From their dog school in Aalsmeer, married couple Sandra and Sandra (Bekaert and Mur-Bekaert, respectively) try every day to teach dogs to deal with their fears. With New Year’s Eve approaching, they see the number of bells increasing, because many owners are concerned about the effects of fireworks on their pet. But that takes more time than many people think.
The first thing Sandra Mur-Bekaert says when NH asks her about the things that owners can still do to prepare their dog for the upcoming New Year, is that it is actually already too late. “If you want to have a chance of adapting a dog’s fear, you need at least two months.”
Someone who does have that preparation time is Ellen Kapteyn. She has been training her dog Merel with Sandra for a year and a half, and is prepared for the fireworks as much as possible: “We are taking all the measures we can, in terms of safety and support, and we still have an emergency measure at hand.”
That emergency remedy is medication to suppress Merel’s anxiety. There are more dogs that receive such a medicine around the peak time on New Year’s Eve. It is not for the long term, says Ellen: “It is at most a few drops, to get rid of the worst. We don’t do anything with it for the rest of the month.”
According to Sandra, many dog owners are hesitant about the use of medication, but this is not necessary: ”That idea of the past, that you would, so to speak, completely squash your dog so that it would remain calm, is no longer relevant. Today all this is done in consultation with the vet. In addition, modern medicines only suppress that fear stimulus, without heavily sedating your dog.”
Fireworks ban
But of course they would prefer not to need the medication. According to Sandra, there are a range of options to train your dog, or to prevent panic from setting in on December 31: “For example, you can get the dog used to the sound, create positive associations with it. And on the day itself It is important that you support him and ensure that he can ‘escape safely’, should your dog do so. You can also work with this without training.”
The most effective solution would of course be to stop setting off fireworks, but Sandra does not think that is realistic: “From a black and white perspective, I would think that is the best, but a lot of people attach great importance to such a tradition, They really enjoy it. That’s why it’s best to protect your dog against the noise.”
For Ellen, that choice is much easier: “We don’t have any use for fireworks at home anyway, so if you ask me, they can safely leave them alone.”