Riding in the Car

[Kate]

I have had lots of trouble in the car with my puppy. When I first started taking her she would poop not once but twice!!! I then got her a little car seat that hooked her in and she didn't go to the bathroom but cried and cried. I had to go out of town and I gave her benadryl and all that did was zone her out. This weekend I have to take another long trip (2-1/2 hours) with her and got some dramamine for the trip. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I just can't believe I got a dog that doesn't like to ride in the car. I've always had dogs that just loved to go with me. I can't help but say that I'm more than a little disappointed that she doesn't like to go. Maybe she will grow out of it, do you think?

[Eliz222]

My two LOVE to ride in the car! In fact, when we are in the garage and have to get something out of the car, they jump right in!

We had a dog that we rescued from a shelter that HATED to ride in cars! I think she thought that a car ride meant going to the vet. She wouldn't poo in the car, but she would shake horribly! I started taking her on short rides in the car. At first I only rode around the block. After a week or so, I started taking her with me every day when I picked my son up from school. This was only about 2 miles away, but we did it almost every day. She ended up LOVING car rides! She was a medium sized dog and loved to hang her head out the window and let the wind blow through her hair...god, I miss that dog!

I hope you find something that works for you. Have you asked your vet what her/his recommends?

[Kate]

Shoe,

Thanks for the advice. The trainer at "puppy school" said to put her in the car and just sit there, then try short rides, etc. Well, I put her in the car just to sit and she both peed and pooped!!! How frustrating, not to mention the mess. I now have double beach towels in my back seat and front seat, in addition to her car seat. Worse than having a baby!!!

[Carolinasmom]

Carolina has never liked the car unless the windows are down. Then she is perfectly happy. If the windows are up and we get on a busy street she gets very nervous. We have taken her on a 9 hr. trip to Iowa and what a basketcase. Won't sit down, pants and paces, the ENTIRE time!

Now this dog has been traveling in the car almost daily since the day I bought her home. I don't know what it is. I have started putting her in the cat's kennel cage whenever I take her anywhere now...it's small but she fits. Once in awhile she'll claw at the door but she is beginning to settle down. I don't know what it is. She willingly gets in but once we get on a busy street she's a nut.

[Mama Kim]

Up until recently, Piper has always gotten car sick. After Lucy, who loved to go 'bye bye in the car', this was a shock. We take two long car trips every year, 16 hours to Wisconsin, 13 hours to Long Island, so it was torture taking her. On our second trip last summer, we finally resorted to tranquilizers. But since then, we've increased our number of trips with her (short trips) and she's gotten somewhat used to the car. I wouldn't say she loves it yet, but she's not afraid any more, and doesn't throw up now. Plus I try to keep her in the front seat. She seems to do better in the front. Like you, I was so dismayed to have a dog who didn't like the car, but I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. BTW, Piper will be two in April.

[Toto times 2]

I am so lucky both the boys adore car riding. When we picked up Ghillie when he was a pup I knew I had a laid back dog because he just lay upside down on my lap for the trip. Smokey, too, likes the car but has to sit on the passenger in the front while Ghillie prefers the back and often sleeps for the whole trip.

[fancypants]

My Emma sounds just like Carolina - she will not relax in the car. She seems to like it and willingly gets in, and never made a mess but she won't sit. Once we took a 14 hour trip with her and she stood up the entire way - really bizarre! And like someone else mentioned, in traffic,she gets really frantic and wants to sit in my lap while I'm driving which I do not like at all!

[Jazz's mom]

Jazz loves to ride but she also likes to bein my lap. I think she is comfortable there. She is getting better aabout not being in my lap but she is also 7 months old. We go to get the kids at school and a lot of fun short rides. She gets so excited to see the kids i think it makes her enjoy the ride more.

Now she will sit on the console and look out the window from there most of the time.

[kerry]

Does someone hold her on their lap?

[Scully'sMom]

Scully LOVES the car. If you ask her if she wants to either go in the car or go for a ride - BAM, she runs like there's no tomorrow!

[Marmielin]

Tink loves to ride in the car. We bought a car seat and she likes that as long as I don't have her seatbelted into it. When she is belted in, she chews the straps. She also likes to get in the back window and look out when she isn't buckled in, but since that is dangerous I try to discourage that behavior. Try to reason with a Cairn...

Lindab

[bradl]

A bowling ball typically weighs 14-16 pounds. When I think about a loose bowling ball floating around my car during an accident, I feel better about putting my dogs in a crate in the back for car trips, where they can nap safely.

[ballast]

One of our Welsh Terriers loved to ride in the car - would jump in at the drop of a hat. But he would shake violently the whole time the care was moving. We had the vet give us some tranquilizers for a long trip, but they had absolutely no effect... until we got to our destination - then he zonked out and slept for 14 hours. After that we just let him shake. He was like that till he died at 14.

Ballast

[Guest pam]

Hi, I haven't had occasion to take my Cairn and Westie on long trips. Instead, we deal with trips to vet and to lady who sometimes boards them. She is 30 miles away by freeway. They like the car okay; nobody gets sick or anything, and they always jump right in. Both of them are older dogs that I got from rescue, so I don't know if what type of training they may have received to be comfortable in cars. However, this is the experience I have with them: while Pepper (Cairn) is perfectly comfortable sitting in the passenger seat, Henry (Westie) wants to wander, which includes trying to wander around brake/accelerator area.

So I do this compromise for our short trips, if I have to take both dogs. Pepper sits in passenger seat with me holding his leash to keep some control over his movement. Henry gets crated in the back seat, which he hates. And he lets me know about it all the way across town. I really do agree with Bradl in that I feel best with the dog crated in the back. It has to be safer.

Pam (Pepandfriend's mom)

[Guest girliejr]

Jack loves to go "bye-bye" in the car. The only problem is he thinks he has to ride in my lap!! I have tried everything to get that dog to sit in the other seat, he crawls over to my lap (or worse yet, jumps into my lap causing me to swerve the wheel). I even bought him a dog car seat and fastened him in it. That didn't work either. He cried and whined (I can live with that) but one day he tried to jump out of it and was almost "hanging" himself!! Needless to say, we didn't use the car seat anymore.

I finally gave up and let him ride in my lap. If we were going far, I would put him in his kennel in the car, but on short rides, he wins! I give up!

[Fiamma]

Skeeter loves to go "bye-bye" in the car. I will do like girliejr does...my cairn will go in my lap for short periods of time and in the kennel for long trips. I was lucky that from the beggining I didn't had any problems with him.

My dh and I had a funny situation (not at that time) with our cairn and his first...and second trip.

When we went to the breeder's house to pick up Skeeter and take him home we drove about 2 1/2 hrs to get there and, of course, 2 1/2 hours returning back home.

Skeeter didn't complained when we were driving back home. He was not even whinning and I couldn't be prouder. The funny part is when we get home and with all the excitement I realized that I left my purse in the breeder's house!!!

Needless to say that we had to drive back the next day a total of 5 hours with Skeeter (2 1/2 to go and 2 1/2 to return). I know we were supposed to introduce him to car rides little by little but it appears that he didn't suffered any bad consequence for that. On the contrary, I think that helped him get used to car rides...immediately.

[kayharley]

Winnie is a dream in a car, Madison wears a harness and is secured in the back seat where she cries and whines and tries to jump around. Elliott also is restrained but he's good...will usually just lie down.

[hallswel]

My dogs love to "go for a ride". I have a jeep liberty and I have the wire mesh and my dad made a shel so they would sit up higher. The shelf fixes it where they can see out. It is really cool, and when I get grocerys I have double the space to put things, and it gives me a place to keep extra doggie stuff like water, treats, etc.

[Kate]

Well, I took a little "practice" trip last night and put Mila in the back seat. We weren't 1/2 mile down the road and I started to smell something - yes, she did it again! I have a little small dog car seat I bought at PetSmart that you can hook her into and that is where she is going tomorrow when I make my trip. Hopefully, I won't have 2 hours of hearing her cry and try to strain herself to get out of her "seat". Wish me luck.

[GIDGETSMOM]

Gidget loves to go for rides. I always put her in her crate and sit her in the back seat when we go somewhere, but one night a couple of weeks ago I decided I'd run to Taco Bell to pick up a bite for supper. I took Gidg with me and placed her in the passenger seat without her crate. To my surprise she was perfect! She actually layed down and was very happy to be there. I was afraid she would be a terror outside her crate, but I couldn't have asked her to be a more perfect passenger. Needless to say, she got lots of attention at the drive thru and they got lots of barks and growls.

[Apollo8it]

Apollo has learned all of our verbal and non-verbal communication signals. He LOVES to go for a ride in the car. Once he is in the car, he has to check out everything, then he settles down quite nicely. The only things that excite him are other dogs and motorcycles. With motorcycles, he sounds like he is going to tear the door down and with dogs, he makes these soft wroof,wroof,wroof sounds that has us giggling. We think he is saying, "Look at me, I'm cruising". Apollo definitely knows his landmarks. He knows the vets, petsmart, etc. The funniest was the Sunrise exit off the Florida Turnpike this past December. We think he knew he was going to get to play with his Chocolate Lab cousin.

[Binx75075]

Frisky loves to go in the car. He loves it when I roll down my windows and open the sunroof. I think he loves the feeling of wind in his face.

[Bekah]

Did somebody say "bye-bye car?!?"

[Kate]

What a cute picture - I wish Mila would do that. When she sees the car she backs up! Last weekend we went on a 2 hour ride, DH, me and Mila. I held her all of the way, but once we got on curvy roads she started slobbering all over the place. I think she just gets car sick. Hopefully she will grow out of it.

[ParNone]

My 2 Cairns were absolute joys in the car. I lived in Las Cruces for a couple of years and would make the 14 hour drive back home to SouthEast Texas to visit family and friends about every 3 months, with Murph and Maddie in a lil' 2 door Rav 4. The back was full of traveling stuff so no room for them and their crates. They traveled all that way with both of'em in the front passenger seat. They'd sleep until they felt the car slow down. Then they'd be up and looking out the window, knowing they were fixin' to get out and explore a lil'.

But I did have problems with car sickness with my Collie as puppy. He did the whole droolin', throwin' up thing. Two times of that and I talked to the vet about it and his view was we needed to stop the behavior before it became a habit. So he gave me some pills to give him, 30 mins before we'd leave anywhere in the car, to calm him down. I also would not give Oz any food, 5 hours before hand. He never threw up in the car again after that. With each success in the car, I would reduce down the size of the pill. Within 2 months, he was off the pills and happy as a lark to be going in the car. He's since traveled as long as 12 hours in the car, without issue.

Les...