To prevent noise fears, the best technique is to habituate the animal from the earliest age possible.  With puppies we recommend that breeders start playing the Sounds Sociable CD from day 10, when the puppies hearing has developed.
 
To treat noise fears we combine two proven techniques called desensitisation and counter-conditioning. The overall aim is to provide your pet with positive experiences that outweigh the negative experiences it has had in the past. To make this more effective it is important to minimise the amount of bad experiences your pet has during therapy. So, for the treatment period, you should try to avoid exposing your pet to the noises it is afraid of. In the case of gunshots or fireworks, this means keeping away from displays and shooting. With a traffic-noise sensitive pet you should avoid going to places where there is a great deal of heavy traffic.

Desensitisation is the process whereby the response to a fear-inducing stimulus is reduced by repeated neutral exposure. To do this we play the sound to the animal several times each day for short periods, at a volume that does not induce a fearful response. Over a number of days or weeks the sound level is gradually increased in small increments, so as not to cause fear.  At the end of training the animal ignores the sound at a realistic volume.

Counter-conditioning is carried out after desensitisation. This process involves associating the sound with something that the animal finds pleasant and rewarding, such as feeding or playing. The aim of this learning process is to replace the fearful feelings with feelings of pleasure

Sound Therapy 4 pets supply a range of treatment CDs including Sounds Scary to treat phobias of fireworks.