My buddy never relaxes on car rides

[hazrus]

Hi all,

I have a good little dude that never relaxes in the car. He doesn’t whine a lot but he hovers to the point that his legs are shaking. I’ve tried several things; a throne-like high sided dog bed, a thunder shirt, blankets, toys, treats, harnessing him in a little, having a human in the back seat with him. Nothing has worked. We sometimes take longer trips of around 3 hours and I hate the idea of him being miserable.
In the plus side, he jumps right in the car when I ask him and he jumps right out and is happy.
He’s 5 years old. 34 lbs. a poodle, chihuahua, chow chow mix.

Anyone have another suggestion?

 

[novalopez697]

@hazrus Crate trained? Crate in the vehicle with a blanket over top.

 

[hazrus]

@novalopez697 I’m going to give this a try. I haven’t tried a crate much less the blanket over the top.

 

[novalopez697]

@hazrus We’ve always crated ours in the car. We’ve driven upwards of 17hrs in a day with them crated without issue. Obviously lots of potty/stretch breaks. It’s also a lot safer in an accident. Not just to keep them from flying out, but also from keeping them fleeing the scene and getting lost.

 

[lutheranrose]

@hazrus Have you spent time desensitizing him to the car?
When it's not in motion spending some time in the car, first when it's off, then with it on. Start small- up to 5 minutes, then increase time. If he's comfortable with the car off and on without moving it may be balance concerns he has in the car while moving. Give him something to stand on that's even (most seats slope) and he won't slide on.
Once he's good in the car up to 10-15 minutes on and not moving work your way up to driving- around a parking lot or the block.
If he's in the car once a day even for 15 seconds he could decrease his anxiety.
You know your dog best- look up body language and gauge how their feeling before the shaking and such.

 

[hazrus]

@lutheranrose Interesting. He just turned 5, so has had issues for years. Would something like this help a dog that’s had a lot of car rides already?

 

[lutheranrose]

@hazrus Yeah, never too late to work on training!