Road trips

[Lucie Lou]

when we brought our puppy home only 10 days ago, he was so relaxed and sleeping in the car.
Our first trip out today since, he was totally different. He was crying and stressed. It was dark though and thought this maybe the reason.
I know once he realises that cars mean nice walks and days out he may settle but any positive advice and reassurance that he will eventually be ok would be welcome, also.. do you crate your dog in the car or use a harness? Today I had him on my knee and he still was stressed ( naughty I know).

 

[Lucie Lou]

when we brought our puppy home only 10 days ago, he was so relaxed and sleeping in the car.
Our first trip out today since, he was totally different. He was crying and stressed. It was dark though and thought this maybe the reason.
I know once he realises that cars mean nice walks and days out he may settle but any positive advice and reassurance that he will eventually be ok would be welcome, also.. do you crate your dog in the car or use a harness? Today I had him on my knee and he still was stressed ( naughty I know).

 

[Lucie Lou]

May I just add.. I wasn’t driving.

 

[Shalista]

not to be debby downr but mine hated cars and still does 5 years later. he used to vomit and drool but now he just sits and trembles. when he gets out of the car hes extra anxiouse and shy afterwords for a good long time. been working on desensitization for 5 years and to be frank i havent made much progress. best of luck to you, i hope yours does better than mine.

 

[JudyN]

Most dogs can accept the car in time. He might actually feel nauseous - not something I've had with my dog but others will have suggestions for overcoming that. If he's simply fearful, start off by getting him to be happy with getting into and out of the car without going anywhere. Sit in the car with him, don't go anywhere, but spend some quality time together - I think I used to train waiting for treats (i.e. not chewing my hand off when I was holding one).

Then you can have him in the car while you start the engine and turning it off. Then, once he's fine with that, drive a couple of feet and stop. Graduate to getting out onto the road and back in the drive, then a hundred feet... etc. Ideally, you wouldn't do any longer trips while you're working through this.

You'll also have to incorporate getting him used to where you eventually want him to be in the car, as moving from on your lap to in a crate or similar could also upset him if done suddenly.

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

I was going to suggest the same as @JudyN, try to create a positive association with the car using high value rewards (fuss, chicken, cheese) and gradually build it up. Good luck!

 

[Michele83]

I was having big car sickness problems with my whippet only a couple of months ago (I posted on here about it!) She started off by being in a crate on the back seat. I tried lots of things - I tried the slow re-conditioning thing, taking her near the car etc (this didn't work at all for us, but it's still worth a try. Mine is not food orientated unfortunately), I tried making sure she was tired, Adaptil, window open, window closed, etc. But she still vomited and drooled. It was totally psychological because she'd start drooling before I'd even started the car.

When she was about 5.5 months, one weekend I decided to tackle it for good. I switched things up, got rid of the crate, and just had her on the backseat, in a bed with sides to it, wearing a harness with a seat belt. Over the three days, me and my mum took her out for a few short trips with this new set-up, with either me or my mum sitting with her in the backseat. With this complete change (it's usually just me in the car) she immediately improved overnight and stopped vomiting. Now, at 7 months, she hasn't vomited for a month and a half. She's definitely not a fan of travelling but she tolerates it very well now and just sleeps if she's tired.

The point is, I don't think it was the crate, per se, that was causing the problem. I think that, because she had always been in the crate since day one, it happened to be that particular set-up that she associated with the fear, and when I changed her surroundings, added a new person etc. it was the change that brought about the improvement, because it was a 'new' situation to her and it allowed her to break out of the cycle. Also, as someone else once said on here, I'm not entirely sure if it had anything to do with what I did, or whether it was simply because she grew up! But there was a definite overnight change when I changed her surroundings in the car. And people often find that dogs get sick in one car but not another.

 

[merlina]

Some don't mind, some don't care for cars. There are lots of things on the net to help you make positive associations. But this is a very young pup. I did have a dog that just grew out of his aversion. Try short journeys and nice things - a lovely walk- at the end of them!

 

[Mayblossom]

My Springer was always sick when we first started taking her in the car but eventually she stopped and now we don’t even know she’s in there both girls settle down and sleep til we get to our destination on long and short journeys, sometimes I wonder if we’ve forgotten them

 

[pongo111]

Mine (7 months) doesn't like the car.
She wants to sit in the front but that's not where she should be.
I plan to put her in the car when we're at home, without going anywhere so she gets used to it.

i need her to be ok in the car as i need to be able to travel with her.

 

[Lucie Lou]

Mine (7 months) doesn't like the car.
She wants to sit in the front but that's not where she should be.
I plan to put her in the car when we're at home, without going anywhere so she gets used to it.

i need her to be ok in the car as i need to be able to travel with her.

Hope you manage to get her sorted. I’m planning on doing the same. I’m wanting to take both dogs to Cornwall next year. It’ll be a nightmare 6 hr journey otherwise.

 

[pongo111]

Thanks Lucie. We went out on a short journey yesterday - not great.
We have to go in the car each week to get to puppy training so hopefully we'll see an improvement!
I too would love to go to Devon/Cornwall but that seems a long way off !

 

[Lucie Lou]

Thanks Lucie. We went out on a short journey yesterday - not great.
We have to go in the car each week to get to puppy training so hopefully we'll see an improvement!
I too would love to go to Devon/Cornwall but that seems a long way off !

I think once the car is associated with a fun destination things should improve.