Hello from Central Ohio!
 

Hi all!

I was just looking around the internet for help with my little dog's fear of fireworks and found this forum. I haven't had a chance to explore it much yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

I love animals, and have always had them in my life. I've had dogs by the dozens, cats, horses, snakes, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs, ferrets... Wow! I've had so many it's hard to remember.

Right now I have a little Jack Russel 'Terrorist' named Sparky. I adopted her from the humane society about 3 years ago, and I just love her to death. She's probably the smartest dog I've ever had.

Her biggest problem is anxiety. She's terrified of thunderstorms & fireworks and has EXTREME separation anxiety. From what I've read, separation anxiety seems to be more common in rescue dogs. We're working on it, but it's slow going. Right now I just feel so sorry for my little girl. This time of year with the fireworks and loud noises are so hard on her. Last night my neighborhood was just full of 'booms' and my poor little girl just huddled up next to me and shook the whole time.

Anyway, that's a little about me and Sparky. :) :dog:

I'm attaching a picture of my little girl...

[IMG]http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa125/Jakaleena/Sparky8728.jpg[/IMG]

That's a beautiful picture of Sparky. It looks like a painting? :shrug:

Are you planning to attend any fireworks displays with Sparky or just stay home? If you're staying home, maybe when the fireworks start, you could turn the TV or stereo way up and have a play/fetch time with her indoors for the 20 some odd minutes their going off. :shrug:

Hope she's o.k. this evening and welcome aboard Photo Jak. :thumbs up

Welcome to the board, Photo Jak! That is one gorgeous portrait of Sparky! :flirt:

I hope most of the fireworks in your area were last night so the both of you can relax tonight! :fingerscr

Thanks for the warm welcome!

And also for the kind comments about Sparky's picture (nope klmccallum, not a painting - I took that photo of her late last year).

The 4th wasn't as traumatic for us, thank goodness. I guess everyone in the neighborhood had set off most of their fireworks the night before so there were only a few moments of trembling.

Okay, I'm off to explore the rest of the forum. Thanks again! :thumbs up

Welcome to the forum.:)

Sparky is a beautiful girl!:lovestruck:

Someone just posted a link on another thread to a page that has additional tips on what to do for dogs who are afraid of thunder/fireworks, etc. so thought I'd post it here as well:

[url]http://www.pets.ca/dogs/tips/tip-73-dog-afraid-of-thunder-fireworks-and-loud-noises/[/url]

I think the desensitization tips in particular would be worth a try.