Good news! fireworks..

Some of you might remember that Archie was never scared of fireworks, until someone let one off really near him on bonfire night and he totally freaked out... he was terrified for the next few days and would not eat or anything

I was sort of dreading yesterday as we had plans to go watch the fireworks but I felt so horrible leaving Archie alone with Ziggy all scared

Well, in the late afternoon we took both doggies to the park for a walk, and there was the odd firework going off here and there (not in the bit we were in though)... Archie could hear them clearly.

What we did was, every time a firework went off, we called Archie over for a biscuit, and then carried on playing with both dogs, throwing toys etc. Archie saw Ziggy who was not fussed at all and he obviously decided to stop being scared cos his tail stayed up all through the walk, even when some fireworks went off a bit closer than expected! I was so proud of him, especially after seeing the quivering wreck he had become in November!

So afterwards we came home, gave both doggies a bath and left them curled up totally knackered while we went to watch the fireworks! YAy!

That's very good brave little Archie ! The golden rule if you have to go into a frightening situation with your dog, ignore that which is scarey to him and be cheerful ...he will take the lead from you.

Thanks Mini

I was ready to put him on lead as I was scared he would run off, but gigi was there (thank god) and told me to calm down and pretend everything was normal

It also had the added bonus of a bit of recall training as his recall has been a bit dodgy lately

I was so impressed with him though.... there was a moment where you could literally see him thinking "hmmm... shall I freak out, or shall I go eat the biscuit before they give it to Ziggy?"

Hi Tuti

I was dogsitting Bella (my friend's gsd) and she is terrified. Luna isnt bothered much.. And I could see that reflecting on Bella.. She was much calmer, and stayed close to Luna. Even during the evening, Bella came over and lay next to Luna.. Not something you see very often..

I'm sure that seeing Ziggy just behaving like usual made a big difference for Archie...