travel terror

my staff gets in my car and becomes another dog . he goes from happy normal staffy to a trembling , heavy panting terrified looking dog and also has a very sick looking face and all this before we get out the street . its such a horriable , heartbreaking sight .ive had him 3 months now and hes not changed . once he gets out the car he is fine and normal.till he gets in the car .please can anyone help

your not going to like this, but here goes.

ignore him. its really hard to do, but dont make a fuss. there could be many reasons he doesnt feel comfortable in the car (in my case it was a Lexus trying a drive thru...) but any conforting talk, or stroking, will make him think its normal to act like that in the car. just go about your normal driving style, stay positive and happy - remember, your dog will react to your behaviour. if you normally sing when listening to music, go nuts (ignore the stares, everyone does it...) if he becomes calm, a quick head scratch does wonders.

its not going to be a quick fix, i'm 18 months in since the crash and she's still nowhere near what she was before, but she's a LOT better, no panting or shaking anymore, but very alert and not relaxed in the car still. stick with it, it's all abour perseverance

Darcy doesn't really like the car either despite being in one from 8 weeks, she just doesn't like it i spray adaptil in the car before journeys to help keep her calm http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/Products/CN41005/adaptil-dog-appeasing-pheromone-spray

I can't help my girl loves the car.

How old is your dog crackermac?

asa-james wrote:your not going to like this, but here goes.

ignore him. its really hard to do, but dont make a fuss. there could be many reasons he doesnt feel comfortable in the car (in my case it was a Lexus trying a drive thru...) but any conforting talk, or stroking, will make him think its normal to act like that in the car. just go about your normal driving style, stay positive and happy - remember, your dog will react to your behaviour. if you normally sing when listening to music, go nuts (ignore the stares, everyone does it...) if he becomes calm, a quick head scratch does wonders.

its not going to be a quick fix, i'm 18 months in since the crash and she's still nowhere near what she was before, but she's a LOT better, no panting or shaking anymore, but very alert and not relaxed in the car still. stick with it, it's all abour perseverance

Well said, this is exactly what you need to do. When Zeus first start travelling with me in my car, he was petrified, to the point where he used to vomit all the time.

The first thing I done was to just sit in the car with him (while it was parked up) and just let him sniff the car out and get used to it. After that, I start taking him on short 5 minute drives, around the block and back home, just to get him used to it. And as James stated, I simply ignored his behaviour and let him get on with it, as he started to get a little better in the car, I praised him and now hes got to the point where he jumps into the car by his own accord because he knows he's going on an adventure somewhere!

It takes time but you just need to do the right things and stay consistent at it.

Cant help here, but great advice from asa-james. I am lucky Pixee loves the car / van rides.

Rocky also loves the car but can become a bit whiny, great advice from Asa-james, it is tough to ignore them, but it pays off!

A bit late now but another way to get a dog used to car travel is to biuld up the time spent in the car gradually. Just begin by sitting in the car and not moving and leaving the doors open. Once the dog is OK with this then try starting the engine and just sit in the car for a few minutes without moving off. Then try a very short journey of just a few minutes then start to build up the journey time very gradually.

Another idea is to try a Thunder Shirt, check on line for them to get a good price:

http://www.thundershirt.com/

Not much help here as Vinnie cant wait to get in the car.
As Asa says its probably best not to make a big deal about it.
Hope you can overcome this. 

.. he goes from happy normal staffy to a trembling , heavy panting terrified looking dog and also has a very sick looking face and all this before we get out the street

Lady was like that as well .. i figured it was mainly the various noises ..
traffic .. tyre noise on various road surfaces .. car door being shut .. etc etc ..
( she would flinch when i shut the car door .. and i do so carefully .. i.e. not banged or slammed shut )
maybe she associates car travel with some previous bad experience
( she's a rescue .. age between 3 'n 4 .. vet guestimate )

she's been with me nearly 2 months now ..
at first she had a dogbed secured to the front passenger seat ..
and for a while would constantly try to crawl into my lap ..
usualy ending up sprawled over the gap between the two seats where the gear lever is ..
her restraining lead would stop her from getting completely over to my side ..
i'd have to stop and move her back over to her 'bed' ..
after a while she'd keep to the bed but keep her eyes fixed on me .. or her seat back .. or the sunroof ..



btw: the book .. 'The Dog Listener' by Jan Fennell .. is a good read and has a chapter about dogs and cars ..

about a month in .. she was just starting to relax in-car when i ran over a cattle grid ..
and she reverted to instant terror-shakes-panting ..
after that i tried going over those grids at a 1st gear crawl ..
that worked .. she just pricked up her ears .. no signs of the shakes 'n such ..

so far ..
she's been travelling in the car almost daily .. and always get a walk / run / frizbee play during the trip
( so hopefuly she'd associate 'car' with 'playtime' )
she has her own space in the back of my van .. memory-foam mattress .. warm soft bedding ..
and a widow to look out of .. not that she does :-) ..
well she only does when the engine gets turned off .. like .. "where are we ? can i get out now ? is it frizbee time ?"
she always gets offered .. and left .. a chewy treat once she's in the car .. before we set off ..



and .. a few weeks ago i got some 'adaptil' .. spray and difusor ..
i did spray her car bedding with it ..
but have since refilled one of those fabreeze-car-vent airfreshners with some of the adaptil difusor liquid ..
and don't use the spray at the moment ..

once the car is moving .. she basicly lays down on her mattress ..
when she used to have a dogbed on the passenger seat .. she'd curl up and stare at the back of the seat ..
never show'd any interest at what's outside ( except once ) untill the car's stopped and engine shut down ..
although she'll sit up and whine if she needs to get out for doggie-toilet

~~~~~~~~

any car issue now .. has been getting her in to start with ..
once she figures we're going for a ride .. she's known to go and hide .. or run off towards the local park ( once )
and when found .. becomes sulky and like an immovable lump ..

giving her a chewy treat and some praise once she's in the car seems to have changed things a bit
i use a particular lead ( bungee cord ) just to take her from the house to the car ..
when she sees it .. she now comes to me .. albeit somewhat reluctantly ..
once out the front gate she used to head towards the park .. now she heads towards the car .. :-)

~~~~~~~

i think now she's gotten used to .. and 'tolerates' car travel .. rather than having an abject fear of it ..
i doubt she'll ever be enthusiastic at the prospect of going for a drive ..
but she sure shows enthusiasm when we stop for her walk/run/frizbee breaks :-)
'n when it's time to leave .. displays no resistance to getting back in ..

i rekon use of 'adaptil' has helped ..

I can also recommed the Adaptil spray and collar. Rocky is currently wearing a collar now due to a recent attack and we do also use the spray in the car for longer journeys. It's a very good product.

Lynda wrote:How old is your dog crackermac?

hi lynda , he is a rescue dog and they told me he is about 18 months but other people including the vet have said about 1 year old

asa-james wrote:your not going to like this, but here goes.

ignore him. its really hard to do, but dont make a fuss. there could be many reasons he doesnt feel comfortable in the car (in my case it was a Lexus trying a drive thru...) but any conforting talk, or stroking, will make him think its normal to act like that in the car. just go about your normal driving style, stay positive and happy - remember, your dog will react to your behaviour. if you normally sing when listening to music, go nuts (ignore the stares, everyone does it...) if he becomes calm, a quick head scratch does wonders.

its not going to be a quick fix, i'm 18 months in since the crash and she's still nowhere near what she was before, but she's a LOT better, no panting or shaking anymore, but very alert and not relaxed in the car still. stick with it, it's all abour perseverance

thanks for your help.im going to persavere with it now . thanks to everyone who replied.  

, WELL , WELL  would you believe it ? it is actually working.When i posted my original message here,i thought my dog was going to take a stroke or worse when he was in the car.Then i followed your advice and its starting to pay off big style.When he starts PANTING and looking like he's dying,THATS my cue to start SINGING like a popstar and the panting stops instantly.If he carries on panting etc... then i sing LOUDER. when he gives me " the eyes " instead of crumbling i look him straight in the eye and start laughing at him ( big exaggerated laughs ) and he then stops with "the eyes ".Last night in the car he was even dozing off (not quite,).Dont get me wrong , he still hates the car and would happily never go near it ever again, but that cant happen so he has to deal with it .but i dont feel guilty of putting him through an ordeal when i'm not.The dog was "playing" me and now hes been caught out and its as if he knows hes been caught out .So thank you asa-james.You have turned an ordeal and truly horrible experience into a positive ,funny,laughter filled ( for me ) outing . THANK YOU 100 times over THANK YOU.          

Fantastic news!

I'm sure Asa will be well chuffed to read that ^^^ crackermac. Thanks for the up date and glad things are working out for you in the car.

great stuff