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Is your dog worried about travelling in the car? If so, you are not alone.
In the majority of cases, this anxiety originates during puppyhood and stems from either a bad experience, such as vomiting due to motion sickness, or a lack of positive experience during the puppy’s critical development period. This can ultimately lead to a negative association being made with car travel, which can continue into adulthood. As a result, you may have a dog that is reluctant to get into the car, or behaves in a distressed manner once inside. If you suspect that your dog suffers from motion sickness, the matter should be discussed with your vet as early as possible, as medication may be required. There are also things you can do to help reduce the movement that your dog feels when in the car, such as providing an old, thick duvet for him to lie on and sink in to, whilst secured to the back seat. If your dog has only had negative experiences resulting from car travel, such as trips to the vet for injections, then it is likely that he won’t feel very thrilled about getting in the car. To combat this, you should make sure that most of your dog’s car journeys have pleasant outcomes, such as trips to the park. Also, try spraying some Adaptil™ pheromone in the car before each journey. As the saying goes ‘prevention is better than cure’, so the ideal scenario is to begin to introduce car travel in a gradual positive manner during early puppyhood and continue this regularly throughout the dog’s life. Initially, the puppy should be placed in the car for short periods, with the engine off, and given small food rewards and calm, playful interaction. The next step is to continue building up this positive association with the engine running, before then progressing to short journeys, during which calm behaviour, such as a relaxed ‘sit’, is regularly rewarded. If your dog does not display any signs of stress during this process then each journey can be made progressively longer. © |