She shook from the first bang until after midnight, every Guy Fawkes. I thought that was just who she was. It wasn't.
Why everything I tried failed at exactly the same moment, and the simple daily routine I wish someone had told me about weeks earlier.
You know the sound before it happens. The first crack somewhere down the road, while it is still light, and she is already gone. Under the bed. Into the shower. Wedged behind the toilet, shaking so hard her tag rattles on the tiles.
Last Guy Fawkes I sat on the bathroom floor with Bella from half past seven until after midnight. I held her. I put music on. I turned the TV up loud. I gave her the calming treats from the pet shop. She would not eat them. She did not stop shaking.
The next morning she still would not go out into the garden.
Bella is a Jack Russell cross, nine years old, and the gentlest dog I have ever had. I have had dogs my whole life. I thought I knew what I was doing. That night I felt completely useless, and if I am honest, I felt like I had let her down.
If you are reading this with a knot in your stomach because you know what is coming on 5 November, and again for Diwali three days later, this is for you.
The shaking is not her being silly. It is her body doing its job too well.
Here is what I did not understand. The shaking, the panting, the hiding, the pacing: none of it is bad behaviour, and it is not "just her personality". It is a stress response. Her body hears a bang, decides she is in danger, and gets her ready to run or hide.
That part is normal. Every dog has it. It is what keeps animals safe.
The problem is not that it switches on. The problem is that, in some dogs, it struggles to switch off.
The bang lasts a second. The recovery is what takes the whole night.
This is the thing that changed everything for me. A behaviour trainer I spoke to put it very simply: "You are watching the bang. Watch what happens after it."
After a fright, a settled dog comes back down. A minute or two, a shake, and they are themselves again. A dog like Bella never quite gets there. The next bang lands on a dog who is still braced from the last one. Then the next. By ten o'clock she is not reacting to fireworks any more. She is reacting to having been frightened for hours.
That is why everything I tried failed at exactly the same moment. The music, the cuddles, the treat half an hour before. All of it was aimed at the bang. None of it did anything for the hours in between, or the jumpy days afterwards.
Then the trainer said the line I keep coming back to: "You can't build calm on the night. You build it in the weeks before."
A daily routine, not a rescue on the night.
So I stopped looking for something to give her when the fireworks started, and started looking for something she could have every day, weeks ahead, as part of her normal routine.
That is how I found PawSettle™ Calm Chews. It is not a sedative and it will not knock her out. I did not want a drugged dog staring at the wall. I wanted Bella, just settled.
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Every soft chew contains:
- L-theanine (100 mg), an amino acid naturally found in green tea, included to support a relaxed, settled temperament without drowsiness.
- Chamomile extract (25 mg), a traditional calming botanical.
- A postbiotic blend (500 mg) of short-chain fatty acids (butyrate, acetate and propionate) to support normal, healthy digestion. Anyone with a nervous dog knows the tummy is often the first thing to go.
- Hemp seed powder (50 mg), from the seed, CBD-free, a natural source of plant fats and fibre.
Grain-free, no artificial flavours, and no melatonin or CBD. They are chicken-flavoured soft chews, and she takes them like treats.
The routine could not be simpler. Two chews a day for any size of dog: one with breakfast, one with dinner. No weighing, no maths. On the big night itself, one extra chew 30 to 60 minutes before the first bangs. A jar of 60 is one month.
Guy Fawkes is on 5 November and Diwali is on Sunday 8 November. If you start this week, she gets the three full weeks before the first bang.
Check Availability: Start Before Guy Fawkes →
The first thing I noticed had nothing to do with noise. About two weeks in, she was settling on her bed in the evenings instead of following me from room to room. Small. But I noticed it.
On the night itself she still did not like it. I want to be honest about that. When the first bangs started she went to her blanket in the passage. But she lay down. She was not shaking. And when it went quiet, she came out and climbed onto the couch with me. The year before, that took until the next afternoon.
It turns out I am not the only one.
When I told people at the dog park, I found out how many of us spend these nights exactly the same way.
Lorraine, 61, Umhlanga (placeholder). Her two Maltese crosses used to bark at every bang and then pant until morning. She started them a few weeks before. "They still noticed it. They just did not fall apart. I actually watched the fireworks on TV instead of sitting in the dark with them."
Pieter, 57, Centurion (placeholder). His staffy cross was never great with Diwali in our area. "We started the chews in the morning and evening and I gave him the extra one before dark. He barked twice and went back to his bed. My wife looked at me like I had done a magic trick."
These are not overnight changes. They are small, steady ones that build over a few weeks of daily use. Which is exactly why starting early matters.
You have two options for the next few weeks.
Wait for the night. Buy something on the day, give it at seven o'clock, and hope. That is what most of us do, because that is what the packet says. You already know how that night goes.
Start the routine now. Two chews a day from this week, so she has had weeks of daily support before the first bang, not half an hour. Keep doing everything else that helps: the safe den, closed curtains, music on.
If you are thinking she is too old, or too far gone, or that you have already tried everything: I thought all three. Bella is nine.
Guy Fawkes and Diwali are three days apart this year. That is a long week for a frightened dog. Give her body a head start.
Two things before you go.
First, PawSettle™ is a nutritional supplement for dogs, not a medicine. It will not turn a terrified dog into a different dog, and it does not replace your vet. If your dog's behaviour has changed suddenly, if they are older and restless at night, or if they are on any medication, talk to your vet first, because pain and illness can look a lot like nerves.
Second, only order from the official website. There are cheap look-alike "calming treats" on marketplaces with no ingredient amounts on the label. If you cannot see what is in it and how much, you have no way of knowing what your dog is getting.
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UPDATE: As of 11 October 2026, orders have jumped as Guy Fawkes and Diwali get closer, and stock is moving fast. Order now for 50% OFF + fast nationwide delivery, and give your dog the full three weeks before 5 November.
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60-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Fast Nationwide Delivery
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Non-Drowsy · No Melatonin · CBD-FreePawSettle™ Calm Chews
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- Supports a relaxed, settled temperament, without drowsiness
- Two chews a day for any size of dog, plus one extra before the big night
- Grain-free, chicken-flavoured, no melatonin, CBD-free
- 60-day money-back guarantee, even on an empty jar
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