Driving from Indy to San Fran w/ Car anxious Silky

[MMluvsBuddy]

My Silky, Buddy, is really car anxious. He's ok in the car for about 15 minutes but then he starts screeching, shaking and crying. He will also start pacing back and forth in the back seat or trying to jump into my husbands while he's driving. He also tried to hide under the pedals once. Its even worse if he's in a crate- he sounds like someone is beating him. I've gotten him a seat belt tether for this trip to keep him safely confined but I'm curious as to whether the vet can give him some kind of meds or something to relax him? Or if there is something else I can do for him?
He was abandoned and we assume dumped from a vehicle as he has been frightened of vehicles since the day I adopted him. We take him on quick errands- like to the bank or runs to get fast food, to petsmart, the vet and so on- he does fine on those short outings. I think the longest we've traveled with him in the vehicle was 1 hour and he screamed and shook the entire time.
Any suggestions or would some medication from his vet be the best?

[rubymoon2072]

yes i would discuss it with your vet to see if there is something mild you can give to help during travels. start with the vet and im bumping this incase anyone has any help advice to add. welcome to yt and good luck i hope you find a solution for buddy and thank you for saving him and being patient and mindful of his needs!!

[brezofleur]

Does he freak out in thunderstorms? If so, have you tried a thundershirt?

A friend of mine has a boy that is anxious on car rides too but the thundershirt was great for them. They drove 2 hours one way and was fine.

Of course, everyone is different so if you do decide to give it a go, make sure you try it for a while at first.

[MMluvsBuddy]

Originally Posted by brezofleur

Does he freak out in thunderstorms? If so, have you tried a thundershirt?

A friend of mine has a boy that is anxious on car rides too but the thundershirt was great for them. They drove 2 hours one way and was fine.

Of course, everyone is different so if you do decide to give it a go, make sure you try it for a while at first.

Nope, thunderstorms don't bother him at all- even when it is raining if still goes out to potty willingly, walks in the rain, and watches it from the window. He's really good in every situation except the car. The website says its for anxiety so I think I will pick him up a thunder shirt tho, I'd prefer not to drug him up so if that can help I think Ill try it. Thanks!

[yorkietalkjilly]

Other than a thundershirt to see if that will calm him during the trip and medication, I would try covering the windows in the back to see if that can help him during a trial run around the block. If not, see if you can just desensitize him to getting in the car, then back out several times. Then put him in the car and see if he will take a piece of boiled chicken while in there and wait a minute before getting back out. Work up to in and out many, many times with nothing bad happening and perhaps a fabulous treat while he's in there or at least when he gets out and see if he won't start to realize that now, in this car, nothing bad happens. I would definitely get him some meds to help take the edge of his panic off and help him to relax and hopefully sleep during most of the trip.

Some dogs like the security of confinement in a car. You might try putting him in an airline carrier - the hardshell kind - and see if he tolerates that, perhaps with a blanket over all but the door end.

Have you ever tried putting his own bed in the car, with his toys and things he's used to?

Usually, with a very nervous dog, medication and repetitive desensitization sessions of frequent but short duration that work up to just backing out of the drive and driving back in it to around the block, etc., can work to help show a dog that it is really not so bad.

Whatever you do, don't try to soothe him vocally during his panic attacks. That tends to just reinforce his scared, nervous behavior. It is better to try to distract him with a squeaky toy, show him your iPhone video or hold a piece of meat in your fist and try to get him to follow it with his nose. But cooing or saying "it's okay" to a shaking, scared, anxious dog will usually just make him think his panic is okay and the thing to do in the present circumstance in the car. It's better to talk upbeat when you are desensitizing them during the short episodes in the car and when they are in there saying positive things like "You can do this!" and "Atta boy" when he jumps out after a little session and "Hero!" when he is quiet for a moment to try to let him see you being positive and upbeat, not sad and sorry for his nerves. He will feed off your energy so the more positive you can make your own attitude during his time in the car, the better he will feel.

Every effort that you make before the long trip to give him short, positive sessions in the car with treats if he'll take them, positive reinforcement with a squeaky toy, ball, upbeat attitude/words, that end in a good rough play session, tugowar, bouncing the ball for him or going to the park, the more it will all pay off on your long trip.

[carmen in nj]

one of my silky parents use the thunder shirt with her silky and he is better also during car rides., use a booster chair, dogs like to sit and lay in a high chair, I own 2 because my dogs used to get anxious in the van, until I bought the chairs, now they love going for car rides long or short..
hugs,
Carmen

[MMluvsBuddy]

Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly

Other than a thundershirt to see if that will calm him during the trip and medication, I would try covering the windows in the back to see if that can help him during a trial run around the block. If not, see if you can just desensitize him to getting in the car, then back out several times. Then put him in the car and see if he will take a piece of boiled chicken while in there and wait a minute before getting back out. Work up to in and out many, many times with nothing bad happening and perhaps a fabulous treat while he's in there or at least when he gets out and see if he won't start to realize that now, in this car, nothing bad happens. I would definitely get him some meds to help take the edge of his panic off and help him to relax and hopefully sleep during most of the trip.

Some dogs like the security of confinement in a car. You might try putting him in an airline carrier - the hardshell kind - and see if he tolerates that, perhaps with a blanket over all but the door end.

Have you ever tried putting his own bed in the car, with his toys and things he's used to?

Usually, with a very nervous dog, medication and repetitive desensitization sessions of frequent but short duration that work up to just backing out of the drive and driving back in it to around the block, etc., can work to help show a dog that it is really not so bad.

Whatever you do, don't try to soothe him vocally during his panic attacks. That tends to just reinforce his scared, nervous behavior. It is better to try to distract him with a squeaky toy, show him your iPhone video or hold a piece of meat in your fist and try to get him to follow it with his nose. But cooing or saying "it's okay" to a shaking, scared, anxious dog will usually just make him think his panic is okay and the thing to do in the present circumstance in the car. It's better to talk upbeat when you are desensitizing them during the short episodes in the car and when they are in there saying positive things like "You can do this!" and "Atta boy" when he jumps out after a little session and "Hero!" when he is quiet for a moment to try to let him see you being positive and upbeat, not sad and sorry for his nerves. He will feed off your energy so the more positive you can make your own attitude during his time in the car, the better he will feel.

Every effort that you make before the long trip to give him short, positive sessions in the car with treats if he'll take them, positive reinforcement with a squeaky toy, ball, upbeat attitude/words, that end in a good rough play session, tugowar, bouncing the ball for him or going to the park, the more it will all pay off on your long trip.

The weird thing is he'll get in and out of the car willingly, he hangs out in the car with me whenever I clean it, he just sits in the drivers or passengers seat and looks out the window or finds a receipt to tear up. He does fine for short trips- We take him to the bank, the vet, petsmart, to the park and so forth with no problems what so ever. He gets yummy treats every time he gets into the car and we reward him for staying quiet with treats as well. So its not fear of getting in or out, or even short trips- its when he's in there for a prolonged amount of time.

Heres an example of what he does-
When we were going to stay in Indy we drove about 45 minutes outside of the city to a smaller rural town to look at a house and he was fine the whole way there with the exception of a small amount of screeching at another dog, I gave him a treat when we got in the car and a treat when we arrived. He walked around in the house like a happy go lucky little guy, checked out the back yard, investigated the whole house on his own then just walked around by husband. After we were done looking at the house I let him potty then he jumped back into the car, I gave him a treat and we proceeded on our way back into indy. We got maybe 5 minutes down the road and he started crying. I thought maybe he had to poo so we stopped and I let him out- he peed, walked around then went back to the car. I let him jump in the car by himself when he was ready- gave him another treat which he promptly ate then began waggin his little nub. we got about 10 more minutes down the road and he started crying and panting even heavier- I tried to just tell him he was ok, gave him the option of sitting in my lap which he promptly jumped from and went to the back seat. He just kept crying until we got home- which he recognized, jumped right out of the car and ran right up the steps like nothing happened.

It only gets worse when he's in a crate- especially the plastic kind. I don't know if it's because he can't see out or what but he does not tolerate being crated in the car. He screams, bites the crate door and stress chews himself.
We've tried plastic and wire and the wire is only slightly better.

He doesn't have a bed- he sleeps with me. When he did have a bed all he did was chew on it and rip the stuffing out- he does have a blankie tho and I'll be sure to put that with him.

I will stop trying to soothe him- that's for sure. I didn't realize it would make it worse. He seems to be the calmest when our yorkie is with him, so I'm hoping it helps him but I will still get with his vet about something mild to help take the edge off and get him a thundershirt.

This is really a new thing to me, before my pitbull died she loved the car. She would climb in, sit and lean against the window and watch everything go by then after a while she would just curl up and fall asleep so his fear of the car is something Ive never had to deal with before.


I hadn't thought of a car seat- he does like to look out the window, maybe that will keep him up high enough where he can see whats going on.

[yorkietalkjilly]

It sounds like he's happy with the trip, the anticipation of the destination and the destination of happy exploring, visiting with friends, going to the park, going shopping, etc., but doesn't like the trip back all that much? He seems to realize that the fun of that destination is over and he is whining, wanting it back. Is there any rationale to that? Is there some way you can really tire him out at the first destination having him jump over and up and down a few short steps, toss a ball, have him chase it, fetch and fetch and see if you can really wear him out so that he is so tuckered out he just wants to life down for the trip back? It almost sounds as if he's complaining saying I did the trip there pretty okay, had some fun looking around and exploring but before I know it, I'm back in the boring car and I want out to have fun and explore. I wonder if it is the boredom of the trip that is his biggest bugaboo with car travel?

I'm thinking a carseat where he could watch outside could help him be less bored. And if you teach him to watch you for a treat, a trick that teaches a dog to focus and control its impulse to do something else while looking in your eyes. That way if he starts whining, say "Watch me" every so occasionally and eventually treat him when he does.

To teach this, stand up and say "Watch me" by looking him in the face. When he locks eyes with you, praise him as a mark that he's done what you asked, put the treat in front of your eyes so he sees it and your eyes and then give it to him. Now, move your head a bit, step or move to one side, way "Watch me", when he locks eyes, praise and treat him with that treat in the path of your eyes all the way to his mouth. No treat if he looks away, just an "uh oh" and look away for 60 boring seconds. Move a bit again and say "Watch me", praise when he locks eyes and treat him from your eyes to his mouth. Short, repetitions and a good game of toss the ball and outside when he's done.

Keep repeating this training in short sessions of only about 3-5 per episode a few times a day with at least 2 hours between sessions and a hard play session, outside afterward. Keep moving and changing position a bit before you say "Watch me" so he'll never know what you are up to and want to follow you with his eyes. In time, start to make him watch you longer from the time you lock eyes before you praise and treat, and if he stays focused for a longer period of time, he's learning to control himself and do what you want. In time, he can look at you for a long time to get his praise and treat. It will help when he's whining or barking or distracted when outside or acting crazy and it will keep your dog busy focusing on you rather than whining or barking or acting up. He will do it to get his praise and his treat and eventually, in time, he will just learn to do it by rote because you told him to and he really wants to please you. But by doing this, you are keeping him busy focusing on you, your praise, his reward and the happiness both of you feel when he succeeds. He will sense and know how good behaving feels and how much you like it and start to work hard to achieve that state between the two of you. It could help him cope with his propensity to whine and grow bored and needy during a trip away from what was a fun destination he really enjoyed.

[yorkietalkjilly]

P. S. This long trip is going to stress your dog so don't count missteps and problems on this trip too much as you are just starting to work with him. But it would be good if along the way, you could stop and let him run and play fetch, tugowar and other fun games and then travel a while would break up the long endless hours for this anxious dog. Afterward when you are back home, short destination trips that really tire him out and then working with him to focus and not whine can help to teach him to listen to you and control himself and in time, he should learn to just lie down and rest from his destination tiring. After a while of this program of working with him, he should begin to accept his car trips as something to sleep through or just ride and watch out the window and that at the end, even when we're home, there will be a fun game of ball or getting to go outside and run off the nerves from traveling. Probably won't take much before it's naptime.

Teaching your dog obedience can also help to calm him on car rides. It will get him used to listening to and obeying your words and learn that doing so is very satisfying so if you tell him "Quiet", a skill you can teach a dog by teaching it to bark, rewarding it with a treat each time it barks a lot and then, after a couple of weeks of barking, barking, barking and treating, stand up and say "Quiet" and make a slitting motion across your throat as a director saying "cut" in motion pictures. When he stops barking and just stares at you quietly, trying to understand the change, say "Good quiet" and give him a treat. Repeat three times - have him bark, bark, bark, treat for each and then stand up, say "Quiet" with the cut motion across the throat and when he stops and looks, say "God quiet". Repeat 3 times and then a good, rough play session and outside to potty. Keep working with that lesson and he will learn to bark - and to quiet - on command. Ignore mistakes and just keep teaching and before long you can say "Quiet" in the car when he starts whining.