Car Barking

First, I apologize if there's a discussion here that I haven't been able to find. I just found out about this group while doing an online search for car anxiety, and I did come across a long conversation about trying to calm a dog down, but now that I've joined, I can't find it. Maybe it was an old discussion and got archived. Anyway, that discussion never describe exactly what that dog was doing besides panting, so maybe I can add something and get some advice by describing my Pete's behavior.
He barks incessantly and loudly in the car, or manages to tone it down to a loud crooning/groaning if I give him a lot of firm, gentle discipline (usually me driving with one arm around his shoulders and periodic reminders to stay down) . He sits on the back seat of my small car, leaning his elbows on the center console, so it 's easy to drive like that, but not real effective in getting him to quiet down.
I haven't been able to figure out whether the behavior is fear or wild excitement or anxiety. He loves getting in the car. But then he starts yammering or barking nonstop.
He's a pound rescue, so we don't know anything about his history, but he has a damaged tail. I wouldn't be surprised if somebody had slammed a car door on it.
Another possible hint is that he is very reactive to other dogs. He's improving in that area through group classes with a Pit/Staffy organization, but still lunges if there are too many dogs too close.
Recently my wife and I went on a long trip (three hours each way) where she drove her larger car and I sat in the back with Pete. He started in with his usual behavior. I noticed that he was starting and whipping his head around a lot, often when a loud car or truck went by, so I decided to try covering his eyes with my hands. To do that, I had to have him lie across my lap, so I was also hugging him more or less. He resisted, trying to jerk his head free at first, but I noticed an immediate improvement in his behavior. He had started to shake before, too and that stopped almost immediately. He soon calmed down a lot, even dozing off a couple times.
We had shorter car trips over the next couple days and I followed the same approach. He seemed to calm down faster. The return three-hour trip today was fairly easy, with no barking except at the beginning minute or two.
We're starting to think that this behavior is anxiety, possibly also learned behavior.
I'm the one who primarily cares for Pete, and obviously I can't hug him and cover his eyes when I'm driving. So I'm considering two tools: a thundershirt, for calming pressure, and a NACOCO Dog Calming Cap Eye Mask, which is like a canine blindfold.
I'm starting to think that the common denominator between the dog reactivity and the car barking is anxiety at too much stimulation.
If that's it, can I expect my approach to work? Any thoughts about whether I need both tools, or something else? I've seen pheromones suggested, but I don't think that will work. When he gets agitated, he ignores stuff like that. I've already tried CBD.  Suggestions on accustoming him to the mask, if that's recommended?
He's never aggressive toward me, anyone in my family, or pretty much any person he meets, by the way. He's not aggressive toward people even when he's agitated.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hello & welcome to the forum, glad you found us!

It's almost certainly anxiety or over stimulation (or both), but you'll probably never know why.

Pheromones DO work, but no always to the same extent with every dog. They're always worth trying.

Thunder shirt & eye mask are a great dea as long as you introduce them gradually so that they don't add to the anxiety - your hands and arms area 'known quantity ' to him & the make him feel safe, the shirt & mask may not.

Was he used to car travel before you got him? If not, how did you get him used to the car? You may need to go back a few steps and try to introduce him to the car again. ie in, treat & out. Then in, treat, wait a minute, treat & out - gradually building up the time. Then a very short drive etc, etc.

I would also discourage him from sitting with his head/paws on the central console - really not safe! In the UK we have to use a seat belt attached to the dog's harness and the dog must travel on the rear seat. Whereabouts are you?

Pete's an American Staffordshire, which is a little different from the British Staffordshires. I think the American dogs are bigger. I think they have a lot in common, though. One area of the forum I'm very interested in is the skin issues problem. AmStaffs are prone to that, I believe. Pete sure is.
We don't know about his car history. I've always treated him on entry and exit, and he does seem to love the car. That's what's been confusing. It has been difficult to tell whether his behavior was based in fear or excitement. After this last trip, I'm coming to think the problem isn't really either. I think it's just too much stimulation for him to cope with unassisted.
We're in LA. Pete does wear a seat belt which looks like a long vest that and fastens by a very short tether to the slot for buckling a regular seat belt. He's too big, and my car is too small, to attach him without the tether.
As for accustoming him to the thundershirt and mask, I was going to take it slowly and gently with treats and brief exposures, as is done in teaching a dog to wear a muzzle.
Thanks for the suggestion on the pheromones. I'll look into that.

Hopefully, with a cocktail of aids, you'll get there.

The pheromones can really help, though. You can buy it in spray form which you could spray on the car seat before he gets in.

I love AmStaffs - banned in the UK unfortunately.

First, thanks for the kind advice about pheromones.
Second, I admit that after joining I saw something that indicated that the founder was considering closing the forum for lack of participation, and that worries me.
Maye the problem is a lack of participation. If I can help out to make sure that this forum survives, I will.
Has anybody considered forming partnerships with other organizations, such as LARPBO.org (Los Angeles Responsible Pit Bull Owners)?
There must be lots of organizations like that. We love our dogs. We ought to work together.

The forum isn't as busy as it once was, but we plod along okay. A couple of years ago the admins were struggling to make it on here enough & one or two left. But the ones who took over do manage to pop in sometimes & it's continued.

Unfortunately forums, once so popular, have been replaced by Facebook/twitter/ticktock & most have disappeared. When I originally joined here (around 2010) it was incredibly lively! Probably more than 100 posts a day.

I prefer the format of forums - I'm not a huge fan of FB and don't like twitter (I don't really understand it) or ticktock, so here I am!

I distrust Facebook, with its prying attempts to monetize private information, and neither understand nor trust Twitter, especially now that Musk has taken over, with the only consistent feature being his public self-absorption. But it does raise a hard question. For someone like me (and it sounds like you share at least some of my views) how to get or impart useful information? How many people are participating here?
I think forums are great, and this looks like a good one where I'll continue to check in, if only to help keep the forum alive. But I do have to do all I can for my dog.
By the way, my wife was incredulous when I told her AmStaffs are banned in Britain. How on earth could that be? What kind of thinking leads to a ban on AmStaffs but not British Staffies, not that any of it makes any sense? I'll look on the BSL section, but, Jeeze.

Re: the ban. Many years ago, when Pitbulls we're pretty new to the UK there were several attacks on people by Pitbull 'types'. This led the government to introduce the knee jerk legislation of BSL, which totally banned 4 breeds of dog, plus any Pitbull 'type'. This type was delineated by certain measurements which still hold true today. So the Staffordshire bull terrier isn't included in the legislation unless it's poorly bred and falls within the measurements. The AmStaff falls within the group of 'type' but is also considered to be the registered version of the Pitbull, so is banned.

So many dogs in the UK have been seized by the authorities purely because they are deemed to be Pitbull 'type' and many of those have been put to sleep.

There have been so many campaigns to replace BSL but no government has had the courage to do so.

That's disgusting. And this from a species that builds concentration camps and nuclear weapons, and worse.
You'd think there would be a little humility and a willingness to consider facts and individuals.
It makes me want to puke.
Why don't they just ban people?
I could go on, but fear pissing people off. But, pardon me, Jesus wept. This is awful.