.

On day 2 you would turn your CD player up a notch and repeat the play pattern. If you start sensing fear, then reduce the level a bit and play a bit harder. Maybe fill a Kong toy up with squirty cheese or Kong Paste and play with that. This will give a really good positive link between the firework noises and being rewarded. I hope you see where we are going with this now.

Keep making the noises louder and louder (at a notch a day) until you are at about half the level that YOU can tolerate. In the next session, keep the noise level the same but try the session with the DAP turned off. Hopefully you will not notice any difference in the behaviour now.

Right, now is the time to get a bit noisier. Next session you may want to jump to about 70% maximum noise level. Keep on playing and rewarding with your pet. Then after about a week, you will have completed your training. Hopefully you have now programmed your dog to associate all the loud noises on the disc with having fun and being rewarded.

If you are doing the training outside of the firework season then try a little refresher session about half way through October to re-assert this training. Then it will be time to put it to the test. When the fireworks start, you may want to turn your diffuser on to begin with, but only to begin. Play with your dog for the first couple of nights and reward accordingly. Your dog should now be ready to go it alone…Good Luck!