Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs Dogs and Fireworks

Some like 'em, some don't-

I've had both kinds. My last Lab would find a hiding place and stay there until it was over. Did the same with lightning and thunder.

The new one,however, thinks it's just a whole lot of folks out shooting birds or something- last nite, she sat with us on the deck, watching the neighborhood fireworks go off, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself.

Dogs that enjoy fireworks make life a lot easier.....

My old lab would vibrate with excitement when he saw a shotgun you could shoot over him all day long. I could tell a thunder storm was on the way an hr. before I heard thunder he would hide behind my chair and tremble, same with fireworks go figure.

Be careful, have seen them go after burning fireworks. A cousin's lab got scary close to grabbing one. One of my dogs would all but dig a hole to hide in. My little ratter tends to ignore them but I did catch her staring for minutes at a not too distant display. Honest!

My big tough mutt will stand on my foot and lean into my back pocket. My little black lab just watches all the noise and flashes like a bunch of dead birds should show up any minute.

All of my Labs have been terrified, to the point where one used to get in the bathtub and lie there quivering! But our Shih-Tzu doesn't get worried until the big boomers are going off, and even then just looks around puzzled.

Dogs! Larry Brittany was one of mine who didn't like fireworks. Once I made a quick stop at the range and left him in the truck. Found him all shook up and trying to crawl under the seat. But shotguns going off was a time of joy for him and a trap shoot was a fun place to meet people. Who'd a thunk, a bang is just a bang to us, right?

My German Shorthair loves the sound of a shotgun in the field and has to be confined when I am on the rifle or pistol range so that she doesn't scour the downrange area for dead birds every time I fire a shot.

But she turns into a whining, quivering mass of Jello when a thunderstorm approaches or fireworks are going off. Her whining begins half an hour before I hear thunder, and she wants to be in contact with me during the storm. It's the only time she's allowed on the bed...otherwise nobody is sleeping through the storm.

My shorthair Molly has been terrified of fireworks from the beginning. She's almost fourteen now and deaf as a post. No more fear.
My nine month old Griffon just saw his first July 4th and it was no big deal. He just kept trying to figure out where the noise was coming from.

We had a really good pointer ruined by kids throwing fireworks in the pen with him. We ended up having to shoot the dog, this was back in the 1960's.