Shut the doors before the fireworks start

Your dog hates fireworks, and the nights are coming: Bonfire Night, New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July, a neighbour’s party. It is easy to think the danger is the fear. The fear is real. What many people warn about is what a frightened animal may do next: try to run.

On fireworks nights, keep your dog or cat inside with the doors, windows and gates shut, and check before the first bang that the tag and the microchip carry your current phone number.

Before dark

Walk the dog while it is still light. That is the RSPCA’s first piece of advice, and it keeps the walk away from the hours when the fireworks are loudest. Keep the lead on for it, as some people say to do on any walk in public, however well trained the dog is; some people say training can fail when a dog is frightened. Bring cats in before dark as well, and close the cat flap so the cat cannot let itself out.

Then check the ways out. The advice many people give is to keep pets indoors, or to make sure the fences, gates and cages are secure. Walk round the house and the garden once, and tell anyone coming and going that night to keep the door shut behind them.

And check the ID. Many people say to do it before the night, not after the animal is gone: a microchip, and a tag on the collar with a phone number you actually answer. The tag can be read by anyone who finds your pet; the chip needs a vet or a shelter with a scanner, and it only works if the registry has your current details. There is a page here, A chipped pet still needs your phone number on file, about checking that.

While it is going on

Give them somewhere to hide. Some people say a quiet, safe spot helps, with some extra comfort — a treat, your attention — and the RSPCA says the same: set up a safe space ahead of time, let the animal pace or hide where it chooses, and do not pull a hiding cat out. Close the windows and the curtains to muffle the noise, and put music or the television on to cover some of it. Stay calm and behave normally, stay close if you can, and never scold an animal for being afraid.

If the dog has to go out to the toilet after dark, go with it and keep the lead on, even in your own garden. One person warns that letting a dog out by itself is dangerous, and on a fireworks night the lead costs you nothing.

If they get out anyway

Do not shine the torch in their face. One correction is worth keeping: a dog sees better in the dark than you do, and a beam in its eyes dazzles it, so it can see you less well, not better. Shine the light on yourself, or switch it off, so the dog can see who is calling.

Make coming back feel safe. One person, writing about everyday recall training, says to walk over to the dog with a treat when it does not come straight away, rather than shouting the same word again and again, and another warns that a dog punished after it escapes learns to hesitate before coming back. For a dog that simply outruns you, one person’s trick is to lie flat and whistle, which can bring a dog over out of worry or wanting to play, or to use a second dog to draw the first one back. For a cat, one person suggests putting its used litter outside so it can follow its own scent home; this page could not confirm how well that works.

A microchip will not find the dog for you. One person recommends an “injectable GPS tag”, but the chip a vet injects is not a tracker: it holds a number and does nothing until someone scans it. GPS trackers are separate devices worn on the collar, with a battery.

Some of the work is done long before the night. Some people teach dogs to sit and wait at the kerb, so that a dog that gets loose near a road may still hesitate at the edge; one person practises it daily with a word or a hand signal until the dog stops before its owner does. Some people say it has worked for their dogs, and one says it has prevented deaths. The people who teach it are honest that it is not a guarantee: two say so outright, one says dogs with a strong chase instinct or a stubborn streak, naming huskies and malamutes, can ignore it when excited or scared, and two say trained dogs still get hit by cars. It is a habit that improves the odds, not a lead.

The morning after

If fireworks were let off near you, walk the garden yourself before the dog goes back out, and pick up any spent fireworks, sticks and wrappers. The ASPCA asks for this, and one person warns that pets can be poisoned by firework remains left in the street after a holiday, even when they were kept safely inside all night. Veterinary poison guidance says an eaten firework can upset a pet’s stomach, damage its organs or cause seizures. If your dog has chewed on any, the numbers are at the top of this page.

Next year starts in the quiet months

If your pet’s fear was bad this time, the time to act is weeks or months before the next fireworks, not the afternoon of. One person plays videos of fireworks at home to get pets used to the sound over time. The RSPCA also suggests sound-based training once the season is over, or help from a veterinary behaviourist.

Talk to your vet early about calming aids or medication. One person believed some vets hand out calming medicine for free; three replied that it does not work that way: a vet may prescribe it, but only after seeing the animal, and you pay for it. Medication is a decision for you and your vet together, and it is worth asking weeks ahead.

Who this page is not for

If your pet’s fear of noise is severe — it hurts itself trying to escape, or stays frightened for days — this page is not enough; a vet or a veterinary behaviourist is the right door, and this page does not cover how to treat a pet that is already deeply afraid. If you keep rabbits, guinea pigs, birds or other small animals, people did not cover them; the RSPCA’s fireworks advice has a section for small animals. And if your pet has already eaten a firework or a glow stick, stop reading: the numbers are at the top.