Traveling in the car can be an exciting adventure for dogs. While many dogs enjoy car rides, there are those who want nothing to do with the car or even those who experience motion sickness.
The difference of fear of cars and motion sickness is evident before even getting into the car. If a dog exhibits a fear of cars, it was appear anxious before the car starts or even before getting in. If the dog is frightened refusal to get in, panting, salivating, scratching at the door or similar symptoms may indicate a fear, not motion sickness.
To contend with the fear of cars, begin by working on basic obedience commands with your dog. Such commands as heel, sit and down are beneficial for this particular exercise. By using these commands during the acclimation period, the dog is likely to be more at ease.
The process involved in training the dog to ride in the car can be easy or difficult depending on the dog. While some dogs may overcome the fear within a couple training sessions, other dogs may need additional training. The key is to remember that the dog thinks of this as a big undertaking, although you may not think the same.
Starting with both the passenger's side and driver's side car doors open, practice heeling your dog through one side and out the other. Once complete, praise the dog. After this task has been mastered with little difficulty, practice getting into the car and just sitting together for two minutes. If your dog is feeling afraid, let the dog be. By petting the dog you reinforce praise for being anxious rather than soothing the dog's fears. Rather than petting tell the dog "no," "sit" or "down" along with praise to follow. Once the dog sits with little difficulty, progress to shutting the doors and turning on the car, but not moving. Gradually get to the point where driving one block is acceptable and so on.
Another way to combat fear is to make sure that not all car trips are to the vet or groomer. By making car trips to fun places such as the park, the bank drive-thru or to the pet supply store this reinforces in the dog that not all car trips are bad.
If your dog suffers from motion sickness rather than fear, you could still do the above exercises. In addition, be sure not to feed or water your dog for two hours before your trip. Having your dog sit on the floor of the car rather than up on the seat can sometimes help, and be sure to keep a window open a little for fresh air. If you have a very long road trip planned, and you’ve already done the training exercises, you may want to speak with your veterinarian about whether medication would be appropriate.
