I feel you. The dog I grew up with, Bootsmann, a Labrador/Shepherd was terrified of the fireworks. Every New years we had to give him homoepathic remedies to calm him down and somebody always had to stay with him. Every year we were scared he would get a heart attack. But I have to say that in Germany(where Im originally from) there is sooo much going on with fireworks. You cant compare that with here. But anyways , Bootzi was also scared of thunder so we contacted a few dog trainer and asked them for advice and they said the best thing to do is to ignore their fear. For example when it thundered and he came running in our room,crying and what not we were told not to pet him,talk to him or try to comfort him. Instead we were supposed to let our hand hang of the bed so he could smell it and be sure were there. But thats it. Talking to him ,and trying to comfort him only made it worse since he figured something really bad is going on cause even the humans are scared. Its the same with horses. The moment you aknowledge their feat,youre feeding it. Just act normal,be confident and your animal will soon feel the energy and calm down himself.
I've been lucky with mine. He sleeps through them or sits on the window sill to watch them.
