Noise Anxiety and New Year's
Help your dog before the bangs begin
For some dogs, New Year’s Eve is just a slightly strange evening. For others, it is associated with intense fear.
But fireworks anxiety doesn’t always stand alone. Many dogs that are afraid on New Year’s Eve also react to other loud or sudden noises like thunder, gunshots, construction work, or other unfamiliar everyday sounds.
Noise anxiety is worth taking seriously—even when it seems mild.
Don't wait for it to get worse
A dog doesn’t have to panic or try to flee before its reaction to sounds becomes important.
Keep an eye out for whether your dog:
- becomes restless or moves away
- freezes or hides
- starts panting
- changes behavior at certain sounds
Fear of sounds can develop over time, and repeated scary experiences can make the problem worse.
Start early.
If you have a puppy or young dog, you can work preventatively with sounds before there is even a problem. If your dog has already developed noise anxiety, it’s not too late either.
Good noise training isn't about "toughing it out"
It can be tempting to find firework sounds on your phone, turn them up gradually, and think the dog will learn to get used to them.
But the goal is not to teach the dog to endure being afraid.
Training should take place at a level where the dog still feels safe. Intensity is increased gradually based on the dog’s reaction.
If the dog becomes afraid during training, the exercise has become too difficult.
“Noise training isn’t just something we bring out in December.”
The earlier and more consistently you work on it, the better your chances of helping your dog.
When New Year's approaches
If your dog already has noise anxiety, New Year’s Eve should not be the year’s big training session.
Once the fireworks are underway, it’s primarily about reducing the dog’s anxiety and helping it through the situation.
Create a safe space
A place where the dog can go on its own and feel secure.
Muffle the surroundings
Limit flashes of light and outside noises as much as possible.
Plan your walks
Get outside before the fireworks really pick up.
Be there for your dog
If it seeks you out, you are allowed to support and comfort it.
You don’t need to ignore a scared dog for fear of “rewarding the anxiety.” Anxiety is an emotion, not a behavior the dog chooses to achieve something. If your dog seeks comfort from you, you should give it.
Medication can be an important part of the help
Some dogs are so affected by fireworks that environmental adjustments and training aren’t enough to help them through New Year’s.
In these cases, anti-anxiety medication can be an important part of the plan.
The purpose isn’t just to make the dog lethargic. It’s the anxiety we want to reduce.
Therefore, contact us well in advance of New Year’s if your dog has been afraid of fireworks before, so we can help create a plan.
Do you have a puppy? Start before there's a problem
If you have a puppy, you have a fantastic opportunity to work with sounds while it is still comfortable with them.
“The goal is not a dog that can endure being afraid. The goal is a dog that doesn’t have to become afraid.”
7 tips for a good New Year's with your dog
Want to know how to best help your dog through New Year’s?
We have gathered 7 concrete tips in a free guide that you can use both to prepare your dog and on the night itself.
The guide helps you with the most common mistake in noise training, when medication might be relevant, what to do when your dog gets scared, and how to best prepare your dog for New Year’s Eve.
Want to work more purposefully on noise anxiety?
New Year’s Eve is one night. Noise training happens the rest of the year.
If you want to prevent noise anxiety or help a dog that has already become afraid of loud or sudden noises, Hundeklinikken has also created a noise training workbook.
Here you get help with how to train in practice—including step-by-step exercises, audio files, Safe Place, Bang-cake, and training logs to track progress.
