Dog afraid of fireworks: how to prepare it for New Year

Reading time 5 min · Level 1: Why the symptom appears

The short answer: Roughly every second dog is afraid of fireworks, and the fear rarely goes away on its own. For many dogs it gets worse every New Year. What helps most is what you do in November: getting the dog used to the sound in small steps, building a safe place at home, and in severe cases talking to the vet before December is over. A calming supplement can be a complement, but only if you start a few weeks ahead. What you do at midnight on New Year's Eve matters less than what you did six weeks earlier.

Why fireworks in particular

A dog hears higher frequencies than we do and picks up sounds from further away. Fireworks also come without warning, from different directions and in irregular bursts, so the dog cannot learn when the next one is coming. It is the combination of loud, sudden and unpredictable that makes fireworks the sound most dogs fear. In a British study of nearly 4,000 dogs, about half showed fear of loud noises, and fireworks were the most common trigger¹. A New Zealand survey landed on the same share².

The fear can appear at any point in life, including in a dog that has managed several New Years without trouble. A large survey study from 2019 showed that in many dogs the fear worsens over the years if nothing is done, but also that it can be turned around³. That is the important conclusion: this is not something the dog "is", it is something that can be trained.

How to tell the dog is afraid

Panting although it is cool, trembling, yawning and lip licking, heading for the bathroom or under the bed, following you from room to room, refusing to go outside, scratching at doors or floors, barking or whining. Some dogs do the opposite and go completely still. That is not calm, that is a dog that has given up. Learn your dog's early signs, because that is where you want to step in, not once the panic is already under way.

Six things that help, in this order

1. Get the dog used to the sound well in advance. Play recorded fireworks at a volume so low that the dog does not react at all, and do something fun at the same time: treats, play, tricks. Raise the volume a little at a time over several weeks. If the dog reacts you have gone too fast; take a step back. This is the method owners in a large survey study rated as most effective, together with simply giving treats and playing while the fireworks are going on⁴. Start in November. Four weeks is the minimum.

2. Build a den. A place where the sound is muffled and the dog is left in peace: a crate with a blanket over it, a wardrobe, under a table in the room furthest from the street. Draw the curtains, put the radio or TV on at normal volume and let the dog choose whether it wants to be there. Introduce the place long before New Year so it has time to become safe.

3. Make the evening predictable. A long walk while it is still light, preferably where nobody is setting things off. Feed early. Lead on even in the garden, because a panicking dog can clear a fence it would never otherwise attempt. Check that the microchip is registered to the right phone number.

4. Be at home, and be calm. Do not leave the dog alone on New Year's Eve. The old advice not to comfort a frightened dog, so as not to "reinforce the fear", does not hold. Fear is an emotion, not a behaviour you can reward into existence. Sit close, talk calmly, stroke the dog if it seeks it. Your own demeanour is the clearest signal the dog gets.

5. Supplements and pheromones, as a complement. Calming herbal supplements and pheromone products help some dogs somewhat, mainly with mild anxiety, and work best together with the training above, not instead of it. In the survey study, owners rated them as less effective than training⁴. If you want to try one, do it in good time: start three to four weeks ahead, so the dog has had it daily by the time the evening comes. A supplement given for the first time at seven o'clock on New Year's Eve does nothing.

6. The vet, in good time. If the dog panics, hurts itself, stops eating or vomits from fear, there are prescription medicines that genuinely help, and using them is not a defeat. During New Year week, ten times more calming medication is prescribed to dogs than in a normal week, according to the Swedish Veterinary Association⁵. Book an appointment in early December, not on the 30th.

What not to do

Do not force the dog outside to "show it that it is not dangerous". Never punish fear; it makes it worse and ties the fear to you. Never give calming medication meant for people; several are toxic to dogs. And do not take the dog to a fireworks display so it "gets used to it"; that is the opposite of training.

Checklist for the evening itself

Long walk in daylight. Feed early. Lead on at every door. Curtains drawn, radio on. Den ready. Chew or stuffed Kong out. You at home. Supplement given as usual, if you use one. The emergency vet's number saved, just in case.

That was the short answer. If you have a question about your own animal, email us. We reply within 24 hours.