Calming Your Greyhound Through New Year's Fireworks
A Pawsitive New Year's Eve for Your Greyhound
The holiday season is a magical time, especially when shared with a new greyhound. However, the excitement of New Year's Eve can be daunting for these sensitive souls. Here's how to ensure a calm and stress-free celebration.
Anticipating the Noise: Anticipate the commotion (as best you can). Local council websites in Australia will usually list the time and location of planned fireworks - make sure you get prepared ahead of time so that you can settle your greyhound well before the noise starts.
Calming Techniques: The Calm A Snoot Calming Mist is a comforting, organic, dog friendly blend of essential oils made in Melbourne and designed to calm both hounds and humans. Studies show that shelter dogs exposed to the scents of lavender and chamomile in particular exhibited more restful behaviours, they spent more time resting and were less vocal. So if you have a nervous noodle on your hands, add this fabulous product to your toolkit!
Discuss the possibility of medication for severe noise phobias: Speak to your vet about medications, if appropriate. A fast acting situational medication can be life changing for dogs with noise phobia, and will help to supercharge your training plan and any desensitisation work.
Creating a Serene Sanctuary: Designate a quiet room with soft blankets, gentle lighting, and a fan for noise reduction. Set up a quiet “safe space” to retreat to. Bathrooms, walk in closets, and smaller rooms like a study are a great spot - big enough for the both of you to hang out comfortably, but small enough to be able to close up and pop on some white noise to drown out other ambient sounds.
Engage your greyhound with puzzle toys, and treats: Get creative and make the space a jackpot hang out area - lay down cosy blankets (floor coverings will help dampen sound), put a fan on to keep the temperature cool (which will encourage rest), use low light or lamps, prepare an enrichment treat, and spritz some soothing smells. Remember - enrichment doesn’t have to involve expensive toys; many greyhounds love tearing into a cardboard box with a treat inside!
Offer gentle reassurance, such as soothing talk or a calming massage: Don’t be afraid to offer affection! Remember, you can’t reinforce fear, but you can be a source of comfort. It’s okay to provide soothing talk, massage, or even just physical presence to reassure through your company and calm example.
Tire Them Out: Make sure your dog gets quality enrichment leading up to the big NYE celebrations. Tiring out their brain and their body will make it much easier to relax in their safe space when the time comes; a longer walk, some collaborative play, foraging games, even having a playdate with other hounds or human friends will help to encourage an evening of rest.
Post-Fireworks Care: Don’t forget to decompress! Even with the best plans in place, you may find there’s some residual jitters to shake out the next day (cortisol, the stress hormone, can hang around in the system for a while). Keep things at home as low key as possible, offering lickmats and chews and taking a nice slow sniffy walk on a quiet trail will help promote those calm vibes.
By following these tips, you can help your greyhound enjoy a peaceful and stress-free New Year's Eve.