October 25, 2016

When Car Rides Turn Scary - Pups with Anxiety

Rita is great about riding in the car - at least when we're just running errands. She hops in the back seat, raring to go, and never tries to come up front. In fact, I've left an open bag of treats in the front seat when I run into the store for something quick, and she's still just sitting quietly in the back when I return.

But lately, when we go on road trips, she gets worse and worse anxiety each time. Here she is hiding under the bed we put in the backseat to keep her comfy:
"The evil things won't find me under here!"

We've tried the Thundershirt...
"This Thundershirt works great! As long as you don't put me back in the car!"
...and Rescue Remedy drops, and those CDs of "calming" music for dogs. It's gotten so bad that the last time we were at the vet for her annual checkup, I mentioned it and he suggested trying Xanax. So on our last trip, we tried that. She still seemed pretty anxious - in fact that photo above is while on the Xanax, but she did finally curl up on her bed for part of the ride, and that was a first. (She never sleeps in the car! And rarely even lays down.)

So on our upcoming road trip (yes, we have another one planned!), I'm thinking we'll try a triple-whammy: Xanax + Thundershirt + this pheromone spray stuff I got.

I hate to give her drugs, but at least it's only a few times per year, and it did seem to help a bit.

My sis's dog Stella also has anxiety in the car - even for short trips to somewhere fun. Here she is looking very unhappy in the back seat before we took her to doggie daycare, which she loves!
"Are we there yet?" "Uh, no. We're still in the driveway."

What does your dog think about car rides?


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44 comments:

  1. Booker T loves car rides. He just stares at Dad to help him up though because he isn't able to jump in the back of Dad's new Kia. We are planning on getting him stairs or a ramp. Cassius unfortunately hasn't been in the car a lot and is a tad wild still. However, we bought him something I call his "carseat" where he is actually secured with the seatbelt with a harness he is wearing and after going to the park the past few weekends, I can say he is doing much better. Our hope is that he doesn't need it much longer. Tell Rita that Booker T has to take Xanax during bad thunderstorms and on 4th of July. It seems to help him some as well.

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    1. That's so cute when they just stand there and wait for you to help them up. Our beagle would do that with our bed - our bed used to be ridiculously tall.

      I'm glad Rita's not the only one who takes Xanax now and then. Luckily, she does fine with fireworks, and thunder only bothers her if we get caught out in it.

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  2. Both Roxy and Torrey do great in the car. Torrey sometimes gets a little antsy after several hours if we are on a long drive day, but we stop and get out and walk her a bit then she is good. Roxy just snoozes.

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    1. Yeah, we try to stop too so she can get out for a bit. Only she's still stressed after! That's great that Roxy just snoozes. Wish Rita would!

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  3. LOVES them! Of course it probably helps that I've had both boys from wee pups. Jimmy loves the car so much, when we have a thunderstorm, he likes to hide in there!

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    1. It's weird because we've had Rita since she was 7 months. She's always loved to hop in the car for a short ride to the beach or to run errands, but she's gotten progressively worse on the long rides. Actually - her first "long" car ride (which was only about 90 min) was terrible for her. We went away to the dessert for a few days shortly after getting her - and I'm pretty sure she thought we were going to drive her into the dessert and dump her, because she was watching out the window the whole time - it really seemed like she was memorizing the route so she could find her way home! Poor little anxious baby! (She was fine on the way home!)

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    2. First...I can't resist..... what dog wouldn't want the "dessert"? Sugar and all that! Now the "desert" is a whole other thing. So sorry, couldn't resist! (Two glasses of wine....need I say more?)

      Maybe on short rides, she feels fine, but as the trip wears on, she gets an upset belly. Does she drool on the longer rides?

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    3. Rita's really picky. She doesn't like dessert unless it's ice cream. ;)

      Ok, I am the worst speller! The hubs always proofreads for me. I always have to think "you go back for dessert twice..." but I forgot this time!

      Anyway, nope. No drooling. But if there's any kind of weird or loud noise, she starts shaking and tail-tucking. Cattle guards have been the worst thing with all three of our dogs!

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  4. Your poor baby. I wish you the best of luck on your upcoming car trip. I used to have a cat who got terribly anxious in the car. As long as I touched and spoke to her periodically she'd be ok, but it is rough when they feel so bad.

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    1. I wish talking to Rita and petting her would help. It IS rough when they feel bad - and you can't explain to them that there's nothing really to be afraid of!

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  5. My dogs are nervous when they first get into the car, but when they figure out that we are not going to the vet or groomer but someplace fun, they relax and have a good time.

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    1. I think Rita has learned the signs of a road trip, so it used to take her longer to realize we weren't just running errands/going somewhere fast/fun - now she starts getting nervous earlier into the ride, which is a bummer!

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  6. We all like them. Thankfully, never had any issues.

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    1. Lucky! I wonder if this is something that happened while Rita was in foster? Hopefully she'll start to get better and not just keep getting worse!

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  7. Hi Jackie. I understand how upsetting it must be for you to see Rita get so nervous during car rides. If you would like to try some all natural products for Rita, some products that you could try include Zylkene (http://www.helpforstressedpets.com/LearnAbout.aspx), Anxitane (http://www.virbacvet.com/products/detail/anxitane-l-theanine-chewable-tablets/behavioral-health), Composure (http://www.vetriscience.com/sellsheets/0900780.060.pdf), and aromatherapy with lavender. I plan to write a blog post about natural products for dogs with anxiety issues at some point in the future. But for now, I hope this helps.

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    1. Oh, yeah, Composure - that's another thing we tried. It didn't seem to make any difference at all. I'll look up the others. Thanks for the info!

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  8. Two of my dogs don't mind the car and two of them are not too fond of it. My Tank sits in the car the whole time crying even if we just ride down the road. Usually one of the children sit and pet him the whole time to calm him. I hate it is like that for him though.

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    1. I know what you mean - I hate that Rita gets so stressed too. Poor sweeties!

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  9. Stella looks completely crazy in that picture. Good grief.

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  10. Mabel gets very excited and barks and barks. It helps to have one of her most favorite chews to occupy her
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Mabel

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    1. That's good that her fave chew will distract her. We've tried giving Rita her toys/chews in the car, but she's NOT interested in the car. We can hardly get her to take a treat once she gets upset.

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  11. Oh, I'm sorry she's so anxious! I hope some of those remedies help. Our problem in the car is Leo barking at joggers and bikes out the window. We got a Calming Cap for that, but sometimes he takes it off. Tricksy bugger.

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    1. Oh, that is tricky of him. I've never tried one of those. Rita's problem seems to be more the sounds than any sights, so I don't think that would help in her case. (She HATES if we drive over bumps or those ridges on the edge of the highway - the ones that are supposed to wake you up if you fall asleep and drift? - OMD, she HATES those!)

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  12. Mine love car rides, dogs do develop anxiety as they get older to things that they had no problems with. You might want to try benedryl as well for a over the counter. If not of that stuff works there is prescription medication that helps. Good luck, sorry she doesn't like it.

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    1. I think we tried Benadryl once... can't remember. We've tried so many things! Maybe I'll try that though. Thanks for the advice!

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  13. Blueberry gets excited on rides, but not in a bad way. If she recognizes the route to the park or hiking spot, she will do this high-pitched whine a couple of times like "Step on it!".

    However, for 14 long years, my dog Shadow had vehicle anxiety. And she wasn't quiet about it. She would let out yelps and other noises THE ENTIRE TIME. Not fun on a 3 hour drive to our vacation spot. Oh - and she had anxiety when I would use the rest stop restroom and she was separated from me. I could actually hear her barking and howling while I was doing my business - it made me nervous and sometimes I took longer because I can't urinate under that kind of pressure! ;) I loved that dog fiercely - otherwise I don't think I could have handled all of that very well. It was just her style. Maybe if I had known then what I know now, I could have helped her through her anxieties better...

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    1. Rita does the same - when we go to her BFF's house, she starts doing this funny little whine when she realizes we're headed there.

      That's too funny about you not being able to do your biz at the rest stops. Poor Shadow! (I miss your blog! I miss seeing pics of Blueberry! Hope you're both doing well!)

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  14. The girls don't care much for the car either, but they have been some better lately. Cricket tries to find places to hide, but Sheba, though nervous, still just lies down (and doesn't move for the whole ride!). Luke was the only one that liked riding, but lately he's been more nervous too and we have no idea why. With 3 dogs they don't really travel with us, so I don't worry about it too much at this point.
    I wish I had an answer for Rita! We did try PL360 Anxiety Relief and that helped Cricket some, but not really the other 2.

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    1. When we had Stella in the car, she was trying to hide as well. I was in the passenger seat and she was totally trying to crawl under it - which made an interesting ride for me!

      We didn't have any luck with the PL360 unfortunately. Glad it helped some with Cricket.

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  15. I would be so bummed out if my dogs didn't like car rides! My dogs love car rides. Cooper's main objective in life is to try to get me to take him for a ride. Every morning, he "bugs" me, and tries to get me to take him somewhere. It's hilarious!

    One thing that Charlie gets bothered by is different pavement. As we are driving along, there are certain places in the road (we usually go to the same places repeatedly) where I know he's going to start whining or barking. The tires make a different sound when we are on those roads, and he does not like it.

    Did you maybe get a new car, or new tires or something? That could explain why she stresses out. Or, are you guys stressed out?! They pick up on our energy.

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    1. Nope, no stress. I love road trips! I did get a new car but that was 3 years ago and her problems started before that. And they just keep getting slightly worse each trip.

      Rita is the same though with the different roads. I've noticed the tires sometimes sound different on bridges, -and she hates that!

      That's so cute about Cooper!

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  16. Wow! You've got me baffled - not sure I can be of much help. Especially since this is a new phenom. Please keep us posted.

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    1. I'll let you guys know how the 3-pronged approach we're planning for the upcoming trip goes!

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  17. We chatted about this and my sister's tragic and fatal accident with an anxious dog in the back seat last month. I don't have any great suggestions for keeping Rita calm except to say crack the windows and then child lock them. We miss Skya every day....
    We are lucky Shasta loves riding in the car whether it is road trips or errands.

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    1. That story is haunting me! It breaks my heart and I'm now completely obsessive about checking and rechecking the safety lock on the window! (Which is a good thing.) Poor sweet Skya.

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  18. Strong drugs are hard on pet's livers so we opted for a homeopathic called Licks. It does a decent job, but now that we have a dog who has epileptic seizures who is on CBD oil, I plan to give that to Sam the next long car ride. Definitely makes a different, is not psycho active and helps dogs with anxiety. No script needed either and because there's no THC in it, no problems with being legal. 😇 Good luck!

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    1. Oh, I never heard of that. Off to Google it right now. Thanks for the tip!

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  19. Thank you for letting me know about FB page, but I"m really confused...What FB page am I on??? lol

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  20. hello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog hay poor rita!!! i am sorry she gits so nervus in the kar!!! i myself enjoy kar rides it is wen we git ware we ar going that i git all nervus abowt it and then i want to go home!!! but in the kar i am lokd up with mama and dada so that part is ok!!! ok bye

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    1. I wish I could explain to her that "locked up with mama and dada" in the car is nothing to worry about! Silly girl. I'm sorry you don't enjoy going new places, Dennis!

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  21. Bentley was never thrilled about car rides, which I thought was odd for a former hunting dog. I'm sure he had spent a lot of time coming and going from the duck-hunting grounds. His anxiety was never terrible, he was just antsy and sometimes looking a little car sick. But he always enjoyed being where ever we took him.

    I wonder if something happened on one of the car rides that triggered Rita's anxiety. Maybe she heard something that frightened her and now she associates the car with anxiety. I hope you can find something that helps calm her so she doesn't need drugs too often.

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    1. That's good that he wasn't too bad, and good that he enjoyed wherever you ended up.

      Ya know - I think it did start with a frightening noise. All of our dogs were terrified of driving over cattle guards. I think the first time we drove over one of those, that freaked Rita out really bad and since then it's been a noise that will set off her anxiety in the car - whether it's bumps in the road, or a huge rattling truck going by, or whatever. If only they made those noise-cancelling headphones for dogs!!

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