Can you train a dog to stay calm during the fireworks?

I live about a two blocks from the field where our local fire department puts on one of the biggest and longest firework shows in the country. The whole town turns into one large block party. And from dusk on the 3rd till daylight on the 5th there is fireworks, lots and lots of very loud fireworks. I love it. But what about the animals? Specificaly the dogs I have known dogs who needed to be sedated and others who just hide under the bed shaking. Then I see other dogs who seem to understand it's all in good fun. (kinda)

Jack P Diddy is somewhere in the middle. He is ok with them but they do make him nervous. He is however content to sit on your lap and watch the big show. Now my question is: Did I train him to be ok with fireworks or would he have been fine either way? The other side of the question would be are dogs who are terrified trained to be that way?

I started trying to teach Jack about fireworks the first year. I used high value treats all day and everytime I was close to him and a loud one would go off I would tell him it was ok and treat him. I did this throughout the day, of cource I could not have treated him for every shot during the big show but I did keep treating him throughout the show. The result was he sat on my lap throughout the entire show seemingly unaffected by the booms overhead. I do not know if this training was truly any help at all or if he would have just been that way anyway. I do know that it could'nt have hurt things. So I would recomed giving it a try.



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