How the dog can travel relaxed in the car

Ideally, the dog will lie quietly in its crate in the boot while you are on the road together. But some four-legged friends can't relax: they bark, howl or whine. “This shows that the dog is under stress,” says psychologist Ralf Buchstaller, who has a doctorate in psychology, from the TÜV NORD Medical and Psychological Institute in Dortmund. However, the animal is not only suffering when it makes itself loudly noticeable. Other typical signs include restlessness, panting, drooling and vomiting.

About one in four dogs has shown signs of stress like these when traveling by car. About one in 15 four-legged friends experiences stress on every trip, according to a survey of around 900 dog owners in Italy. The likelihood is even four times as great if a dog was not properly accustomed to traveling by car as a puppy.

A study by the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna observed 18 beagles on their first car ride. At the start of the journey, the hearts of the four-legged friends beat faster and the level of the stress hormone cortisol rose in their saliva. The same thing happened on subsequent trips. The animals apparently did not get used to the unfamiliar situation on their own.

Getting to the bottom of the causes

But what can be done to help them? To find the right training method, experts such as dog trainer Martin Rütter first try to understand the dog better. Is he really afraid of riding in the car? Is it because it makes him feel sick? Or is he just very excited? Every behavioral problem is different and must be carefully analyzed, advise veterinarian Michael Erhard and his colleague Dorothea Döring-Schätzl from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in a specialist article.

First of all, physical causes must be ruled out. For example, the joints could hurt when getting in and out. Solution: attach a stable, flat ramp to the car and make an appointment with the vet. However, your four-legged friend could also suffer from motion sickness: some dogs are sensitive to any movement of the ground. Not feeding for an hour or two before the journey can help. It is also worth checking whether a fast driving style or loud music is contributing to the discomfort. In any case, you should stop at the first sign of vomiting and take a break.

Is your dog barking out of frustration or anticipation?

Another possible cause is excitement. Your dog may be overexcited because he is looking forward to the long walk that is often associated with a car journey. Dog trainers are familiar with this problem, especially with under-stimulated animals: they need more activity in their daily routine to start with. Then you can try to get them out of the habit of being excited.

TV coach Martin Rütter shows how to do this: you get in the car with your dog several times a day, just as if you were setting off on a trip. But then you don't drive off, but remain seated in the parked car until the dog has calmed down because he realizes that nothing is happening after all. This procedure should be repeated daily - until your four-legged friend relaxes immediately after getting in. Then comes the next stage: start the engine. And finally, drive a lap, but without anything exciting happening at the end of the tour.

Another problem that can be home-grown is barking out of frustration. “It may be that the dog is allowed to do a lot of its own deciding at home,” explains psychologist Ralf Buchstaller from TÜV NORD. “It hasn't learned that it has to wait sometimes.” If it is now banished to the back seat or the boot, it gives vent to its annoyance in a noisy fashion. As a rule, it gets attention for this, which makes the problem worse. When it comes to training, this means ignoring the dog for as long as it barks – and then praising it when it is quiet.

The situation is quite different when the dog makes a noise out of fear. There may be many reasons for this fear. It may associate the car with its first journey as a puppy, when it was separated from its mother and siblings and transported to its new home. Perhaps a trip to the vet was involved and he learned from that that car trips can end unpleasantly for him. Or he finds the wobbly floor scary and never had the opportunity to get used to it gradually.

In such cases, a method of behavioral therapy called systematic desensitization helps. “In this method, you gradually approach the dreaded situation,” explains Ralf Buchstaller. At the beginning, for example, you can play with the dog next to the parked car and let him get out of his transport box in the trunk a little. The next steps – staying in the box, leaving the engine running, driving off – only follow when the animal has mastered the previous step in a relaxed manner. It can therefore take a few weeks before the first short trip is possible. The training should always be designed so that the animal does not become anxious.
 

Teaching a puppy to travel by car

The same approach should be taken if you want to get a puppy used to traveling by car. Ideally, the breeder will have already done this. If not, it's best to start by familiarizing your four-legged friend with his future transport box in the comfort of your own home. You can do this by repeatedly throwing food into the box. If he remains relaxed in it, you can close the door briefly and then for longer. Next, the dog should be allowed to get to know the parked car from the outside and inside in peace. Then the box can be put in the car and food put in it to entice the animal to come in again. Finally, door flaps and engine noises are added – and the first short journey.

Here, too, Ralf Buchstaller's rule applies: only when the dog remains calm and relaxed during an exercise should the next level of difficulty be introduced. The psychologist also advises taking plenty of breaks at the beginning and walking a bit or playing a game: the movement reduces stress. “And after the first trip, the puppy should be allowed to rest to process the unfamiliar experiences.”