Paul and I spent the 4th of July at his parents' cottage on Lake Michigan, where the neighbors shot off several thousand dollars worth of fireworks on the beach. We had Zoe with us for a while, but when she literally crawled up into Paul's arms to get away from the noise, we knew it was time to take her back inside.
Last night, some of our neighbors were shooting off bottle rockets, the small cheap kind that comes in bricks. As soon as the first one went off, Zoe immediately crawled under the futon behind my legs and wouldn't come out without plenty of coaxing.
This is a bit weird, as she has never had problems with loud noises in the three years we've owned her. Thunder, vacuum cleaners, and even fireworks prior to this -- no reaction. Now, all of a sudden, she hears a loud pop and heads for the nearest heavy object she can wiggle under.
Odd.
Did it start right away with the fireworks or did it build that first night? Random and I had a bottle rocket lauched very close to us and from that point forward reacted badly to fireworks in general.
If it built that night that somewhere she reached a threshold point in how it sounded or a combination of the smell and the sound. It's also within the realm of possibilities that you had a lightning strike nearby the house that triggered a reaction to loud pops/bangs. I had that reaction myself for years after two strikes within 25 feet me (I was inside a house looking out - saw the strike both times).
I've now got my first CAT who reacts to thunderstorms. Piper's sat with Aevan wrapped in a blanket on her lap a few times; now Aevan seeks out a blanket to curl up under when storms start rolling in. Aevan is now our early warning system for thunderstorms -- she's gotten a work out the past few weeks.
I hope Zoe feels better about loud noises soon.
I'm pretty sure the night on the beach is what did it. Lots and lots of loud explosions, and she was clearly scared and feeling vulnerable.
Try a HIGH value treat and some really simple obedience if you can either set up or plan ahead for fireworks in the area. You and Zoe in the house. Fireworks start, hopefully far enough away to be muffled, you do sits for hot dogs or whatever works for her. If you're lucky, you get "Hey, fireworks come with yummy treats." You can do this outside too if you can get far enough away to get some sound but less report on the burst. But Zoe is more likely to be somewhat relaxed inside your house or another house she knows. If it's transferred to more easily reproduced noises, then use them.
It's not about the obedience as much as it's about setting up a positive experience. Keep it low key and focus on getting her attention on you and the treats. That's why using a simple, very to at least partially happen, command is good.
If she's got a doggy friend who couldn't care less about the sounds, you might enlist help for a role model.
You took 'loud noise' and turned it into 'loud noises mean pieces of the sky are falling'...
Dogs are impressionable critters.