traveling with yorkie that freaks out whenever in the car. What can I do?
 

My yorkie Chipper gets so worked up in the car. He whines and shakes and can't stay still. He will look out the window and get so excited or scared.. I cant be for sure that he will worked him self all up and start choking on his own breath and makes really strange noises. I am from VA and is moving to Ga and we are driving with Chipper , My boyfriend and our Pit. The pit does great in the car but Chipper is going to drive us crazy.. What can I do to make this trip easier on Chipper and us.

I am certain I will draw fire from what I am about to say, but I am a strong advocate of CRATING or securing your dog in the car. I had a lady buy two beautiful little girls from me...they were both crate trained for rides in the car....I alsways instruct my buyers to have their babies crated in the car...she thought she wanted to have those precious babies running free, enjoying the view, smiling at all the waves and oohhhhs and aaahhhaaa's from people in the other cars...until she was broadsided by a red light runner. Thank God, neither her nor the babies were injured in the wreck....but the windows exploded out, or the car door buckled out, enough for those precious babies to jump from the car, right in front of her eyes....they ran, together, confused, lost, and terrified, directly into the intersection, where they were BOTH killed by a moving car. This lady has yet to recover from this, and it has been several years. You have NO idea how hard it is for me to not yell and scream, "why in the he!! did you take two trained babies and allow them to run loose in your car??? I TOLD YOU WHAT COULD HAPPEN.....MY GOD, WHY DIDNT YOU LISTEN TO ME! I STILL cry over this, as I tear up now recounting it. PLEASE, SECRUE YOUR BABY IN THE CAR. THEY FEEL SAFER AND THEY ARE SAFER! If Chipper is in his little "man cave", he will be so secure and perhaps not terrified as he watches objects flying past him as he looks out the window! I am sorry, but this is a REAL pet peeve of mine!

This is such good advice. Thank you for sharing.

My baby is always tethered to the seatbelt,in the BACKSEAT,with a nochoke haness and a tether made for the car. This or a crate is the only way to transport a pet.
I have one dog that usually starts out whining,at some point he finally gives up and just goes to sleep.

Cheap homemade doggie car seat
 

I too had trouble with my yorkie getting all worked up riding in his enclosed crate. I decided to switch to a doggie car seat but they were too expensive for my budget and most of the cheaper ones required a head rest of which my vehicle lacks in the back seat. So I used the same principle idea and created my own by using a heavy plastic dish pan turning it upside down then placing a heavy duty plastic tote upright on top of the dish pan. I used a bungie strap to strap them together but one could fasten them together I suppose using some type of strong glue or something but the bungie cord works great. On the back side of the tote I used a razor blade cutter and carved out an opening about half way down on each side and ran a heavy duty leash from the inside, through one hole and then from the outside to the inside through the other hole. I had to tie the leash several times to shorten it which was no big deal..then I ran the fastener end through the looped end of the leash. This could be done differently to make it more attractive but I just wanted something that works. I put the car seat in the middle of the backseat (that's where the lap belt is) bringing the lap belt around the dish pan and fasten the belt adjusting it so it is nice and snug. I put Teddy in the attached tote and fasten the attached leash to his harness. A pillow or towel can be placed in the bottom of the tote to make for a softer ride. It works great for Teddy! The first time or two he whined a little but then he settled right down..guess he realized he was safe but riding high enough he could see out the windows. This was a cheap fix as I had the tote, dish pan, bungie cord and leash already. If you want something a little fancier looking a cover could be made to fit down inside and extended over the whole seat.

I see dogs riding on a driver's lap a lot in the small country town I live in but it is totally unsafe! Better to restrain than have them injured or killed should an accident occur.

EXCELLENT! BUDGET FRIENDLY, AND FUNCTIONAL! There is NO excuse for allowing your baby to ride in a car, unsecured! In your case, as well as in many others, necessity became the mother of invention!!

Tibbe rides secured in his little carrier that seatbelts into place and has a little furry rug he lays on and some of his plush toys inside to cushion his head and little body should we take a hard blow/rollover. He's a little timid in the car if he is not in his carrier.

I was going to suggest something like this, or a carseat for your pup OP. Begore the big move, start getting your pup use to and enjoying his travel crate, carrier, or car seat. Lots of treats and praise when he's in there. Build up to short, slow trips around the block with someone in the back seat with him to give treats and telling him what a good boy he is. Hopefully, you have enough time to build his tolerance. My pup use to panick in the car, but does very well in his car seat. He curls up and goes to sleep.

Have you tried just having some fun toys and treats in the car when it is just sitting there and slowly moving very short distances when it is decided that the car can be fun and OK Would take some time, of course but in the long run might be the fix.

It might be better for the pup not to learn to run free in the car. I speak from previous bad experience, where my pup spazzed out in the car and hurt himself. He reached a nice calm state in the car much quicker with the car seat. They'll come to expect it and confinement might come as an unpleasant surprise. If they learn to see the carrier as a place to lay down and rest, things might go smoother in the car which reminds me, tire your puppy out! Long walk, vigorous game of fecth, long game of tug.... Make sure the pup is tired and is comfortable when in the crate/carrier/car seat.

I wanted to add, the car was not even on when my pup hurt himself. We were playing in the car hoping to get him use to it. Not a good plan. They're much smaller than us, and can maneuver in all small spaces of a car. It was hard to catch him.

Good point and I did not express myself very well -- I meant that when the pup is I his crate I the car when it is not running to give treats and talk and encourage him at that point before moving to engine on etc. I agree running free is not safe, but appears the pup needs to gain some comfort very slowly to desensitize his response to the car thing.

The yorkies ride on the car with harnesses and doggie car seats. Buddy gets doggie seat belted in. My little Chevy Tracker is too small for crates.

I know this is an older post, but I just wanted to say that the Thunder Shirt really works for Ian. He used to get so worked up in a car, and usually...almost always threw up, but now he doesn't. If it doesn't work for you, you can return it for a full refund.

I totally agree :thumbup::thumbup:

Acepromazine and a kennel or carseat for the safety of the pup if a carseat or Thindershirt doesn't work alone. One of my dogs has to take Ace for most trips.