That would be a no... unless you can do so under the cover of incoming rocket fire.

Glad to hear your little guy is doing well, Summerrain.

One of our neighbors celebrated the beginning of the 1st with 5 minutes (or so) of fireworks. Yes, this was at midnight and it was the big bright ones.

We then had a lull until about 10:30, and it has increased since lunch. Since it's day, it's "just" the noisy ones. Other than that, it's fairly quiet as many of the neighbors are away on vacation.

Well, luckily our dogs are not bothered by thunder or fireworks, but they did notice the smell. It's awful. They are really tired as I gave them all a bath today.

But it's the parrot who has been freaked out all day. Our neighbour's kids began celebrating this morning, and throughout the day, and our parrot just shrieked. I think they finally got the message and we had a few hours of peace and quiet. The parrot's "sleeping room" is on the far side of the house and there is an air filter running all the time which might help a bit but I checked on her earlier and she was not sleeping, still talking "bedtime, nite nite, tired". She loves the sound of rain, and even thunder doesn't bother her, but the fireworks, this is not the same.

__________________

I wouldn't mind if my neighbour mowed his lawn today, anything would be better than the fireworks. But unfortunately, it is not allowed, unless your lawn mower is the manual type.

That is the cutest thing I've read on the forum for months!

But I feel for the poor bird: Do you have a cellar? Would she be able to spend the night there just this once (with somebody to stay with her)? Or would that just disrupt her routine even more?

She's already in the basement. It's a finished room, insulated and all, but the window lets in the most noise. Maybe she will be really tired tomorrow and she will be quiet.

I think the Elizabethan collar stresses the dog even more than the surgery. I have one of these. I have never seen it here. We bought ours in Japan and we have used it many times.
http://www.bitenot.com/

The other alternative is this.
http://www.softecollar.com/page6.html

Hope your pooch is feeling better.

Too late for this time, but maybe buy a CD with thunder and rain on it and play it in her room (assuming the recorded storm does not bother her)? It won't cover up the noise, but at least she maybe the firework noise will not seem to be so aprupt. This year I seem to be jumping at the noise (normally do not - maybe it's my age), but while watching television I did not notice the noise as much.

What a great idea. Thanks. In our former house there was a water pipe in the room where she slept and she slept so well there...I think she loved the sound of the water. She is finally asleep.

Here's another solution.

mmm thanks Mrs Doolittle, I have seen these online but I guess its too late for the soft e-collar now unless someone knows if I can buy it pronto in Zurich?

We survived our first Swiss National Day fireworks. My dog barked at the first few but I shut all the windows, turned up the telly real loud and ignored him. That soon sent him back to sleep!

Hope all your pooches did ok too.

Bringing back this thread, as a heads-up for all who are new to Switzerland this year.

If your pets are frightened of fireworks, be aware that Sunday could be traumatic for them. 1 August is loud. Very loud. Think about what you can do to minimize the noise, think about their safety. Lots of good ideas in the previous posts in this thread.

And it bears repeating - if your pet is frightened of fireworks, during the evening take him/her outside only on lead, even if you have a fenced-in garden. Every year, pets run away in a blind panic at the explosions.

Wishing everyone - pets and people - a happy and safe 1 August.

I had to look after a dog on New Years in Denmark once. She was shaking so badly, I tied a sports sock around her head and ears. Worked pretty well.

I think all animals must have some fear of it.

Jos, one of our bunnies was hopping around the place when all of the sudden this loud thunderstorm bang was released on the valley.

Followed by a few more, i noticed Jos jumping with all 4 feet up in the air.. He was running towards me, jumped on my lap , to hide under a blanket..poor thing was shaking like mad.

After i calmed him down a bit,put him back into his cage, where he was restless jumping around from left to right, up and down..

Josie didn't mind to much,she just puts the ears down and couldn't be bothered.

Not sure how they will react on fireworks.. lets wait and see..

Good bump, Meloncollie. Our older dog is very phlegmatic, storms and fireworks have never bothered him. Our new boy doesn't much like storms, he doesn't panic but was obviously rather unsettled in yesterday's one. I just had to forbid my mother from buying a firework to bring round, despite the fact I'd already told her I didn't want her to because I don't want to spook Heros unnecessarily :roll: I'm tempted to try him with a bit of Rescue Remedy since we have a load of (quiet) garden work to do this weekend - indoors I think he'd be fine

I am so glad it is raining. That put an end to the constant noise I have been listening to all day. Many of my neighbours got started very early with their fireworks which I find really annoying.

I just read an article in the local paper about the number of dog owners who go to the Schwarzwald (Black Forest) for August 1. This is something I am going to look into for next year....providing I can find a place to stay with 3 dogs and a parrot.

My dogs too have sound phobias, which increased after their plane trip to Switzerland. I've been using melatonin with some success lately.

I chose to try melatonin after Rescue Remedy and a calming diet my vet gave me failed to do anything. With melatonin, the dogs are still scared and their ears show they're on high alert, but they no longer shake violently out of fear (to my great relief). Also encouraging was the fact that I found articles written by my favorite dog behavior author saying he's used it successfully. His name is Dr. Nicholas Dodman and he's a behaviorist at the Tufts University veterinary school. Google his name and melatonin and you can find the dosages for different sized dogs.

Like many forum members, I have this issue on my list of things to discuss at my next vet appointment. I've read that at least back in the US vets often prescribe medicines (e.g., Xanax) for this issue, but so far my vet only provided a herbal food additive that did nothing for my dogs' noise phobias. Hopefully when I come armed with printouts of articles written by veterinarians he'll start to take my concerns seriously (I have articles that mention dogs dying from heart attacks induced by fear).

...Or, there's no shortage of irony in CH!

It's Sunday 10pm and NOISE ...I kinda like it can I vacuum and drill a hole in my wall? ...sorry about the dogs tho