Hello Everyone,

I wondered if anyone would be able to help, Cassie is terrified of going for rides in the car, she will start drooling pretty bad and shakes like a leaf.  Sometimes she will get sick and throw up but sometimes not.  Someone had said try putting her in a carrier and putting a blanket over it and playing some music.  I tried that, and she just cried in there.  I had asked the vet and she said to just keep taking her for rides, and I do try to do that as well but i feel so awful that she gets so worked up.   Does anyone know any other tricks I can try?  Like would putting her in a carrier and putting the carrier on the floor? would that work better than the seat? I figure on the floor you would get more motion?  Would be greatful if anyone could give me some tip to make her more comfortable in the car.  Thank you in advance :)

Mandy

Try a short ride around the block.

yes i will try that maybe a couple of times a week maybe she’ll get used to it easier that way. 

I would take Cassie on a couple short car rides around the block. Lance used to be terrifed of the car. Then we briebed him with treats. It really worked. Once Lance was doing better we made the treat smaller. Hope i helped!

thank you for your help.  I have been taking her for small rides around the neighborhood and she seems to be getting alot better she doesn’t drool anymore but still shakes alil.  We will keep going little bits until she is comfortable :)

I don’t know how I missed this before. Take her places she really likes, or places where she will get a lot of attention/treats (you could set this up with friends). The goal is to have her associate riding in a car with good things happening. It will take time, but hopefully it will work. To the extent that you have to take her places she won’t like (i.e. the vet) it will take longer for her to associate the car with good things. Try to have multiple good experiences for every bad one.

Cesar (Dog Whisperer) did a show where the dog was afraid of the car. This was an extreme case and when the ride was over the car was a mess of the stinkiest kind! Now, I know this is a TV show and much of this has to be ‘staged’ a little, but he just kept getting in and out of the car with the dog while he remained calm and assertive. Your attitude really does make a difference.

We hadn’t had Astrid too long when we found we were going to move to another state. We needed to stay a little closer to our son to say our good byes so we stayed in a pretty nice hotel for a couple of nights. Well, Astrid DID NOT like the elevator and at that point, we had no experience training her or really even knew what to expect. We indulged her fear and my husband picked her up everytime to ride the elevator. I wish I had pictures of when we landed on the first floor, doors opened and there he stands holding this great big rottie! She also didn’t like the stairs, which were circular and outside. Just before our move, I was lucky enough to run into our first Basic class instructor and I told her about this problem. She said that sometimes all you can do is ‘tough love’. Our next encounter with stairs was shortly thereafter in North Carolina when we went to look over the Best Friends day camp for Astrid. Prospective campers have to go through an interview process and the interview room was on the second floor. Astrid stopped dead, leaning back, rufusing to go. Using ‘tough love’ went through my head so I proceeded up the stairs and gave Astrid two choices….follow or choke. Simple. As you can see on her profile she didn’t suffer too much damage and from that point on, she really got the idea that mom ‘don’t take no sh$t! ’ Didn’t know it then, but it was the beginning of my being ‘calm and assertive’ in all of her training. 

I’ve also learned that that coddling voice saying ‘it’ll be okay’ can reinforce the idea that there is something to be afraid of. I know that all dogs have had different life experiences, have different personalities and different abilities. These are just my experiences. Just maybe, you’ll see something there that will work for you.

Going for short rides is a good idea, but how about just taking her out to the car and give her a treat, let her jump in it, give her a treat.  Maybe start the engine with her in it, give her a treat.  If at any point you see her get nervous or upset, dont say anything or coo her or pet her, just stop the training and try again later.  I would go real slow with this.  Try retraining her to be OK with the car, climbing in it, it running, etc…  BEFORE you put her in it again and make it move.

My sister’s dog used to get really sick and puke all over, that got old.  She has worked with him (and doesnt feed him if she knows she is going somewhere) and he has gotten better, some of which may be growing out of it. He is gonna be 7.

Benadryl given about a half hour before going in the car also helps.  A MG per pound is the dosage.  Dramamine also works but we have always used benadryl.

Good Luck

Try working with a positive attitude about this.  Start with a shut down car, a leash, a hungry dog. 

Take to car, when she approaches [lured there if need be], reward, turn her around.  Repeat 2 more times.  Then try getting her close to the car.  Reward.  Wo, by steps and treats, get her to the car, into car and out.  Pet, play, reward!!!  Do this with a non-moving car.  Then try it with a running car.  Build her up gradually until she looks forward to going to the car!  THEN take her on a ride, a short one and then where ever you go, give her a treat and some play time… like a DQ or a Frostee [vanilla of course] and play play play, reward reward reward.

Now keep building up the times and places until only positive associations are in the car.  Then you can take her where you need.

This way takes time and patience, but does the job very well… you may even have problems later with her not wanting to get out!

Good luck!

Annie

Trainer in Germany

www.painlessdogtraining.com