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Anxious Dogs In Cars? Guide to Blissful Road Trips

Are you part of the 37% of people who drive with anxious dogs in cars? It can be frustrating to have a pup with anxiety on a car ride, but there are tricks to calm your fur friend. 

Traveling with a dog who’s got anxiety or worse motion sickness can be stressful. If this is your reality, you even debate about leaving your fur kid home or kenneling him rather than dealing with the car issues. Don’t give up. There are solutions. 

Today, we’ll dig into how you can make your next car trip with your dog calmer. While many of these tricks will work at home with issues like separation anxiety, we will only focus on reducing dog anxiety for a car journey. 

a cute lets the sun shine on his face in the back seat of a car as his mom learned how to calm anxious dogs in cars
disclaimer note

What causes dog car anxiety?

There could be many reasons why your dog suffers anxiety in your car. Some could be due to dog breeds. Yes, unfortunately, certain breeds are more prone to challenges when traveling. These breeds include:

Beagle

Boxers

Border terrier

Border collie

Bulldog

Dachshund

Golden Retriever

Labrador Retriever

Pug

Staffordshire Bull Terrier

However, any breed can suffer from dog car sickness or be anxious in cars. Other issues which may contribute to your dog’s car restlessness can include:

Feeling trapped

Motion of the car moving

Sound of the car, passing cars, or loud noises

Not being able to see out

Sound of the car door shutting

Jiggling of car keys

Car scent

Inner ear infection

Past traumatic negative experiences related to a vehicle, such as a car accident

What are the symptoms of travel anxiety in dogs?

a white dog is part of the anxious dogs in cars as she pants in the back seat of a car waiting to go for a car ride

If you have an anxious dog while on a road trip, you may notice such symptoms as:

Panting

Excessive drooling

Yawning

Chewing

Not being able to sit

Whining

Barking

Growling

Licking paws

Shaking or trembling

Digging into car seat or kennel

Vomiting

How can I tell if my dog has carsickness?

a dog looks out the back of the car as he's one of many anxious dogs in cars

While anxiety may include carsickness, it doesn’t necessarily. These symptoms can include:

Excessively licking lips

Drooling

Whining

Panting

Defecating

Urinating

Vomiting

How do I discover the root cause of my dog’s anxiety while traveling?

You may not be able to pinpoint the exact cause without help from an animal behaviorist. However, you can certainly identify factors that make your dog’s anxiety worse. 

For example, if the weather is bad and I need to turn on my windshield wipers, my dog, Henry will get more anxious. Thus, I know the noise and weather are triggers for him. 

What are the effective ways to calm anxious dogs in cars?

a little dog is secured in a crate and the back seat of a car as a she is part of the many anxious dogs in cars

Your dog may respond differently to different remedies. However, here are some ideas that have helped my dog and other dogs significantly.

Exercise your dog prior to departure. This will help release excess energy.

Feed your dog at least 1-2 hours before you leave in your car. This will reduce vomiting.

Use a cooling vest. When your dog is anxious, his temperature increases. So, keeping him cooler is a good starting point.

Secure your dog while traveling. Make sure you use a dog seat belt to ensure your pup is safely secure in your car seat. This can help prevent your furry friend from being ejected if there’s a car accident. 

Also, securing your dog is required while traveling in many locations. You can do this with a safety leash or with a traveling crate or kennel

Note: I highly recommend a dog harness to use with your dog seat belt.

Heartbeat dog toys are a game changer. Admittedly, I was uncertain of this idea, especially since Henry doesn’t like toys. But the sound helps to calm him. I place it near him, he’ll calm down, and often nap.

Use a calming aid. Finding a supplement that can help calm and reduce your dog’s stress while on a care journey is a major benefit. I give Henry these calm mushroom treats (which he loves) about 30-60 minutes before we leave on a trip.

Shady spot. If at all possible keep your dog in a shady spot within your car. This will keep your dog’s temperature down and calmer. 

Talk calmly. Throughout the trip, continue to talk calmly to your dog. This helps to reassure your pup. 

Keep the air flowing. Allowing your dog to stay cool is essential for motion sickness and anxiety issues. Cool air will help. 

Give your dog the ability to see out. This simple trick can help tremendously for dogs with anxiety and carsickness. Heck, it helps with humans and carsickness. 

Laying down is also good. Giving your dog enough room to lie down will help as well. For example, my dog will lie down and sleep for an hour or so. 

Calm music. Playing some kind of calm music can help as well. It’s the soothing beats that help. With this in mind, steer clear of music with big booming beats or is overly loud. This can amp up anxiety. 

What else can help with car anxiety in dogs?

First, keep in mind that you are driving with an anxious pup. So, drive carefully. Remember how careful you drove when you took your driving test? Drive that way. 

To help, imagine there’s a box of eggs on your hood and you can’t drop them. That means no quick stops or abrupt turns. 

The bonus is if you have a car insurance app, you may see your premiums decrease as your driving improves. 

Desensitizing

a puppy gets used to riding in the car and not be scared

The idea of turning your dog from a scaredy cat to a zen pup in the car, is making the car ride a positive association. This means desensitizing your dog to car anxiety with short 5-10 minute trips around the block or to the dog park. Then slowly build up as the anxiety decreases. However, reward calmer behavior with treats and loves. 

Positive reinforcement

Building on the idea of desensitizing is positive reinforcement. If your dog doesn’t suffer from carsickness, at least vomiting, then offer your pup a treat with each successful step. 

For example, sitting in the car rather than standing should be rewarded. Not whining deserves a reward. Not panting also should warrant rewarding. 

Basically, when your dog can go a short distance, even to the end of the driveway without exhibiting signs of anxiety he should be rewarded. You can give your furry buddy treats but don’t forget loving pets and a happy-toned and encouraging voice as well. This is how you help your furry companion with behavior modification.

This strategy will let your dog know that car travel is a good thing and has a positive association with a car ride. 

Stop frequently

Henry goes for a short walk after a car ride
Henry goes for a short walk after a car ride.

Also, you will still want to stop frequently to let your dog walk, have a potty break, and know that the ride isn’t endless. I like to stop about every hour. The bonus with stopping more is that your body doesn’t hurt as much when you arrive at your destination. 

Water is important

Every time you stop encourage your dog to drink a bit of water. Dehydration can cause your dog to exhibit other signs of sickness that you want to avoid. 

Note: Some dogs do well with anxiety shirts like Thundershirt. But honestly, a cooling vest, heartbeat toy, and calm aid do the trick for Henry. 

Is there a money saving to calming my anxious dogs in cars?

This one may surprise you but yes, there are money benefits for helping your dog with car anxiety or carsickness. Consider the following for a moment:

IssueApproximate cost
Not boarding your dog while on vacation$25 – 85/per night
Pet sitting$23 – 74/per visit
Dog-walker$20 – 30/per walk
Cleaning your car with vomit, urine,  or feces$200 – 350
Not worrying about your dog while on vacationBEYOND WORDS!!!
Having a calm traveling buddy with good pet healthPRICELESS!!!

Related posts:

Goodbye Anxious Dogs in Cars, Hello Fun Furry Adventures!

Unfortunately, anxious dogs in cars and even dog car sickness are relatively common. But how you help your best furry buddy deal with it is not so common. 

For example, you may find that just one of these tricks such as desensitizing your dog or a calm mushroom treat will be all that’s needed. However, you may need to experiment with finding the correct combination of these tricks for your dog. 

But, if you continue to have issues, then consult your veterinarian or an animal behavior specialist for assistance. As for Henry, the combination that works well for him is being able to see out, being secure, stopping frequently, staying hydrated, having a cooling vest on, keeping the fan or A/C, his heartbeat toy, and a calm mushroom treat. Knowing the traveling tricks for your pup can make your adventures a lot more fun. 

a husky dog naps in the car and is no longer considered one of the anxious dogs in cars

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About Terri Rodefer

Terri Rodefer is the founder of Tail Wag Wisdom, a blog focused on affordable pet care. She likes to say helping pet parents afford and love their animals even more, makes her tail wag. As a lifelong lover of all animals with a background in economics, biology, and marketing, allows Terri to bring a unique spin to pet care. 

12 thoughts on “Anxious Dogs In Cars? Guide to Blissful Road Trips”

  1. So many great tips, I hope dog parents will give some or all of them a try. It’s so sad when the family is out having fun and the dog is left behind.

    Reply
  2. Stopping frequently is something I had not thought of. But it makes sense as they realise that they are not going to be in the terrible box forever!

    I had not thought to consult an animal behaviourist though. THAT is an inspired idea. Get to the root of the problem and you have a much happier dog in a car – right?

    Reply
  3. All but two of our dogs are nervous riders. We have had luck with calming aids and desensitization. It can take awhile but it’s worth it! Great suggestions!

    Reply
  4. I am still training Nili to go in a car, I think it triggers in her her rescue, going from foster to my house which was a long drive although she was in an expandable carrier which gives her lots of space so am doing it slow here, one adventure at a time till she relaxes and gets used to it. I am also training her at the moment to sit in a back pack and travel on the bus with me. Great ideas and in time it will fall into place, your Henry is the perfect example and deserves lots of cookies 🙂

    Reply
    • Oh, poor Nili! She’s had a lot to learn in a short amount of time. I’m certain she’ll get the hang of car rides and settle down. Henry says he agrees that he deserves lots of cookies. He says Nili does as well.

      Reply
  5. This is a great article! Another thing to consider, dogs who were previously fine with car rides may suddenly develop anxiety later in life as a senior. I took my 14 year old to the vet because she suddenly and randomly became anxious–but apparently senior dogs can develop anxiety.

    She has some happy pills now which make it all better. 🙂

    Reply
    • Oh my! That is a great acknowledgment that seniors may have more issues with riding in the car. I’ll have to do an update and include this as well. Thanks!

      Reply
  6. All excellent tips, as always, Terri! I was very fortunate that my Huskies loved car rides! Harley was such a pro at traveling, and Gibson was a wonderful passenger. While they loved going for a, my pupsters were always a little too excited – LOL! I do think they were desensitized since we started them in the car from puppies, and they always knew there was a quick stop for some McD’s vanilla ice cream! I do know some folks whose dogs who get anxious in the car, and it is so much more enjoyable, and safer, when they enjoy the ride. Otherwise, it can be stressful for both the dog and its human.

    The tip about not feeding right before is such a good one, as is the safety belt. We never left home without seat belts. I love your desensitization training recommendation. Slow and easy is always such a good way to go.

    So many great tips here. I’m sharing with all of my readers.

    Reply
    • Thanks, Dorothy! Yes, slow and easy with lots of reassurances always is best. You were smart to start your five from pups riding in the car. I bet they really did love it, especially with the yummy treat! Thanks for sharing and for your continued support!

      Reply

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