Sound sensitivities - thunder and fireworks

23 October 2026

Have you ever noticed your dog putting the brakes on during a walk, pulls, refusing to move, not wanting to go out or panting when they hear a noise? They may be experiencing a sensitivity to noise.

A phobia can develop, so even if they don’t hear a noise, they are nervous of it occurring so do not head outside. If your dog has pointy ears – you can imagine how intensely they hear things. Dogs can start to generalise noises – if they are nervous of fireworks they can be nervous of other things too such as pans clattering in the kitchen.


What noises can scare dogs?


Commonly these can include thunder, fireworks and bird scarers.


What symptoms can you see?


Cowering, ears down, tail tucked under, vomiting, urinating, increased attention seeking, hiding, chewing things.


What would I think about if a client come to me with a noise sensitivity with their dog?


Many dogs may have underlying pain – this could be younger or older dogs. When a dog hears a sound they may startle, tense up and this exacerbates underlying pain. Taking videos of your dog moving and slowing them down can be helpful – Canine Arthritis Management and Lincoln have some examples of how to do this to show your vet.


What implications can this have?


A dog may start to be scared to go to the bathroom outside or they may pull so vigorously they could pull the person walking them over. There is also the risk that a dog could bolt and run out of the park – with roads near it would be very dangerous.


How to manage this

Walking your dog on a long lead outside and having activity feeders and fun toys at home could help distract. Teaching your dog tricks could also distract too. At firework time, an area that has small windows such as the bathroom could help minimise the sounds.


What can go wrong with trying to desensitise a dog to sounds?

If you play noises too loudly initially you can make the behaviour worse.

If you would like any support with sound sensitivities, please speak to your vet and reach out to a behaviourist. 


References

McPeake, K. J.  Noise sensitivities in dogs. University of Edinburgh lecture. Accessed: 23 October 2026.

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