Owners Come Up With ‘Dance Party’ Trick To Distract Anxious Dog

As the world celebrated the arrival of 2024, one couple were busy throwing a rather unusual dance party—for their dog.

Hazel McBride, originally from Scotland and now living in the Netherlands, shared how she and her partner threw their 2-year-old border collie Whiskey a party to help him get through the anxiety caused by the sound of New Years celebrations and fireworks.

Whiskey developed anxiety after a traumatic car accident in November 2022. The accident, where a truck rear-ended the couple’s car, left Whiskey terrified of loud noises, particularly fireworks. Despite successful positive reinforcement training, Whiskey still struggled with the unpredictability of fireworks, prompting his owners to come up with a creative solution for New Year’s Eve.

“The Netherlands has a reputation for going all out on NYE, and our first reaction was to take him as far as possible away from fireworks,” McBride told Newsweek. The couple chose the Belgian countryside, hoping to escape the intense New Year’s fireworks tradition in the Netherlands. Unfortunately though, there were still a few fireworks.

Faced with the challenge, the couple decided to distract Whiskey by throwing a dance party inside their apartment. “As a working breed, he is very focused when you give him a task to do, and he loves his ball,” McBride shared. They played disco music, squeaked Whiskey’s ball, and engaged him in various trained behaviors to keep him focused on something other than the frightening sounds outside.

They caught the moment on camera and in the caption joked: “When you both wanted to be in bed by 9 p.m. but you need to throw a dance party for your anxious dog to drown out the fireworks at midnight.”

Thankfully, the couple’s efforts paid off as Whiskey calmed significantly thanks to the party.

“We were exhausted after 30 minutes and sweating in our toasty apartment, but it was worth it,” McBride laughed. The couple expressed gratitude that their neighbors’ fireworks concluded by 12:30 a.m., providing relief for both them and their furry friend.

Despite having their own creative solution to fireworks, McBride highlighted the wider issue of unregulated fireworks in the Netherlands, and how they cause stress for both animals and humans throughout the month of December.

“We absolutely enjoyed our New Year but do wish that the Netherlands would crack down on imposing their unregulated firework laws,” she said.

In comments on their video on TikTok, people praised the innovative solution and clear love for their pet. While others said they had done something similar. “I had a full concert for my dog for probably two hours singing and dancing my heart out,” said one reply.

Another wrote: “I’m on a farm in the Scottish countryside for this exact reason. No fireworks here thankfully.”

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