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I'll be driving to Scotland shortly from South Wales which will take about 10 hours. We are taking the dog with us and he is not very good in the car. He whined and barks most of the time and gets very anxious. Has anyone any experience of a calming product I could give him to help with the journey?
Having had a car anxious dog in the past there is no product we found that, when used correctly, works. Anything that does work is basically a sedative and should probably involve a conversation with your vet.
When you say shortly, how shortly do you mean?
What sort of work have you done with him in the past to improve his car anxiety?
Bizarrely I have to go from Scotland to S Wales with an anxious dog.
I don't know what to do but judging by the above post, it looks like it might be best to put her in kennels for a couple of nights.
It does make it really quite tricky when they don't travel well.
Does the dog sleep in a cage in the house? Ours spends 8-9 hours a night in one and we have another for the car. Doesn’t seem to bother him and he knows there’s a great walk at the end of the ride in the bouncy cage.
I’d acclimatise cage dwelling first. Makes travel a lot easier. They like their own space.
Can you get several kongs with his favourite food inside frozen. Then give them throughout the journey?
Can you also split the journey up 3 x 3 hr 20 or so.
One of our dogs used to be sick every time he went in the car - even when it wasn't even switched on.
Our vet suggested half a paracetamol which certainly seemed to calm him down for a couple of hours, not 10 though!
We only did it once and he was fine from that point on.
Speak to your vet as see if they suggest something.
Bizarrely I have to go from Scotland to S Wales with an anxious dog.
I don’t know what to do
Swap dogs with the OP. Neither dog has to travel and you both get to look after an anxious dog when you arrive.
We find a good way is to absolutely knacker him out first.
Can be hard to do without also knackering yourself out too which doesn't go well with driving, but a bike ride with them running a lot, intense fetch session or something maybe...
The only time we had to deal with an anxious dog (fireworks month) rescue remedy in the waterbowl seemed to dull nervous responses a bit. Sometimes it can also be how you approach travelling in the car (tense because the dog is going to be fractious) will bring on the dog's anxiety.
We found Pet Remedy calming spray to work for our dog and her car related sickness/anxiety.
Stick it all over her head and put some (lots) on a bandana around her neck 20 mins before getting in the car.
Is it car the dog doesn't like which makes him bark and whine or being separated from you?
We have a small dog and if he is in the back of the car he whines and barks most of the journey unless he is worn out, as he wants to be up front with us. But in the van he sits on the middle seat between me and the wife and hardly makes a noise. Its the same in the car if he gets to sit on someone's lap then he won't make a sound. Obviously this approach may not be practical with a big dog.
Acclimatise him, normalise it. Shove him in the car, take him round the block, gradually increase the distance. Take him for walks and treats halfway round.
ThePilot
Free Member
Bizarrely I have to go from Scotland to S Wales with an anxious dog.
I don’t know what to do but judging by the above post, it looks like it might be best to put her in kennels for a couple of nights.
It does make it really quite tricky when they don’t travel well.
Putting your dog in to kennels is far more traumatic than a car journey, this will cause far more anxiety issues.
We got an anti travel sickness drug from the vet. It made our dog very sleepy for the Bristol to Bilbao drive (all in one hit).