Travelling

Question
QUESTION: Dear Dolores,
My 7 months old female cocker spaniel gets very distressed in the car when travelling with us, and it gets worst as the car moves faster, she goes into real panic. Is there anything I can do to calm her down?

Thank You,

Anelizia

ANSWER: Hi Anelizia,
Yes there are ways to handle this.  But tell me a little about when she's in the car - where is she going - how long is the trip usually?  Is she anxious right from the beginning?  Is this old or new behavior?
And what do you do when this is happening?
(Sometimes owners unintentionally reinforce the behavior)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


Mel   QUESTION: She is ok in the car when I take the route to the beach as she realizes it is her fun time, she will be normally in the boot, but when the route is different she starts panting an shaking, getting very agitated waking round and round, when she is in the boot after a while she settles herself by standing in one corner with her nose up, when she is in the back seat she struggles to release herself from the harness belt, pants and screams. When we leave for a longer journey, like a week away and travel in the motorway on a higher speed she gets completely desperate, she is ok being away from her normal routine as long as she is with us, she sleeps very well in her cage in the hotels and enjoy all the fun in the new parks, her problem is the road.
When she was a wee puppy she traveled on my lap, but when she was about 12 weeks old we started to train her in the back seat or the boot, but she still thinks my lap is where she should be. I didn't realized that letting her on my lap when she was little would cause a problem afterwards.
Initially I thought I should ignore her, but sometimes she looks so distressed that I try to comfort her, but it haven't helped so far.

Answer
I'd like you to try something.  Put her in the front seat next to you with her harness on while you drive.

Then I'd like to see what she does if she's in the back seat (harness on) but your husband (?)
is sitting back there with her.  Then you sit back there with her while he drives.

In other words, switch things around a bit to see what her reaction is.

I want to make sure this is a real fear issue and not just behavorial.  And I'm hoping "the boot" doesn't mean you're locking her in a closed trunk?????
Delores