Fireworks and Dogs - A Surprise Night of Behavior Modification

By Lori Winston, B.S. ,CPDT-KA

Owner and Head Behavior Specialist

Fetch Please Dog Training, LLC

We didn't watch the Seattle Seahawks VS New England Patriots 60th Superbowl last night but, living in Washington, we knew who won immediately due to the unexpected Boom of fireworks celebrating the Seahawks. Yay for them! Yikes for those of us with sound sensitive dogs. Story time; buckle up if you're curious about behavior modification on the spot:

I (Lori) have 3 dogs in my household. Pepper, my shepherd mix, has always had sound sensitivity that we've worked on and continue to do so. But as she ages, it has escalated with triggers like fireworks. We have Trazadone as a situational med to help us through predictable firework celebrations like NYE and 4th of July. In such situations, we dose her at least a half-hour before we know the fireworks are set to begin, close the curtains, and will have an action movie playing to drown out the booms. Last night, there were 3 key intervention elements necessary for us to make it through the surprise with minimal if any backslide in desensitizing and habituating her to sudden loud noises. I'd venture to say we even made progress! Medication was the first of these elements.

Second was a STRONG history of trust built through training and an understanding of differential reinforcement. When dogs go into fight, flight, or freeze, they often will not be willing to play or take treats because their brains are stuck in survival mode. Pepper 100% went into flight last night after the first of several unpredictable booms. Once I processed what was going on, I went into trainer mode and followed protocol to ignite her seeking system. Those of you who've trained with me know that turning on the seeking system (the first aspect of the predatory sequence) is the first step to helping a dog out of the negative emotion of fear and into the positive emotion of play (See the Blue-Ribbon Emotions handout on the membership page). Thanks to our strong history of both play as an alternative behavior to running and hiding (DRA) and our strong and positive association with various work skills like heel, sit, touch, place, spin, etc -- incompatible behaviors to running and hiding (DRI), Pepper was able to find some semblance of emotional regulation, allowing her to make her own decisions (DRO) with a little extra help while we waited for the trazadone to kick in (see DR-Windows handout for details).

It wasn't just Pepper's training history that was necessary to navigate this surprise. It was also the training history with the other 2 dogs who didn't mind the fireworks. I did not want to crate them while I worked with Pepper so each dog rotated practicing their place cue in their respective living room locations while I worked one dog at a time. An added benefit was the other dogs leading by example that the booms were nothing to be concerned about.

Third was a patient, clear, and empathic understanding of canine behavior. I'll admit, the first Boom --> Bark startled me too and I was not a happy camper! I told my dogs "enough" then paused to process the situation. The pause to process was crucial.

So...what did I do? While I certainly wish I'd recorded the session so it'd be more consumable for my audience, that was not my priority at the time; it was helping my dog. I'll walk you through it below:

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The first 🎆 Boom 🎆--> Bark!

"enough (asking for calm window). What was that about?" Pepper slinks down the hallway to hide

🎆 BOOM 🎆

"oh shit...I'm sorry!.... Ready (asking for play window)?" I run to the kitchen to get a handful of treats. All dogs follow me, seeking systems engaged (Awesome! We're out of fear and into play for the time being). "Yes" --> Treat Pepper. "Nice" --> Treat Benny. "Ya" --> Treat Cassie. (a different marker word for each dog comes in handy. You'll see later.)

🎆 BOOM 🎆

"Find it!" Scatter a handful of treats on the kitchen floor. Luckily I can trust all of my dogs to scavenge in each other's presence without any resource guarding. This was not always the case...yay behavior modification!

🎆 BOOM 🎆

Pepper enters fear again while the other dogs couldn't care less (understanding canine body language is important). "Yes" and cheerlead her while I get a trazadone and treats in my hand. She takes them then we all head to the living room. "Everyone go to your beds" (yeah, my place cue is long and ridiculous. Karen Pryor would be annoyed with me, whatever.) All 3 dogs go to their respective beds. "Stay" (no need to say this as it is implied in the place cue but I'm giving my dogs all the support I can). They each get a little treat.

"Pepper - Front" (work window). She complies enthusiastically. "Pepper - Heel" she follows me to where I've stored her tug toy. "ready?" (play window) I give the other two a duration marker "good" and a little treat. "Yes" (sure is nice to have a different marker word for each dog) and Pepper and I start to play tug.

🎆 BOOM 🎆

I give the tug a good yank and she bites down harder. Perfect. She's invested in the game. We continue for a bit before I give another work window cue; "out" she lets go and I give the others another treat. "Yes" and the game with Pepper continues. "Out" she lets go and I know I've asked a lot of my other dogs, so it's their turn. "Pepper, go to your bed". She complies. "Down" she lays down but hesitantly. That is information for me; she's still nervous and down is a vulnerable position. I go and give her a duration marker "good" and treat, noting to give her a lot of support while I work the others.

"Benny -- come!" Benny and I go through his various skills and tricks while I occasionally treat the other two for maintaining position. This goes on for maybe a minute then I place Benny and invite Cassie for her turn. "Cassie -- touch!" and she gets her time to shine, alternating between work and play.

🎆 BOOM 🎆

"Pepper -- heel (she does the work, surprisingly) Yes" and positioning game and spins commence. Spins are a great way to reset the nervous system. More work skills. More play to reward the work.

This goes on over the span of maybe 5 minutes. All dogs are more or less emotionally regulated and ready to practice some calm window. I sit on the floor and have all 3 dogs surrounding me in down positions. "Enough" (calm window). We do some single kibble feeding as a calming exercise, gradually increasing the duration between treat delivery and alternating with calming t-touch for each of them. We've successfully worked through the differential reinforcement protocol; DRA (play in response to trigger) --> DRI (work in response to trigger) --> DRA (play to reward the work) --> DRO (in this case, any display of calmness with significant support).

🎆 BOOM 🎆

"Ready? Find it!" Another scatter feed and we repeat everything.

Over maybe 15 minutes I manage to keep Pepper from having a full panic attack and significantly challenge each of my 3 dogs. There is no way this would've gone so smoothly if I didn't have a heavy history of training for each of them.

Now, 15 minutes is a REALLY long time to do behavior modification in the presence of a trigger (the fireworks). Luckily, I've given Pepper trazadone and am able to continue calming exercises with her until the trazadone takes effect.

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Still with me? Awesome! Now note how much background knowledge and practice it took to be able to follow such a complex protocol in the heat of the moment. This is why it is crucial to hire a professional when dealing with significant behavior issues. This is why behavior specialists urge our clients to start with proactive management protocols when it comes to triggers. In this case, it would've been trazadone ahead of time, curtains drawn, and a loud action film in the background.

Next we have you establish a STRONG and POSITIVE relationship and training history with your dog so that in the moment your dog with trust you explicitly to guide them through the inevitable, unpredictable stressful situations. We urge you to focus on relationship and emotional regulation first so that the work skills come more easily and the trust is their when you need it most.

Throughout our training, we prioritize your understanding of your dog and how their nervous system works so in the heat of the moment you can think clearly and approach the situation with understanding and compassion. We empower you to be a guiding light for your dog in their dark moments. You build confidence and resiliency in your dog so they can make it through. Fetch Please - Building Bonds and Breaking Barriers.

Lori is a canine behavior specialist with a degree in Psychology. She has been training dogs since 2016 and has run her own dog training business since 2018. See more of her credentials here. If you need help with your dog, contact us here. We can easily get you started on your behavior modification journey online!