Super Excited Staffie In The Car

Hi there,
Is there anyone out there who can help me with this problem?
We have had our Staffie Lily for 18 months - she was a rescue. She loves to go in the car, but as soon as we start to travel, she pants and licks, and after about two miles, she looks like Father Christmas - she has a large foam beard, and people who pass probably think that she's not well or has rabies!
We have tried leaving her loose in the back of the car - that hasn't worked.
We have put her in a dog cage, but she has licked it so much it's starting to rust.
She goes every weekend to visit my grandparents, so she is used to being in the car for a long period of time (one hour), but we can't seem to stop the behaviour. Apart from that, she is a wonderful dog. At first, we thought that it was anxiety, but even when we pass the car to go for a walk, she wants to go in it.
I hope that somebody can give us some advice, because we don't want to go down the sedation route when we go on holiday.

A very common problem Holly. Have you tried leaving the boot open without actually going anywhere ? Keep repeating this until it becomes something casual. Once this is all ok, try very short journeys and then let Lily out before she gets stressed and praise big time. If you can practice and give enough time things should settle

Hi Ian, thank you very much for the info - we can't leave her loose in the boot of the car with the boot open because we're on a main road - would it work if we put her in her cage with the boot open?

You could try leaving the window down insted of the boot open. The intent is to get her used to being in the car without getting too exicited over and over.

Yeah you could try that or how about going somewhere nearby that's quiet and trying it, maybe a nearby park or something

I like Ian's idea. Have a look and see if there's some way you can attach her lead or something to inside the boot. Alternatively, just have the boot open with her on her lead and you sit on the edge with her for a few minutes. Maybe give her a chew of some sort, as eating can often be a good relaxant. And if you are sitting there, some deep massage like strokes to relax the muscles.

And then build up. If you find the chew idea works, you could try giving her a bigger chew on car journeys. I've used chews with dogs who get stressed in cars a few times and it's always worked, in the end...

I also think little and often in the car may help.
Pete