By Artograffi: Why dog kennels plays rock music to scared dogs
I wanted to know what happens to pets/animals on bonfire night. So I asked a local vet and the dog kennels at Whitley Bay:
I was wondering do animals get scared from bonfire night and what do you do? Do you think bonfire night a good thing?
Richard from the boarding kennels at Whitley Bay said:
“I wish more people asked that question. The weeks surrounding bonfire night fill us with dread.
“As you probably know, most shops start selling fireworks from October so, they’re easy to buy. In Whitley Bay from about mid- October there are fireworks being let off almost every night.
“As soon as we hear or see them we go out to the kennels. Some dogs hide and others will become agitated and are looking for help.
“If there are not too many fireworks, we can calm them down usually in about half an hour or so by distracting the dogs by being loud and playing, but that’s still not much fun if we are having to help them at 11 at night or later!”
“Firework displays are different. Usually the people organizing it will come and let us know in advance. Just before the display is due to start, we go out to the kennels with a large stereo and play very loud rock music as loud as we possibly can.
We also set up some portable floodlights and try to make the kennels as light as possible. The hope is to drown out the bangs and lights from the fireworks as much as we can.
“But, it doesn’t prevent the dogs from getting really stressed out and upset – it`s not a nice thing to watch!”
Fiona at the vets gave some advice for dogs at home “Firstly the dog should be kept at home in a part of the home they feel comfortable and secure in. Extra soundproofing of the room can be helpful. Scared dogs often like to run to a ‘bolt hole’ for example a cupboard, under a bed or their favourite sleeping place so this area should always be available.
“Long term there are also some special programmes to introduce dogs to loud noises but these have to be started many months before firework night to be helpful.”
So keep your animals safe on bonfire night.
By Hope.
