Whining, prancing terrier/maltese traveler - help please

Thank you so much for the responses. I will pass them on.

Code2High wrote:
Having nearly lost control of my vehicle in the fast lane of a major freeway, due to a foster acting up years ago, I am not a fan of using traditional corrections while driving alone...which is usually how I drive.

Ahhhh... I forgot to mention that I already had the leash in hand, and had the rear-view mirror pointed down-and-backwards ;-) All I had to do was bring my hand forward, quickly ;-)

Having nearly lost control of my vehicle in the fast lane of a major freeway, due to a foster acting up years ago, I am not a fan of using traditional corrections while driving alone...which is usually how I drive. I use the brakes instead. I take my new dogs out alone on a quiet stretch of road and they learn that standing up causes the vehicle to slow suddenly and throw them a little off balance.

Once the lesson is learned a little tap on the brakes is all it takes to remind them, and that is rarely needed. I have had others use this method as well to good effect. It is especially useful for the barking and lunging. So hard to be a bad-ass when you are busy figuring out how to stay standing up!

Still, for a tiny, nervous dog that may be a bit much for dog or owners and if he is afraid, reconditioning is a better plan.

Or there's "Down. Stay." My daughter's Bernese Mtn Dog/Standard Poodle mix is an idiot in the car. I don't remember why she needed me to pick him up from the groomer - but she warned me about the pacing and carrying on (like to lunge at cars passing in the opposite lane). As I grabbed a leash, I also grabbed a steel choke collar. Put him in the back of my SUV with the seats folded down, and we started to head home. The moment he started to pace, I gave him a quick snap of the leash and told him to lay down. He did, briefly...then jumped up to lunge at a passing truck. That's when I gave the collar a good crack and said LAY DOWN in my command voice - and he didn't budge the rest of the way :-)

So there's lots of options....LOL!!

With that said, they can try crating, RR, L-tryptophan (there are calming tabs made for dogs that could be given as chewables) pheremone spray, lavender essential oil and a few other things that can be tried short of actually drugging the dog.

What all of those things would tend to do is change the dog's state of mind and hopefully, break the association/conditioning with anxiety that has developed during travel for this particular dog.

The other side to that equation is to use a behavioral approach to condition in a new association where the dog feels safe and comfortable in the vehicle on the road.

You would start such a process with a simple game of "jump in the vehicle and get a treat, then jump out!" Make it very FUN. Yes, this will be easy as the dog likes that part, and it's fine. Make sure he gets the "game" before moving on and having him sit for a minute in the vehicle, then get a treat. Extend the time slowly, remembering that you aren't looking to change behavior at this stage, but association. So the goal is more repetitions. Keep sessions short.... five or ten minutes, once or twice a day, and give small bits of something the dog really likes.

As the time is extended and the dog remains comfortable, they can spend a little time hanging out, maybe have a cup of coffee and talk, read, feed the dog and so on.

Then... wait for it.... light up the vehicle and go back to square one with it parked and idling and do the same process again, until the dog is comfortable and relaxed sitting in the vehicle parked and idling.

If they wish to use a crate and the pup is crate trained, the crate should be worked into the exercises from the get-go. If the pup isn't crate trained, that's going to be a lot to learn all at once. Could be done but will take more time. Using a car harness and tether would be another way to enhance safety (keeps dog out of way, restrains dog in some accidents) and give the dog a more specific place to be in the truck, which is a good thing.

Once the pup is comfortable hanging out in his "spot" in the truck, parked at an idle, start moving it, but only a few feet. In, settle down, start truck, move back ten feet, treats, relax, then forward, then stop and give treats. Have a little party. Lather, rinse, repeat. Once that's all good, a little way down the block. But remember, the goal is to stop SHORT OF causing any nervous reaction. NOT to "work through it" but to erase it from the programming by making something else happen every time (dog has fun, feels relaxed) until the old programming is written over.

Then take a trip somewhere close and fun, like the park. Treats, play, etc. Home... more treats, play....

Then short but increasing trips around town.

They're talking about the RR pastilles, not the RR spray or drops. Pastilles are made to eat like candy, and aren't anything you ought to be giving to a dog, as they have sort of a hard gummy texture.

Our Boston enjoys the camping, but not the trip as well. She does much better when crated, but it is hard to get her out of it. A crate works fine when traveling if they are used to it already.

rockhillmanor - I was not aware of the xylitol in the rescue remedy. I checked my bottle and it is not listed in the ingredients. If it's in, is it clearly listed as an ingredient? Thanks.

X10 on the dog traveling in a crate.

IMHO drugging dogs should not be an option and that goes for 'natural' remedies also. Everyone is too quick to drug instead of taking the time to acclimiate or find which way works best for the DOG not the owners.

99.99% of the Rescue Remedy out there has Xylitol in it as have many others taken to adding this to natural remedies so it tastes better.:R


""...Xylitol: It takes only a little of this toxin to send a dog into hypoglycemia-induced seizures, and just a little bit more to bring on liver failure.""

""......Not so with the newest loser product to adopt Xylitol: Rescue Remedy. Though its other products have reportedly not yet been tainted by this sweetener’s potentially dog-toxic effects, I can no longer trust the manufacturer to keep its products Xylitol free without fair warning.

Thanks for this news goes to Nancy Freedman-Smith of the Gooddogz blog. Her personal experience with Rescue Remedy pastille poisoning led her to call for a boycott on all its products until the manufacturer rescinds its use of Xylitol or applies warning labels to its products.....""

I use a soft crate with mesh sides for my dog, who is a hyper traveler, too. A Thundershirt seems to keep him calm--works better than sedatives.