Prep your pet and build a dog den ready for firework season

Getting your dog ready for firework season should ideally start well before the end of October. Loud bangs and bright flashes can feel scary to even the most confident and assured dogs.

The nursing team at Towcester Vets have pulled together their advice on how to help your dog cope when there are fireworks in Northamptonshire, or wherever you are staying. Their advice covers what you can do in the months and weeks leading up to the dreaded firework season, which is typically from the end of October through to the start of January.

Download our guide: How to build a dog den

Before we dig in, are your contact details up to date on the microchip database? Did you move house or change your number recently? If your dog does run off after getting spooked, your chances of being reunited with them are higher if your details are correct.

How to prepare your dog for fireworks

Now your microchip is sorted, it is time to work on helping your dog hopefully get used to the sights & sounds of fireworks, or at least get through the events with minimal stress. Read our vet nurses’ advice on how to do this below.

From a puppy or months in advance

Work on noise desensitisation techniques

Ideally, you will have started practicing noise desensitisation techniques with your puppy during their key socialisation phase of 8-14 weeks of age and carried on with this training as they got older. If not, even a few months before firework season can be helpful. It may be too late to see results for this year, but you can start this now for the future: download ‘Scary Sounds’ – a Sound Training Therapy Program by Sarah Heath.

4 weeks in advance

Consider calming products

Talk to one of our Burcote Road nurses about pet calming products such as plug-in diffusers, sprays, and collars. These devices mimic the appeasement pheromones of pets, to encourage feelings of calm and contentment. With most products, you need to start using them a few weeks in advance of the event for the best results.

If you know your pet will be absolutely terrified of fireworks, perhaps they tremble uncontrollably, continuously bark or excessively drool, then we may be able to prescribe some calming medication.

1 week before

Create a safe space

Our vet nurses advise that it is wise to create a safe space for your dog at least a week in advance – it could even become a permanent fixture. This will give your dog a safe haven to retreat to if they feel scared. You can encourage them to relax in this space by placing treats or toys inside. You should leave them be whilst they are in there, but the occasional ‘check-in’ is fine.

To help you, our team have put together a guide on ways to create a safe space for your dog. You can download this here:

How to build a Dog Den

On the day

Batten down the hatches!

Here is our vet nurses’ advice on how to help your dog cope and avoid dangerous situations on a ‘firework day’.

1. Exercise your dog during the day; keep them on a lead on the most likely ‘’firework days’ so they cannot bolt if one is set off early.
2. Keep your pet indoors at night and make sure they can’t escape via your garden or front door if opened.
3. Secure doors, shut windows, and close the curtains to dampen the noise and keep the flashes out of sight.
4. Turn the TV or radio volume up a little to drown out the loud bangs.
5. Do not leave your pets home alone too long and leave background noise on if you go out.
6. Act as normal around your dog to avoid reinforcing negative behaviours by giving extra fuss.

We hope you found this advice from our nursing team helpful and are ready to get into action. Remember to check out our Dog Den Building Guide here.

Home care tips for arthritic dogs from Towcester Vets

Just like in humans, a dog’s joints can stiffen and cause discomfort as they get older. Osteoarthritis affects over 80% of dogs over the age of 8 years (and some younger dogs too). To support Animal Pain Awareness Month, the Veterinary Surgeons at Towcester Vets are helping dog owners in Northamptonshire understand how to spot signs of pain and support their dog’s journey with this disease at home.

Adaptations for Arthritic Dogs

Signs and symptoms of canine arthritic pain can be difficult to see, especially when it is often subtle and intermittent. Dogs cannot tell us how they feel and are good at hiding pain and just ‘carrying on’. Therefore, it is no wonder that such a huge percentage are overlooked until they are at the latter stages of this debilitating disease.

Some of the symptoms of Osteoarthritis in dogs include:

• Licking, biting, or overgrooming an area
• Lameness or subtle shifting
• Gait changes in how they walk and run
• Struggling to get up from lying down
• Unable to jump on and off things
• Struggling with stairs
• No longer wanting to play
• Behaviour changes
• Reluctance to exercise

If you notice any of these signs in your pet, it is best to get them looked at sooner rather than later – contact us to book a pain appointment. Arthritis can be very painful for pets and will affect their quality of life on a daily basis.

If your Vet is concerned, your vet may advise X-rays of the affected joints to confirm diagnosis and then a treatment plan put in place. It is important to understand with arthritis that it is often a ‘multimodal’ treatment approach as there are many aspects that need to be considered. Part of this approach may include:

• Drug therapy pain management
• Physiotherapy
• Hydrotherapy
• Regenerative medicine
• Supplements
• Diet adaptations
• Home adaptations

It may be that 1 or 2 of these treatments are implemented initially and more built in as the disease progresses, but every patient is different and so will be their treatment programme.

As well as the treatments available there are also some simple home and exercise adaptations and that can be made to improve your arthritic dog’s quality of life. The Vets at our Burcote Road clinic have pooled their best advice in a downloadable guide – get this here.

Get our Dog Arthritis Home Guide

There are many fantastic resources available to owners to help manage their arthritic pet’s condition at home. Speak to our team at Towcester Vets about the support we can offer to your pet and you – get in touch.

You may also find the Canine Arthritis Management website helpful as it has advice and products for arthritic dogs – visit it now.

Choosing boarding kennels for your dog

Since 2018, people in who run dog boarding kennels, a home boarding business, and even doggy day care must follow rules that focus on meeting the welfare needs of dogs.

Get the detail of what the law requires by reading our article below and download our ‘Ten questions’ to ask your kennel before booking your dog’s next stay.

Ask Kennels these 10 questions before you book

Dog boarding kennels

Kennels must provide a suitable environment, monitor behaviour, and keep a record of your dog’s stay – ask to see all of these.

As a minimum your dog must have:

• Their own kennel unit and sleeping area, accessible at all times.
• Sufficient space in that area for them to sit, stand at full height, lie down fully stretched out, wag their tail, walk, and turn around.
• One daily 20-minute walk outside, ideally more.
• If appropriate, room to share with another dog from your household.
• Access to enrichment through toys and games.

The better kennels will offer more and longer walks, additional enrichment facilities, and more staff interaction.

Home boarding services

Like Kennels, home boarding businesses must provide a suitable environment, monitor behaviour, and keep a record of your dog’s stay – ask to see all of these.

Your dog must be:

• Accommodated within the home.
• They should have their own room where they can get away from other dogs.
• Things that do not count as rooms include… conservatories, garages, cellars, outside building/sheds, balconies, or outside structures.
• They should get exercise that is appropriate for their age and health, with the opportunity for at least one 20-minute outdoor walk a day.

As with boarding kennels, the better the home boarding facility, the more exercise, enrichment, and interaction will be available.

Doggy day care

For a dog day care business to be fully licensed, your dog must be:

• Assessed before they can go to the day care provider to make sure they are not scared, anxious, or stressed around other dogs and people.
• Able to access an area where they can go to the toilet when they want to.
• Able to access an area where they can avoid seeing people or other dogs if they choose to.
• Have their behaviour monitored

Day care providers aspiring to even higher standards will also document the interactions your dog has with people throughout the day.

Get the ten questions you should ask every kennel

Do download our ten questions PDF and use it, along with the information above, to assess your care provider. If you feel these conditions are not being met, then we would urge you to walk away (taking your dog with you) and look for alternative dog boarding in Northamptonshire or further afield.