our 15 month old yorkie has car issues
 

hello everyone. i've been lurking on this site for a while and scanning the forums for a similar problem that our Miko has and haven't found anything. if i missed something, i apologize for the repetition.

whenever my husband and i take miko in the car, she panics! she barks, becomes aggressive and whines. we've figured out that she thinks that one of us is going to leave (like when we use the turn signal or the emergency break, one of us will get out and run the errand and the other will stay in the car with her)

we've tried crating her in the back seat, keeping her free in the back seat, holding her on the passenger's lap, to no avail. we used to let her stay on the driver's lap, but she panicked so badly that she bit my husband's ribs and caused him to swerve into the direction of oncoming traffic.

she is so well trained in nearly every other way (she sometimes chases the cat with a little aggression, but we're working on that and i think we can manage it). we're at our wit's end at how to help her, but this panic isn't good for her or us.

has anyone else had this problem with their dog? please offer any advice.
we think we might have to take her to a therapist but we don't have any money really, so to do that, we'll have to skip out on other things.

thanks for reading! i really appreciate any insights you guys might have.

Welcome to YT. I'm not sure I can help here. My Sissy loves the car!! But our other dog Sheena, an Eskimo Spitz absolutely hates it. She cries and shakes so badly that she actively sheds and her fur literally flies all over the place. She's been like this since we got her and she is now 12. Our solution is to not take her in the car unless we have to.

Jewels gets frightened on car rides. We started taking her on more frequent car rides and she out grew it. She used to get sick and vomit. We just took her on a two hour car ride and she did fine

To get Adonis used to car riding, I put his bed in the passanger seat. I know our first trip to Tx from Al, he cried till we got to the Ms state line, then got quiet. I was so afraid he would cry the whole 10 hour trip! He did ok the rest of the way, after he learned we would stop for potty breaks frequently.

I went from his bed to a doggie car seat after that. Now he loves to go anywhere with me, and sits quietly in his seat, and looks out the window.

My Remmy hates to ride in the car. He howls and whines and cries. I just ignore him and don't take him unless I have to. Yes sometimes he vomits as well. Not often though.

My X MIL had a poodle that would poop everytime he got in the car.:D I'm thankful Remmy does not do that.

What does he do in the crate? My Indy was always transported in the crate when he was really little and now he's a basket case out of the crate! He prefers the security of the crate to being loose in the car. Maybe try really short trips at least once a day to see if he will begin to adjust.

in the crate in the car....
 

she shakes so badly i worry that she'll have a hypoglycemia attack, can't stand it. we tried it and she didn't seem able to adjust.


i appreciate everyone's thoughts and suggestions on the issue.

lexi just hates it too , i think they are nervous, i know one thing, they need
air while in the car, so i make sure the windows are always open for her..
poor baby...

I have two girls that always were getting car sick. My vet said to give them
1 1/2 ml of childrens liquid benadryl to calm them. IT WORKS! Maybe it would calm your baby. Good luck!

Rescue Remedy is available at most health food stores. Drs. Foster & Smith also sell it, but I don't know if it is a different formula for animals or not. They also sell several other calming herbal preparations disguised as treats.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/ar...id=183&aid=533

Demi also gets insane when I slow to a halt. Ear-splitting. It's awful.

I think she doesn't want to get left in the car. It's horrible when we're stuck in a traffic jam!

It used to be worse. She'd scream when I turned on the blinker or tapped the brake.

She will also behave well for a period of time, and then she'll regress. No apparent reason.

She rides in a booster seat, and I found that when I lowered the seat so that she couldn't see out the windows as well, she became calmer.

I think she gets afraid that she will be left behind in the car, and that makes her overexcited, so she acts up.

The only thing I found that has helped is to touch her and talk calmly to her before I come to the stop sign, or red light, or backed-up traffic. I figure it's preventative. As long as I'm touching her, she's much more calm.

Good luck!

miko is similar in some sense to demi
 

she screams and barks if we use the turn signal or emergency break. here's our gameplan:
we're going to try driving around parking lots for extended periods of time (this is one of her worse times in the car)
she loves french fries...lol. we're going to try bribing her with those if she's being good in the car...
and finally (and probably most importantly) we're going to get her a booster seat.

wish us luck! we're maybe going to try this stuff out this weekend!!

thanks so much to everyone for your input!!!!
if anyone has any other ideas, please let us know! we don't want to not take her in the car. we want to help make the car rides more fun (or at least tolerable)

:animal36

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I forgot about the Rescue Remedy! It is awesome stuff for fur and human people. Read the two posts under General Discussion here at YT. Also I listed the cheapest place to order it. I have used it for years! Good luck!

Do you suppose she's associating the car ride with a ride to the Vet? Just a thought here.

Scruffles used to throw up and panic in the car all of the time at 4/5 months old. He eventually grew out of it and loves the car now.:)

What we tried to do to help him get over the shaking and nervousness was take him to places that he enjoyed so he learned to associate riding in the car with going somewhere fun. This worked for us.

it's not the vet...
 

miko loves seeing her vet, gives him kisses whenever she's with him.
i really think it's intense separation anxiety because she doesn't want either of us to get out of the car. she does pretty well on the highway because there isn't any stopping and very few turn signals.

thanks again for all the helpful suggestions. my husband's been reading too.


:animal36


i'll give you guys an update when there is one. thanks again

car rides!
 

I have a male Yorkie who really does not like the car either, he backs up when he realizes we are bringing him, I take his favorite comforter in the car , it also helps him to be able to reach the window for air, getting fresh air helps him from not throwing up, we also tried ginger bread or any typer of ginger cookie, it is supposed to calm their stomach , it worked for a little while and then I think Frodo didn't really like the taste, he would go hide it, but try that I know it worked for others, good luck, Cathy...

My dogs love the "Lookout carseats." I have two in the backseat - and both my dogs ride back there. They sit up and look out the window a lot - and if we're in the car very long, they'll lie down and sleep.

At first my new little Yorkie pup thought he rather ride up front climbing all over me -- but he just didn't get his way. I put him in the back - and he stays there (that's just the way it's going to be). There will be no exception to this rule.

He barked only a couple times when we first started taking him in the car. All I ever did was turn around and tell him "No" (firmly). And, I did this everytime he even started to bark.

He rides great now. He's content being in the back - and even sleeps a lot. We have gone for two hour drives with no problems often.

****** I do know - if I ever gave in and let him ride up front with me - he'd be driving me crazy to do that all the time. So - his only experience riding in a car has always been riding in the backseat in his carseat. This is all he knows. And, I have put my dog's carseats in a lot of other people's cars - and they are just as good in any car.

Good luck! Carol Jean

My Dudley howls like crazy the whole time we are going somewhere. After we have gotten to the store and been out he calms down and rides the whole way home with no problems. We have tried lots of things, to no avail, so good luck to you.

Take her for "fake" car rides often.
 

Try pretending to go for car rides several times a day. Do the routine of getting in your car while it is parked, starting it and going through the motions that cause her to panic. Watch her while you do this to see what scares her the most. You won't be moving so you can pay close attention. If she freaks whenever you put the turn signal on, put the signal on and leave it until she calms down. Try soothing her while it's on to show her there's nothing to be afraid of. Then give her a treat when she quiets down.

I had to do this with Ollie for the vacuum cleaner. He would totally freak out when I vacuumed and even sometimes pee he got so scared. It took a few days of pretending to vacuum without the vacuum turned on to get him to even get near the vacuum. Once he was confident the vacuum wasn't going to hurt him, I did the routines with the vacuum running (and not moving). It definitely took alot of patience, but eventually it worked. Now we can vacuum and he's totally oblivious.

I have one now that used to barf. I discovered that if someone else drove and I held him in his carry bag, he was fine. So we did this and rewarded with a treat each short ride and increased to longer car rides. Then I took him in the car and just up and down the driveway alone in a carseat with the window opened a smidge,he only drooled, rewarded with a treat and tons of praise. He finally has adjusted to the car ride but doesn't love it but no barf or drooling. I think he also sensed my stress because I dreaded the fact that I wouldn't be able to take him with me. I also put blankets in the carseat tucked around him to make him feel secure. I had a car barfer and pooper years ago. I finally just let him stay on my lap although it wasn't safe and only to the vet. He did love walking outside although only 2.5 lbs. We live in a mountain area. He would stop when tired and I'd carry him for awhile and he'd let me know when he wanted to walk again. He had great muscle tone.
Jessica

EXCELLENT advice! Then, following that, one can progress to prttypuppypink's advice.