Dog shakes terribly when travelling

[Loulou23]

Hi, can anyone offer any advice on this please. A friend has a rescue lab cross who has always been terrible for travelling in a car, they have asked my advice on how to help him as they have just avoided taking him in the car for the past few years but would really like to address the issue now. I've said that they should get help from a professional but they dont rdeally trust behaviourists since their sister spent a small fortune on one with her reactive dog and didnt get any real results. I know how I would address this with a horse but not a dog. Do you think that the same approach might work, ie reintroducing the dog to the car in a positive way, treats in stationary car with engine off, then build up to engine on, then closed doors, short trips etc? Does anyone think the DAP collars or the travelling sprays would help?

 

[CorvusCorax]

That sounds like a good start but it depends on the age of the dog and the level of stress/the why/how many mistakes they may have unwittingly made.
The dog may be so stressed that it doesn't want to take food.
A lot of dogs prefer to travel securely, IE in a small dark, covered place rather than the boot or the seats, so they might want to look at getting a travel crate.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

That sounds like a good start but it depends on the age of the dog and the level of stress/the why/how many mistakes they may have unwittingly made.
The dog may be so stressed that it doesn't want to take food.
A lot of dogs prefer to travel securely, IE in a small dark, covered place rather than the boot or the seats, so they might want to look at getting a travel crate.

We used to have a Lab who was sick on every car journey, vet prescribed a sedative, which worked. She grew out of it eventually. One of the Rottweilers couldn't even get to the end of the road before she had diarrhoea. We used to clean up and carry on with the journey and she grew out if it by about 6 months with at least one visit to a relative's house every week. She was never ill on the way home.

 

[Highmileagecob]

It's going to be a bit more of a challenge with an older dog. Is it possible to do a very short trip, say a mile maximum, ending in a lot of praise, fun activity for the dog (park, field, chasing a ball etc.) and then walk back home. After a short time, take the dog back with you to retrieve the car. On returning home, big fuss of the dog. The aim is to let the dog link a car journey to something good. When you reach the point where the dog will happily get in the car, that is the point that journeys can be extended little by little. It may not be a quick process - I hope you manage to crack it!

 

[Moobli]

A lot of dogs can be helped by implemental tiny incremental steps - starting off with the vehicle stationary, feed in car (if he will eat), treat, play, just sit and read a book - don't even turn the engine on. Once dog is okay in the stationary car, turn the engine on (again feed, treat, play, just sit), turn engine off and don't go anywhere. Build up slowly. Then take really short journeys, dog gets out to do something fun, before return journey.
A lot will depend on whether the anxiety is down to motion sickness which lots of dogs can overcome (a ginger biscuit before travelling can help) or something more deep seated. We have a seven year old border collie who detests travelling with a passion. He never really suffered with motion sickness but it was almost like a phobia of travelling and he would hide in his kennel after any journey and distrusted the person who had taken him for a good while after. In the end, we decided to stop trying with him as it obviously stressed him so much and thankfully he doesn't need to travel here so we can live with it.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Does the dog enjoy its walks? Goose has been totally shut down in the car, not interested in food, not reassured by cuddles. Taking him out alone and talking to him has helped hugely. I’ve made a ridiculous fuss of him on the walk, huge praise, play, getting on the ground and food. He’s made a huge turnaround this weekend. Instead of collapsing to the floor when returning to the car, he now drags me to it, sits up once inside and looks out of the window. This is literally the past two days that something has clicked for him. Even taking him out with Me Enthusiastic (Bear) didn’t help.

I think concentrating on him, playing with him and giving treats on the walk has helped massively. I don’t know if it would work for an older dog, Goose is 7 months.

 

[Loulou23]

A lot of dogs can be helped by implemental tiny incremental steps - starting off with the vehicle stationary, feed in car (if he will eat), treat, play, just sit and read a book - don't even turn the engine on. Once dog is okay in the stationary car, turn the engine on (again feed, treat, play, just sit), turn engine off and don't go anywhere. Build up slowly. Then take really short journeys, dog gets out to do something fun, before return journey.
A lot will depend on whether the anxiety is down to motion sickness which lots of dogs can overcome (a ginger biscuit before travelling can help) or something more deep seated. We have a seven year old border collie who detests travelling with a passion. He never really suffered with motion sickness but it was almost like a phobia of travelling and he would hide in his kennel after any journey and distrusted the person who had taken him for a good while after. In the end, we decided to stop trying with him as it obviously stressed him so much and thankfully he doesn't need to travel here so we can live with it.

Thanks, this was pretty much what i was thinking but wanted some input from more knowledgeable peeps. From what they say its not motion sickness, he is not physically sick but he shakes uncontrollably and his heart rate goes mad, definately a stress thing but not knowing his full history they dont know why he is like that. Do you think the DAP things or travel sprays might help too? They cant hurt.

 

[Moobli]

Thanks, this was pretty much what i was thinking but wanted some input from more knowledgeable peeps. From what they say its not motion sickness, he is not physically sick but he shakes uncontrollably and his heart rate goes mad, definately a stress thing but not knowing his full history they dont know why he is like that. Do you think the DAP things or travel sprays might help too? They cant hurt.

As you say they can’t hurt so worth a try but I’d be surprised if it helped enough to make a big difference. I did buy some Zylkene to try on our collie but it’s still sitting in the cupboard. It’s meant to reduce stress and anxiety so may be worth a try too.