As I said before Bailie is finally pregnant and my first litter from my champions is on its way. But new years is coming up and at that time she will have two weeks left. I am scared that she will go into premature labor from all the fireworks. Here in Iceland everyone shoots off fireworks for a few hours after midnight and Bailie, being a rather skittish girl from her previous experience, is not fond of them. I took her to a behaviour specialist before I decided to breed from her and her skittishness is not a part of her natural temperment and I got a green light on breeding from her but I want to make sure that new years doesn´t affect her and her pregnancy. I have been using videos with fire works and calming exercises on new years since I got Leo 4 years ago since he used to be terrified of them as well but I do not think that this is a time to train while she is pregnant. I am starting to use DAP tomorrow as the vet was out last week and is getting a shipment tomorrow, I will be using the doggie room for us to stay in when the fire works is going off and I am going to tape black garbage bags over the windows to keep the flashing lights out, playing music and I will be staying with her in there with treats and the other dogs. Do you have any other ideas on how I can make this night as easy for her as possible?
It sounds like you have everything covered Dagbjört and I cannot think of anything else I would do. If you are going to be with Bailie and the others in the doggie room, which I assume is nice and cosy at the best of times, with no outside light coming in [normal lighting should be fine as it is regular, unless she is used to being in the dark at night] she will be with her "family" and some gentle music [and treats!] she should be OK. The thing to do is not start panicking now - and at the time just treat those few hours as a bit of extra cuddling and play time. To be honest, when any of my girls was in whelp I treated them as if they were not - just bringing them into the whelping pen which I set up in the salon, and sleeping on the couch next to them for the last week. During the day, unless something looked to be happening, they were all together - indoors or outdoors, sleeping in my dog room until that final week. Good luck - I know how much you want that litter.
Is there a dark & quiet room she can go in, that the fireworks are muffled or can't be heard at all. x
Thank you Malka. I am pretty calm still although I have spoken to my vet on keeping her on speed dial even on new years eve and I have two people that can run to help me if needed and help me keep calm. I am pretty much treating her the same exept for lifting her a little more onto things because she was a klutz before getting pregnant and her belly is getting heavier so she is even more of a klutz now. I don´t have dark curtains for the windows so in the winter the dogs sleep in the dark but in the summer it´s light because it is light out 24/7. That´s why I am going to tape the bags for the windows. I just want to make sure she and the pups will be ok. Yes, my dogs have their own room here with their crates, grooming table and other dog things. But it´s not going to be quiet. Unless I drive for hours into the middle of the country, which is pretty rough terrain, there will be no escaping the fire works. Here is a video taken over Reykjavik on New years and this is what it´s like over all towns in Iceland.
Black bin bags taped to the window take me back to the Gulf War in 1991 when I closed off my smaller bedroom and taped up the windows to get into my "safe" room. No dogs, it was for security as we were concerned about the threats of gas - but it was surprising how black bin bags taped to the window made the room feel safer even when I had a light on. And having a radio on quietly was very calming, although I had three radios on - one quiet music, one on the English BBC World Service, and one on our news station. But the latter two were all on quietly and "boinged" when something came in whereas the quiet music just kept things comfortable. It was surprising how black bin bags taped to the window also helped to keep things quiet and safe. Much more so than the usual sheeting. I will be thinking of you and Bailie and your other wubbles on New Year's Eve - and hope all goes well for all of you. Just remember - if you can keep calm it will help Bailie also keep calm.
I used to have a shepard who was terrified of fireworks. My solution, all those years ago, was to wrap all but her head firmly in a fluffy towel and hold her in my lap. It greatly reduced her whining and shivering and often she would fall asleep. A few months ago I say a similar type "jacket" being sold on the internet for just such a purpose. LOL. Guess I missed the money train again!
