Dog is nervous traveller

bertiebomber

HI I have to do a 3.5 hour journey in the car with my dog and he is an anxious traveller can anyone recommend something to calm him for the journey?

cocker5

bertiebomber wrote: »

HI I have to do a 3.5 hour journey in the car with my dog and he is an anxious traveller can anyone recommend something to calm him for the journey?

What age / breed OP?

Try ginger nut biscuits 30 mins before travel to help with nausea

Where is the dog while in the car?
ie seat belt on back seat?

Before you do the trip do some small trips 20 mins etc to get him used to car travel

If he’s very bad your vet may be able to give you something for him.. most vets do a claiming natural tablets and also something stronger if necessary

SuziXX

Our dog used to get car sick, we used travel-eze tablets we got in the pet shop and they seemed to work most of the time though she might of just grown out of it. I saw they had calm-eze tablet too for anxiety might be worth a try

Dubl07

Yes, as mentioned, ginger biscuits are great, but I use Aptamil spray on the seat half an hour before leaving, and if you can turn off the passenger airbag in front let the dog sit on the front seat so he can see out. Drape fleeces over the seat, even to the handbrake, puppy pads in the footwell, put some duct-tape over the window switch, have him well-secured to the headrest and seat-belt. Wet-wipes, Blitz kitchen roll, a couple of bin-bags and some Vanish Spray. Fail to prepare and you'll be on a hiding to nothing

For mine, the motorways are fine. I tell her to lie down and go to sleep and she's grand. It's the small roundabouts or really bendy small roads that made her ill, so I open the window at those points as the fresh air really helps. She has doggles so she can sill-surf without eye damage. An excited "look at the xxxx" helps distract her too.

It looks really odd when I've human passengers in the back seats while the dog rides shotgun, but it's easier than cleaning up if she gets car-sick.

volchitsa

Dubl07 wrote: »

Yes, as mentioned, ginger biscuits are great, but I use Aptamil spray on the seat half an hour before leaving, and if you can turn off the passenger airbag in front let the dog sit on the front seat so he can see out. Drape fleeces over the seat, even to the handbrake, puppy pads in the footwell, put some duct-tape over the window switch, have him well-secured to the headrest and seat-belt. Wet-wipes, Blitz kitchen roll, a couple of bin-bags and some Vanish Spray. Fail to prepare and you'll be on a hiding to nothing

For mine, the motorways are fine. I tell her to lie down and go to sleep and she's grand. It's the small roundabouts or really bendy small roads that made her ill, so I open the window at those points as the fresh air really helps. She has doggles so she can sill-surf without eye damage. An excited "look at the xxxx" helps distract her too.

It looks really odd when I've human passengers in the back seats while the dog rides shotgun, but it's easier than cleaning up if she gets car-sick.

Those sound like fantastic tips, Dub7, you really have thought it all through haven't you? Doggles? Was that easy enough to get her used to? I've never tried but I'd imagine it takes a bit of work, more than a muzzle? (And if it was easy, isn't it funny that she hasn't been able to get perfectly at ease now with travelling, with everything you've done? I mean that she still needs a bit of help being distracted and stuff.

Is it a physical thing, do you think or is there an element of anxiety all the same?

(Have to say I'd love to see you passing by one day with passengers in the back seat and doggie all kitted out as you describe!)

bertiebomber

he doesnt get sick he just shakes & pants hes a lurcher its since i got a car i had jeep commercial & he was fine but to be honest he hates travelling

bertiebomber

hes a very sensitive lurcher greyhound / whippet highly emotional

Dubl07

volchitsa wrote: »

Those sound like fantastic tips, Dub7, you really have thought it all through haven't you? Doggles? Was that easy enough to get her used to? I've never tried but I'd imagine it takes a bit of work, more than a muzzle? (And if it was easy, isn't it funny that she hasn't been able to get perfectly at ease now with travelling, with everything you've done? I mean that she still needs a bit of help being distracted and stuff.

Is it a physical thing, do you think or is there an element of anxiety all the same?

(Have to say I'd love to see you passing by one day with passengers in the back seat and doggie all kitted out as you describe!)

Necessity is the mother of invention. Nothing like trying to get an accident out of that tight space between her seat and the handbrake area.

She gets excited when we slow down, and thinks she's going to get out. I think there's an element of inner ear issues as well. At six, she's so much better than when she was a puppy, but it's when I get complacent that she gets sick. And most passengers prefer to have her in front of them puking into the footwell than behind them with all that entails!

She's mostly grand with the doggles because they mean she can have her window open. If she starts to pull at them they're taken off and the window gets closed to a crack.

KaneToad

I read this as nervous of travellers!
I was going to launch into a tirade calling the dog a racist...

Dubl07

bertiebomber wrote: »

hes a very sensitive lurcher greyhound / whippet highly emotional

Poor lad. The Aptamil might really help. And as many small journeys in the car as possible to get him used to it before you make the longer one. If he gets upset, just sit in the car with him and talk to him for a few minutes without driving anywhere. Try some classical music and fresh air coming in for him while you're stationary so he can breathe.

Have you changed how he's secured in the vehicle after the move from jeep to car? If he was used to being in the back, then blinds for the back windows and a harness/crate might give him more security.

bertiebomber

KaneToad wrote: »

I read this as nervous of travellers!
I was going to launch into a tirade calling the dog a racist...

ha ha ha no hes not racist towards travelers though he should be as they treated him appallingly and i rescued him !! So if he was i would forgive him ......;):D