Rideing In Car

[Guest syra42]

We have Molly for a year this August and besides not wanting to be left alone (which is another story) When we take her in the car all she does is whine and cry. If we leave her in the car you would think she was being tortured. Have tried Rescue Remedy which really didn't do that much and then the vet gave (sold) us Compose. That doesn't really seem to help either. When we are going to the park she starts and then after the walk she gets in the car with no problems and as soon as we start driving she starts. Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Guest mbfilby]

Our Mickey is a terrible traveler. She is a nervous back seat driver, and will only lay down when we are at constant highway speed. As soon as there is a change in speed or direction she is up and pacing. Even with this behavior, she is much better than she used to be. She used to pull and statue as soon as she figured out I was going to put her in the vehicle, and once in, even before moving she would shake, tremble, and whine.

 

Time and practice helped Mickey. She now happily jumps in to the vehicle, and looks forward to the ride, even though she still paces and is nervous once moving.

[seeh2o]

Carl is also a dreadful traveler, stands and pants over my shoulder, he can be a real hazard while I'm driving. He's better than he was 3 years ago, but it's still bad and scary. There is another thread here on GT that talks about traveling with dogs like this and there is mention of using Dramamine. I may give that try that for long drives. I've been giving him Valium (prescribed by the vet), which only helps moderately.

[TheFullHouse]

Most of my whiners have gotten better by my just ignoring the whining and crying. Once they figured out that it wasn't getting any attention from me they stopped. I have to say though, none of mine have separation anxiety so that may make a difference, I don't know.

[Guest pennmorgan]

Olivia's not a whiner in the car, but she obviously doesn't like it. Pants and shakes, at least initially. And gets so pant-y I'm afraid she's going to pass out. We had been putting her in the back seat (I drive a Pontiac Vibe) and she would put her head through the armrest and pant and drool all over the place. Finally, we decided to put her in the "trunk", which is like the very-back in a station wagon. That did wonders for her. She's much quieter, settles down right away, and doesn't bother us quite as much. I think the key difference is that that area is more enclosed, which makes her feel a little more comfortable (she LOVES her crate), and also that we're ignoring her.

[cleptogrey]

jilly'sfullhouse said it all! i just ignore and give them some air...but not enough to stick their head out the window. i had to litteraly push annie into the car for 8 months...YIPPEE..last week she walked right in. i use the knee behind the tush and push. she originally was standing and panting and sliming up the windows, then finally lying down on the seat w/ her head hangdog on the floor. 2 greys in the back of a 2 door honda civic doesn't leave much room for pacing and wiggeling. she has learned her side is behind the driver's seat and that's it! ignore and count your blessings that she doesn't vomit...been there!

[Guest greytkidsmom]

Kebo does not like the car either. We spent several years trying OTC and herbal remedies including benadryl, dramamine, ginger, rescue remedy, melatonin, and others. Now we contain him in his crate with a favorite toy and blanket and give him xanax before travel. In addition to trying some other meds, you may want to think about either a car harness or dog barrier for your car. Our boy was always a nervous dog in the car but one day decided that he needed to be in my lap as I was traveling down the interstate. You never know when the behavior might escalate to something that can put you in danger as you drive.

 

Good luck to you.

[Guest 4dogscrazy]

Tempe, who also has separation anxiety, is also a terrible traveler. She has vomited, and pooped all over my car many times. She is on clomipramine for her anxiety and has settled down a bit since she's been on that. I have found that using my daughter is the best remedy. If she sits in the back with her on the seat she is better. However, things may change now...I just bought a mini-van, so the floor will be flat again, and I'm afraid she will poop again. I know now to keep her tail tucked so she can't go, but I'm the driver so that isn't going to help. We'll see, time helps and routine too, good luck to you!

[Guest DunksMom]

HI there! I posted a while back regarding car anxiety too. Dunkin' is a nervous traveler who stands and pants (not too heavily) while driving. My husband and I have tried Rescue Remedy, Benedryl and Dramamine with no significant effects. So, we started giving him a long lasting treat for the car ride to and from work (Dunkin' goes to work with my husband). We like the everlasting treat ball by starmark. It has a really hard treat insert and you can fill it with smaller treats as well. One medium disk lasts 20 minutes with Dunkin'. He is so into the treat that he forgets that he's in the car. http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B0012V1G0Y or maybe try a frozen Kong.

 

Hope this helps fellow nervous traveler Molly!

 

-Emily & Dunkin'

Edited November 13, 2010 by DunksMom

[Shaysmom]

Seamus has always been a nervous car passenger, panting, drooling, and standing up. We mostly ignored it, but when he suffered an injury, and it was mandatory that he lay down on trips back and forth to the vet or hurt himself further, we had to address it. I started bringing treats in the car (tiny little tidbits such as used for training) and every time he laid down, I would praise him and toss him a treat. Every time we stopped at a stoplight, I would toss him a treat and praise him (he used to pop up whenever the car slowed or stopped) for staying. Any time he looked like he might be ready to pop up, I would toss him a treat and praise. It really did the trick for us. He still has his moments, but when I ask him to lay down, he always does--and looks at me expectantly for a goodie. These days, he just gets lots of praise.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Try some ginger snap cookies (human cookies). Sometimes they get car sick and the ginger helps to settle their tummies. I would say open the windows and let them stick their head out, I don't see any reason they shouldn't. All my hounds love it. I have one girl that will stand there the entire time with her head out the window, rain, snow, whatever. She will whine when get get to the dog park or the LGRA track where she races. The first 6 months we had her she would drool and drool all over the car. It was funny, when we would get somewhere and look down the side of the car there would be streaks all over the place where she would drool down the side of the car. The drooling went away after a while. Other than the ginger snaps, I did nothing else. No coddling her, no talking to her when we were driving. Just get in the car and go.

 

Chad

[Guest greytgravy]

I wonder if this nervousness is what Cam does. I have him in the kennel in the back, which actually loves and jumps directly into, but he still paces in it. (He's at that awkward stage of being between a small and medium kennel and as he seems to be a bit taller, I stick with medium.) I had no idea it was nervousness. I just thought he was enjoying looking outside. But about 3 weeks ago, he barked at a motorcyclist behind us at a stoplight. Huh. This puts everything in a better scope. And I'll definitely try this for his rides. Cause he also has separation anxiety so he goes everywhere I go. I talk to him on occasion, mostly "sit your happy butt down, please" because I hear his nails skittering (he nests in the car, too).

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Kelly developed some anxiety in the car after we had to make numerous trips to the vet earlier this year – every time he got in the car he thought that was where he was going! The things I found helped were putting him in the boot/trunk (we have a hatchback type car) rather than on the back seat so he's got enough space to be comfortable but not so much he can stagger around and fall over, and having the window near him open a few inches. Now, he gets so interested in sticking his nose up to the gap to sniff all the smells from outside that he forgets to be worried. I also found taking short trips at first and sitting in the back seat giving him treats and praise every so often to build up a positive association with the car helped.

 

We haven't done any really long trips yet but when we do he'll be going for an extremely long walk first so he's too tired to do anything but sleep! Good luck.

[Guest Johnpilot]

I have two now and no issues in the car. I have an SUV and they both go in the back with the seat up and a foam pad on the floor. My female looks out the window and pants for about 5 minutes and then lays down. the new guy pretty much sticks his head up between the front seats and enjoys the view. Only one yelp when someone stepped on someone.

 

I found the trick to be short trips at first with a treat after we get out of the car. Like anything else, just desensitizing them to any "trauma" about it seems to work. I don't muzzle or crate or anything. NO food in the car as that could spell fighting (my opinion only though). No special treatment or attention, just get in and let's go.

 

John

[mrsmcd7]

anyone try a car harness? I'm wondering about those, for the safety of my hound on road trips. If there's an accident, your dog can become a projectile, injuring the dog and the passengers.....

[Guest AnnieAreYouOK]

My Annie is a really shy dog and is terrified in the backseat.

She puked in the car once when I was taking her to a greyhound run.

 

I've been trying to slowly desensitize her by first taking her to the car everyday without starting.

Then later just starting the car and move a little bit.

Then to driving around the block then come back.

 

She has gotten a little better and would jump into the car when I tell her to.

But if it's a long car ride, she would still pant and drip out of her nose.

I just throw her a piece of cheese every time I hit a red light to distract her a little.

She eventually settles down on the highway.

[Guest issy]

Ok, I have to say...

 

It is NOT a good idea to let your hound stick it's head out of the window! A nose, maybe, but not their heads!

 

If you needed to suddenly stop or were in an accident, your dog could fly forward and down, breaking it's neck as it's hung on the window. Just a nose is much safer, and they still get the smells if that's what they're interested in.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Ok, I have to say...

 

It is NOT a good idea to let your hound stick it's head out of the window! A nose, maybe, but not their heads!

 

If you needed to suddenly stop or were in an accident, your dog could fly forward and down, breaking it's neck as it's hung on the window. Just a nose is much safer, and they still get the smells if that's what they're interested in.

 

 

I respectfully disagree with your statement. There is absolutely no difference in injury potential between an unsecured hound sticking its head out the window vs a hound inside the vehicle unsecured during an emergency stop or accident. This debate has been discussed many times in the thread dealing with restraining your hound. Now if you said something like a rock could kick up and hit them in the eye causing a catastrophic injury, I can see that. If we were to attempt to safeguard our hounds from every "what if" situation, then they would be in bubble wrap inside of a vault underground (at least that would be my safest thought).

 

Chad