A dog dressed as a Highland cow spent his Halloween cruise shivering beside a trash can after fireworks went off across the Hudson

The Instagram account for AIR PUP shared how a Halloween outing for a group of dogs and their owners went wrong after some unexpected fireworks. The account belongs to Winston, an Australian shepherd billed as the CEO of Air Pup dog shoes. Its Instagram and TikTok posts, which drew hundreds of thousands of views, followed Winston’s evening aboard the Circle Line Halloween Pup Cruise on the Hudson River.

In the video, Winston’s owner dresses him as a Highland cow and walks him onto the boat, where the evening “started off so well.” The footage shows him meeting other “dogs in their Halloween costumes,” taking in the New York City skyline, and eating a pup cup of whipped cream. Then he freezes after he “heard a boom” from someone “setting off fireworks across the Hudson River.” The video shows him looking around as his owner adjusts his hood to cover his ears.

In the overlay text, she explains that “Winston is terrified of fireworks after a neighbor set them off near us last January.” Winston grows restless and soon begins shivering. His owners carry him down to the lower deck, where they spend the rest of the trip in a corner beside a trash can alongside other frightened dogs. In the caption, Winston’s owner wrote, “The fireworks were completely unrelated to the cruise, and no one could have anticipated them.”

Fireworks can be genuinely frightening for dogs

Purina notes that dogs have highly sensitive hearing, which makes the sudden booms of fireworks disorienting and often terrifying. Because the noises are unpredictable, dogs frequently struggle to process the sound, which can trigger a fight-or-flight response. This often leads to pacing, panting, or attempts to find a place to hide.

Viewers shared their sympathy for the dogs gathered on the lower deck, with one user calling it “the firework fear support group below deck.” Others said the situation must have been “stressful” for the dogs, with one user writing, “I’d be so livid.” Winston’s fear was plain on camera, unlike in a viral elevator dog standoff, where commenters joked that the supposedly scared golden retriever looked perfectly calm.

One TikTok user suggested headphones for dogs like Winston. His owner replied that they had already tried several brands without success, explaining that “once Winston hears one boom, the rest of the night is ruined.”

Purina suggests that during fireworks, owners can help by creating a safe, quiet space and staying calm themselves. Dogs often take cues from human behavior when faced with something they don’t understand.

Winston’s owner summed up the evening simply: “Not quite the Halloween adventure we had planned.”

This account comes solely from AIR PUP’s Instagram and TikTok posts, and Attack of the Fanboy was unable to independently verify the details of the evening or who set off the fireworks.