We’re fast getting to the time of year when fireworks become popular again – after the Fourth of July, the holiday season is probably the busiest time in terms of those big bangs.
While many of us enjoy firework displays, however, it’s no secret that our pets aren’t as fond of them as we are. They can find them scary, sometimes freezing with fear or trying to run away. That’s why we try to make things as comfortable for our furry friends when fireworks are happening – like giving them some of the best dog toys or cat treats – and another way to do so is to mask the noises with music.
However, there are things to consider when you use music to hide the noise, as Ella Camps-Linney and Alistair Mackenzie, professional dog trainers and the owners of Kirby Dog Training, have explained in a recent Instagram post.
“If you’re planning on using certain music to help mask fireworks and have done so in the past,” Camps-Linney and Mackenzie begin, “Make sure you expose your animals randomly to the music when they are relaxing, so the music itself doesn’t become a predictor for the fireworks.”
In other words, you don’t want your pets to form negative associations between the music and the fireworks! “If you only play this music when the scary stuff is happening, you can actually make it even scarier,” they explain. Keep it at a volume your pets can cope with, too, so not uncomfortably loud – remember, they usually have better hearing than us, and anxiety in dogs and cats can often be triggered by loud noises!
It’s a good idea to begin exposing your pets to the music well in advance of firework season, too – Camps-Linney and Mackenzie play it in the background throughout the year when everyone’s happily relaxing to allow their pets to get used to the sounds.
They use African music that’s full of drums, but there are plenty of options out there. Studies have shown that cats and dogs enjoy classical music, and find it soothing – the UK’s Classic FM even broadcasts radio shows just for pets on the busiest nights of the country’s fireworks season. White noise can also be good to help our four-legged friends relax when there are fireworks happening, so you might decide to try a few different sounds and see what your pets react most positively to!
For more firework-related advice, here are 10 ways to calm your dog during fireworks. Meanwhile, here are seven ways to calm a scared cat if your feline isn’t a fireworks fan.
