4th

I have noticed something with Conker. Whenever there are loud noises, like thunder or fireworks, he does not get scared. He gets angry. He will grunt and growl and strut around the house, in the same manner as he would if another dog here violating his front yard.

Anywho, last night, I suddenly remembered we had a rabbit in the front yard. I grab some lettuce and brocoli and head out there, to make sure the rabbit is not dying from fright and to give him some snacks. The rabbit is fine, he doesn't even seem to notice all the noise going on around him.
Conker, on the other hand, decided he was sick of being in the house, and bolted out the door.
Now, I imagine most Shiba (or dog) owners would have freaked out at this point, but I didn't. It's pretty normal for Conker to accompany me into the front yard to feed the rabbit, or to just go outside. And, I knew he was not going to freak out from the noise. Why?

He was not showing any fear signs in the house.
He LOVES to go outside and play in thunderstorms.

And what did Conker do while he was in the front yard? He turned into a spazzout machine! He started running like mad around the rabbit's pen, jumping against my leg, chasing his tail, running around the yard, leaping, snarling, and generally having a blast. None of the fireworks phased him in the slightest.
When it comes to loud noises like that, Conker is bomb proof. Now I just need to find a way to transfer that over to his stranger fear.


Juneau did relatively well. I played with her in the backyard with the Gourdo and a Coot wing before the fireworks got going, then threw the de-Coot winged Gourdo in the house for her whenever one went off that was relatively loud/close. I also gave her some Rescue Remedy, which helped a bit. We played a "catch the kibble" game a few times, which Sasha was more than eager to join, and I played classical music loud enough to cover up the vast majority of the explosions going off around the neighborhood.
Gotta love small towns, where the fireworks actually are explosions a lot of the time.
Juneau got lots of chews to keep her busy when she looked tired from chasing the Gourdo. Not once did she start to shake, and she only got nervous when I made a strawberry smoothie and didn't warn her before I turned on the blender. Figures.