Will Not Settle In The Car

[Carolee]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

When Shiloh (golden Retriever) was a pup he went everywhere with me and used to lay down and sleep in the car with no problems. Now it is totally different, he wants to go in the car and jumps up with no prompting but when we start to move the problems begin. He starts to pace, whine then full blown barking, the only thing we can think was that someone banged on the car window when he was about 13 months old, startled him. Now he is a nightmare in the car and whilst behind a guard in the back the noise being a large dog can be distracting when driving. If only he could talk or maybe not..... Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

[lurcherman]

weird that hes just started , having a pup in from day one is the corret thing to do, had 5 dogs with no problems as of yet, try a few things like start car and just stand at the boot with him, as long s your training is in order should be ok. best of luck..

 

[banana]

Maybe a mild relaxer - I think there is one that is marketed for fireworks that you can buy in pet shops.

Also try Pet Remedy - it is a diffuser but they (I think they still do) come with these bits of porous card that you drop some of the liquid from the diffuser onto and as it has valerian in it, its very calming for animals...

 

[Carolee]

Thank you both for the replies, will certainly try. He gets in the car no problems and you only have to pick up the keys and he is there but keeping him calm in the car is a major problem. Put him in the car for a walk, gets in fine, creates on the journey, walks fine and even gets back in again. So weird

 

[eingana]

Have you tried desensitising him?

What happens if, for instance, you put him in the car and as soon as he makes the first sound you stop and turn off the engine and get out of the car? You'd have to have a day or two put aside to just repeatedly drive around and stop whenever he started to get worked up, but that may be worth a try, to educate him in how he's meant to be in the car.

Another possibility would be to make some fabric blinds for the back of the car out of blackout fabric and velcro, which would effectively deny him some of the excitement/anxiety stimuli which seem to be affecting him at present. Most dogs enjoy being in the car and watching where they're going (Molly is a nosy git and wants to watch out of the windscreen wherever we go, even if that means sitting in the aisle of the bus we're travelling in) and being denied this can make them very subdued.

If you set up a full set of blinds and have someone travelling in the back seat of the car with you (with the forward facing blind on the car side of the dog guard) then if that succeeds in getting him calmed down then you can get your passenger to remove that blind. The moment he starts getting worked up the blind goes back up. With a bit of luck having the blinds up will calm him down and even if he can't keep himself calm with them removed, it should be less stressful with a calm dog in a blacked out car than in a noisy havoc with ear defenders and a boinging beastie.

Good luck either way round

 

[whippetsrus]

I've used DAP spray with the last three of my .pups and they all love the car. Is it possible that he does not feel secure in the way that he's got to travel in the car? All mine are crated whilst travelling and they feel secure, safe and are perfectly happy. Just a thought.

 

[Carolee]

Thank you eingana we will try anything.

whippetsrus, have just ordered some pet remedy spray and will give this a go. We are unable to crate him as he is a very big dog and not able to fit a large enough crate into the rear of the car, not so much the length and depth of the back of the estate but the height. He had a crate a a pup and this made him worse. We are also getting a seat belt harness and possibly move him to the rear seats.

Thank you all so much for replying it has certainly given us some ideas and we will try most of them, in all ways he is a beautiful chilled dog just when he gets into the car and as said before he was fine until about a year old then all change after a trip to Waitrose, not sure if someone banged on the window and frightened him, will let you know how we get on