Dog Community

Riding in the car

Posted : 10/10/2006 10:27:58 AM

I have a 2 year old Havanse that basically only goes in the car to the groomer or the vet. Understandably he has anxiety about riding in the car. He NEVER throw up or anything but pants continuously. I bought him a fido rido (doggie car seat) but he practically hung himself by twisting and turning to escape. I put him in the back seat, and he paces until he finally lays down or lays on the floor. We will be taking him on a 4 hour car ride on vacation (to my sister's house in Vermont ) with us. He has gone for 3 hours to Connecticut to my other sisters house, and he is FINE once he gets there. He isn't sick or anything, but I hate how he pants and seems nervous.

Any suggestions on how to help him? Everyone I know has dogs that love the car. Is his panting OK? I will stop every 90 minutes or so for him to pee and I have a portable canteen for him to drink.

Any advice greatly appreciated!
Vickie

Alisia Jezierny

Posted : 10/10/2006 10:35:40 AM

Before taking him on the long ride, try a few short rides to do something fun, like a hike in the woods or the dog park. Before I ever took my dog anywhere besides the vet, she whined and barked the entire car ride, and we pretty much had to wrestle her into her car harness. But, since then, we've taken her to do far more fun things than we have taken trips to the vet, so now she associates car rides with meeting new people, playing with other dogs, playing in the woods, etc. We even took her on a 17 hour drive to SC with no problems!

Sarah

Posted : 10/12/2006 9:55:50 PM

well, my dog absolutely loves the car so maybe my advice won't help, but i do really like the above poster's idea about taking your dog lots of fun places in the car. also, try getting really excited before you go to get in the car. if you're all excited and happy and hyper maybe she'll follow suit and be excited about the car too. also, you ,might want to try giving your dog a bone or pig ear or something to chew on. he may not be interested but you never know

inne

Posted : 10/13/2006 3:20:03 AM

When my puppy was little, I would play music in the car and give her treats every time she got in and randomly throughout the trip. We also did relaxation things, like yawning. This and connecting the car to fun activities really helped.