Dog suddenly doesn't like the car!?
Discussion
Hi,
My parents have a 10 year old Tibetan Terrier, Millie. She's a bit special needs & can't be left alone at all as she gets majorly stressed. She's been like this since they rescued her when she was 2. It's not really a problem as parents have both retired.
They bought a Caravan, mainly for Millie's benefit, so they can all go on Holiday's. However, in the last 6 months she has started getting very stressed in the car, panting, shaking, sitting up & never relaxing. In the past she's always been fine in the car, just lay down & goes to sleep.
Nothing obvious has happened, no bumps, near misses etc. It started out that she would only get like this every now & again but now it's every time they go on a decent journey & we're starting to get worried as it can't do her any good.
It does possibly seem to be speed related, i.e. on the Motorway but not always. She doesn't get sick, need the toilet (they stop very regularly) her eyes, ears, heart etc are all good according to the Vet.
She doesn't (or shouldn't) associate the car with anything bad as she's had no bad experiences & nearly all journeys end up with a walk for her,
Mum has bought her a thunder jacket (had to laugh at that) & tried rescue remedy but they seem to make little to no difference.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has heard of this & might have any ideas of what they can try to calm her down a bit.
Thanks muchly.
Ben
My parents have a 10 year old Tibetan Terrier, Millie. She's a bit special needs & can't be left alone at all as she gets majorly stressed. She's been like this since they rescued her when she was 2. It's not really a problem as parents have both retired.
They bought a Caravan, mainly for Millie's benefit, so they can all go on Holiday's. However, in the last 6 months she has started getting very stressed in the car, panting, shaking, sitting up & never relaxing. In the past she's always been fine in the car, just lay down & goes to sleep.
Nothing obvious has happened, no bumps, near misses etc. It started out that she would only get like this every now & again but now it's every time they go on a decent journey & we're starting to get worried as it can't do her any good.
It does possibly seem to be speed related, i.e. on the Motorway but not always. She doesn't get sick, need the toilet (they stop very regularly) her eyes, ears, heart etc are all good according to the Vet.
She doesn't (or shouldn't) associate the car with anything bad as she's had no bad experiences & nearly all journeys end up with a walk for her,
Mum has bought her a thunder jacket (had to laugh at that) & tried rescue remedy but they seem to make little to no difference.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has heard of this & might have any ideas of what they can try to calm her down a bit.
Thanks muchly.
Ben
Does she exhibit similar symptoms (panting, pacing, whining?) at any other time?
I only ask because one of my old dogs started behaving that way in the evenings as he got older, and the vet suggested that it was probably dementia.
You can get medications from the vet, but we used a natural supplement (Aktivait) which definitely helped him to settle.
I only ask because one of my old dogs started behaving that way in the evenings as he got older, and the vet suggested that it was probably dementia.
You can get medications from the vet, but we used a natural supplement (Aktivait) which definitely helped him to settle.
Our Westie used to be a bit restless in the car until we bought a car seat / bed for him. It hooks round the headrest, so it's high enough for him to see out of the window and it also straps round the seat back and clips onto the seatbelt, so it can't move. There is also a clip inside to hook onto his harness. He loves it as he has a nice secure, safe place. He can see both of us and he also has a view out. Although, as often as not, he'll be asleep within a few minutes !
Thanks for both the replies above, I will take both suggestions back to the parents, who will also be very grateful!
Re. the dementia suggestion, that had crossed my mind but she is behaving pretty normal outside of the car as far as I know. It's something to bear in mind though & I will mention it to my Mum later so she can keep an eye on her. I'll suggest getting some Aktivait too as it is worth a go.
Re. the car seat/bed, she did used to have a harness thing but she absolutely hated it so she's now not strapped in at all, which is bad we know. I will suggest my Mum tries it again though or looks at getting something else as Millie may have changed as she gets older, & my Mum is willing to give anything a go.
Thanks again for the replies, much appreciated
Ben
Re. the dementia suggestion, that had crossed my mind but she is behaving pretty normal outside of the car as far as I know. It's something to bear in mind though & I will mention it to my Mum later so she can keep an eye on her. I'll suggest getting some Aktivait too as it is worth a go.
Re. the car seat/bed, she did used to have a harness thing but she absolutely hated it so she's now not strapped in at all, which is bad we know. I will suggest my Mum tries it again though or looks at getting something else as Millie may have changed as she gets older, & my Mum is willing to give anything a go.
Thanks again for the replies, much appreciated
Ben
Blackpuddin said:
Our dog was absolutely fine in all our cars until we got a Volvo V50. She absolutely hated that. Now fine again in an old Merc estate.
Funnily enough, they did get an X3 3.0d just over a year ago, I said they should have got the M40i instead! But she was fine in that for 6 months or so. I am planning on taking her out for a ride in my car soon just to see what she's like.moorx said:
We used to get our Aktivait online from Viovet.
I would always recommend speaking to a vet first, though.
Passed on the information to Mum & she's going to have another chat with the Vet about Aktivait. They recommended the rescue remedy last time but hadn't mentioned Aktivait.I would always recommend speaking to a vet first, though.
Thanks for the replies.
Ben
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