# Car Journeys



## polly1harg (Jun 6, 2013)

Hello Everyone, 

Only me AGAIN... i hope you don't get bored of my worries and ranting... at least it gives me something to when Daisy is napping 

SOOO... next worry. 

The dreaded car!!

So the first time Daisy (as every other puppy) was in the car it was for an hour and it was the day these awful people took her away from her mum. She was also sick twice. She was quiet on the journey home and it was not until when we arrived home we realised she had been poorly. 

I then took her out in th car the next day to the shop and back approx 2 mins drive we placed her on the back seat harnessed in... we tried to treat her however she does not seemed to like treats in strange places. We drove to the shop and she cried all the way. She was shaking... tail between her legs. When we arrived and got out of the car we fussed her and told her what a good girl she is. I then carried her around the shop and she got fussed by the sales assistant. She looked so sorry for herself. On the drive home she did not cry but she was shaking and tail was again between her legs. again when we got out the car there was lots of fuss and when we got back into the house we played games and gave her lots of fuss and treats. 

We then later that day went out to the car and just sat her in it on the back seat we just put the engine on... turned it off again... me and Callum just talked positively to each other we then opened the door got out and back in again... we then drove up and down the drive... again when she came back into the house there was lots of praise. 

Today i have again gone to the shop. Same routine... as before. She again got fussed in the shop... she cried both trips... on the way back i went a little extra distance by another minuet or so... 

I think i am doing the correct thing... (please let me know if i am not) 

But my question is... how long do you think it will take for her to get used to the car... or a least not to cry. 

I am slightly worried as i am going to the vets tomorrow... its about a 20 mins drive there and back and its also a bad experience when she gets to the vets. What should i do for this journey? 

I will go out again in the car to pick up her daddy from work which will be a good exciting experience... its also around a 10 min drive there and 10 mins back... but Callum will fuss her when we get home which will hopefully help make her realise not all journeys are horrible. 

Any advise would be much appreciated... its horrible hearing her crying!! 

Also on friday i am going back to mum's for the weekend so its another 1 hour journey. Do i just grim and bear the long journeys with her crying? Will i make her hate the car even more by going on a long journey when she is not ready... however i really have to go home for a family event!! AGHH this is sooooooo hard!! 

Will it just get easier when she can go in the car and then have a long walk at the other end of the journey... until then do i just keep going with the short journeys and small amount of long journeys? 

Let me know what you think...

Thanks in advance for all the help!!


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## dio.ren (Jan 18, 2013)

Sorry to hear about your puppy car troubles. Molly does whine when she is in the car but I think it's cause she is in the back seat and she wants to be near us. It's like poor me whines.........after a bit she stops and is quiet. Is your puppy in the back or the front?? Maybe if she is in the back if you put her in the front so she is beside you. Take a toy to entertain her. She is still a baby so if you keep at it I am sure she will be a good traveller when she gets older. 

I am sure someone on here will have better advice


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## dmgalley (Aug 19, 2012)

I think some did just get nervous in the car. My mom is having s hard time with her poo penny. She is a year old. We have tried short trips, thunder shirt, front seat, back seat and medication. She shakes and drools a river. When we get where we are headed she gets runny poo give our six times and then she is fine. Until it is time to go home. Just know it is nothing you are doing wrong. 

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

I know this goes against the safety advice but just while your puppy is so small could you have her on your lap? This will give her so much comfort while she gets used to car travel. Obviously when she is a bit bigger and jumping around you will have to crate or harness but I think a cuddle and soothing stroking will help her realise tere is nothing to fear.
The treats won't work t the moment as she is stressed/ fearful, this will overide any wish to gobble food.
I would try on the lap for the vet journey. I hope that helps, it's how my dog got his travel legs and we have no problems now.


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## NikkiB (Jan 16, 2013)

Whenever we've been in car with Samson, one of us sits in back with him to cuddle him. He will pull away when he realizes we're walking to the car to get in, but finally after 8 months he jumped in by himself yesterday and quite happily lay down to sleep. I think it just takes a long time for them to realise it's not all bad.


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## Marzi (Sep 17, 2012)

Kiki used to cry very loudly in the car and would not settle. She got passed around from knee to knee, we tried holding her up so that she could see out of the window, or keeping her down in a box by my feet...
She just was incredibly noisy and stressed and it was painful on the ears to be in the same car with her... She was like this from when we brought her home - first car journey just over an hour and she finally fell asleep as we turned into our road....
We found that eventually it took her less time to shut up and go to sleep - but the first 20 - 30 minutes she was just noisy and frankly pretty horrible to be in an enclosed space with.
Short journeys she never got to the being quite bit.... 
Keep going, it will probably get better. Kiki now settles down really quickly. 
Grin and bear it. Have the windows open a bit so that there is air around the car. Put the radio on and sing along. Take towels to clear up if there is sick, pee or poop - try not to stress yourself out as she will pick up on it and it will make her feel worse.


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## Cat 53 (Aug 26, 2012)

Ah these Poos of ours! Max is fine in he car if its just him and me. If its the nitre family he shivers and drools the entire journey! I think you are doing the right thing. Try to go for matter-of-fact rather than worried or tense.


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## Muttley Brody (Feb 14, 2012)

I used a really tiny harness and a doggy seat belt to strap him in the front seat. Together with treats and toys, doggy blanket to lay on, that way he wasn't too far from me. Then progressively made him sit in the back when he got older.


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## Lexi&Beemer (May 5, 2013)

I put them in a booster that had attachments for their harnesses in the front seat (airbag off). I think it helped because they could curl up against the edge and see out too. They did much better in that than in the carrier. I also used a set playlist everytime they fell asleep in their crates on my iPad and would play the same playlist in the car. And by the second song, just like in their crates, they would be asleep. Now I've had them in the front seat without the booster (they are too big for it) and backseat with my niece sitting with them and they fall right asleep still. Being in the booster made it easier for me to reach them and soothe them when they got a little anxious. 

Also have you thought of either you or your OH giving oodles of affection to her while in a car. If its peaceful, calm in a car ride but after a car ride everyone fusses over her, it may be teaching her that the car ride is a boring space but out of the car is way more fun. 

Oh a side benefit of a booster early on, Beemer had a more difficult time holding it than Lexi and often when we had play dates they would drink more than usual but wasn't necessarily able to hold it. And a couple of times I stopped to get gas or drive thru and before we could make it home, he would pee. Luckily the booster contained all the pee so I just needed to wash/spray it down and not worry about the car seat.


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## flounder_1 (May 12, 2011)

Lolly hated the car at first too. I used a soft crate that I started by strapping into the front passenger seat so that she could see me. She would cry even in the small time it took me to shut her door and run round to the drivers side! After a while we moved her to the back seats with my children as company and then a long while after that she progressed to a crate in the boot.

What your doing with short journeys and lots of praise sounds good to me. Just keep doing that frequently and hopefully she'll soon get used to it.

Lolly can still shake sometimes and seem a bit uneasy on journeys but I'm not sure if that is nerves or excitement!


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## Kazd (Apr 21, 2013)

If I am on my own Louis sits in the front seat. I have an easi dog harness and it comes with a strap that you feed the seatbelt through. This hold them close to the seat but I mainly use the seatbelt clip that I bought from PAH but I have it short so he can't jump down but can either sit up or lie down. I found the one that came with the harness to restrictive.


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## MillieDog (Jun 1, 2011)

I think you're definitely on the right lines. Its all about making the journeys short to start with and where possible a lovely arrival. The idea is they will identify car journeys as something nice is about to happen.

I started Millie on the passenger seat next to me, in a soft crate. She could see me by her side and I had the crate flap on the side open so I could touch her. After a week or so, we moved her to the back seat diagonally opposite to me, with someone sitting next to her. 

Nowadays I don't use the soft crate, she has the back to largely to herself.


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## Daisydaisy (Jul 4, 2013)

Maybe have some play sessions in the car too? It sounds like there is a lot of good advice already stated. We were horrible and had her up front. I took the bed that she loved and put it up on the front seat next to me. Now when my husband is with me, she is content to sit on that! I also wanted you to know this puppy thing is TOTALLY hard and reading your questions makes me feel less alone in my worries about my Daisy!


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## polly1harg (Jun 6, 2013)

*Getting somewhere...*

Hello Everyone, 

Thanks for you kind words and advise as always it has helped me massively. I went in the car to pick her Daddy up and tried her on the front seat sat on her bed covered with her blanket and harnessed in. She was 100 times better. She was still obviously nervous... but she did cry... she had a tiny whimper once but that was it. When we met Daddy he fussed her and then had her on his knee on the way home... its funny she seemed better on the journey there then on the way back. She almost looked inquisitive. 

The moral of the journey i have found is... DO WHATS BEST FOR YOU! Try different things and go with what works. I never would have thought that i would allow Daisy to be on the front seat but it works so why not. In a week or two i will progress to the back seat but for now she was enjoy sitting SHOTGUN!!


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## markt3857 (Apr 20, 2013)

Hi 

We've had problems with Marcie in the car too. We drove to Norfolk for 4 days last week and it was a 2 1/2 drive so we were dreading it as she barked and cried up till then. But it appears to have done the trick somehow

She may still occassionally bark but its not continuos like it was. She is in the crate at the back with our elder one who has never been a problem

We were told that to get them used to the car is to drive a short way to a park often so they associate it with a nice thing. Sounds feasible?


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