New Years Eve...

It was pretty much clear to me, that New Years Eve wasn't going to be particularly fun for Gina. During the afternoon walk Gina wasn't too worried about the smaller fireworks, but she really didn't like them. The loud fireworks they really scared her and she did really want to get away from them. Daisy was the same way so I expected Gina to behave the same way as Daisy used to do. But nothing could be further from the truth. Gina has different way of reacting to fireworks when she is in my apartment. She barks at the fireworks. But with lots of talking to her and with goodies I could get her to calm down.
As a precaution I did take Gina for her evening walk around 8.30 pm, that way she should be good till 3 or 4 am. Once we got back I prepared all the goodies for the upcoming night. At this time the fireworks weren't too bad and I could clam Gina down by talking to her. I did prepare the food for the midnight meal. In the past couple of years it has become somewhat of a tradition to have Gulasch as a midnight snack on New Years Eve.
By 11 pm the fireworks really loud and I wasn't able to talk Gina down. So I put her on the leash and walked around with her in the apartment. That helped her for some time. But as the fireworks kept getting louder and so I went with Gina into my bathroom and closed the door. After all this is the quietest room in the entire apartment. But of course a dog can hear the fireworks going off and that really stressed her. Talking her down didn't work at that time. Of course I did feel sorry for her, but that really wasn't going to accomplish anything. So I had to come up with a different approach. Offering goodies helped, but not to that degree I would have liked to. So I used Gina's playful side and also the fact that she does love to do nose work. And these 3 components taken together seemed to do the trick. At least for most of the time. And Gina really seemed to enjoy the game and she seemed to pay less attention to the fireworks. But it meant that I spent the time from 11 am to 1 pm with Gina in the bathroom. So I missed the actual beginning of the new year. But I really didn't care too much about that. The important thing was that Gina made it OK trough the worst part of the night.
At 1 am the worst part of the fireworks was over. So I tried to go back into the living room with Gina. Turned the TV volume a little more up and that seemed to do the trick. With some coaching Gina jumped onto the couch and after some petting she rolled up next to me and slept off all the hectic and stress of this evening. I did have my midnight snack and the Gulasch was just yummy. After the meal I opened the bottle of champagne, that I had planned to drink at midnight. So I did have it at 2 am. But that really didn't change anything for me. All in all it was not a bad New Years Eve, but for next year I might consider renting a cabin in the mountains and spend New Years there, where there are no crazy fireworks.