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Dog's car anxiety

499 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  jstig88 
#1 ·
Hello,
I have a 1.5 year old Australian Shepherd/Pit Bull mix. She's super smart and also has a lot of energy. We've had her since she was 4 months old, and unfortunately about after a month of being with us, I was rear ended with her in the car. Thankfully there were no injuries, just an extremely traumatic experience for her at such a young age. Since then she has extreme anxiety on car rides. We have been in the car several times a week every week since then. Aside from the (very) occasional trip to the vet, we only go places she loves (daycare, park, visiting family).

I have tried all of the standard techniques for trying to reintroduce her to the car in a positive way. She shakes as soon as she knows she's going in the car, but she willingly goes into it. So I don't need to lure her to the car. Once she's in the car, I reward her with lots of treats. Sometimes she takes them and sometimes she doesn't. She also has a blanket and a stuffed toy, and I fill a Kong for her. She shows very little interest in them, but outside of the car those are some of her favorite items. When she's in the car, she shakes, her tail is down, she pants and sometimes whines. She almost always stands and paces back and forth. She does a little better when the window is open, which makes me wonder if she has some claustrophobia. She does fine in a crate at home though. I've also tried sitting with her in the car with the doors open, and she seems to freak out even more.

So it's been over a year since the accident, and over a year of me trying several techniques and I'm running out of ideas. We've also worked with her trainer a bit on this, and still haven't gotten anywhere. Her trainer also suggested the Adaptil products, so I tried both the collar and the spray and had no luck. I feel so bad for her, but unfortunately we can't avoid the car completely. Since she's so energetic, daycare is one of the biggest outlets for her.

So I'm wondering if anyone has any "out-of-the-box" suggestions? I'll try anything except for prescription medication.
 
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#2 ·
Just going to throw this out there for you to consider. I have had good results with using CBD oil (human grade/ NO THC) for treating anxiety issues in my dogs - a reactive lab mix and a border collie, who doesn't like car rides. It can be given on regular schedule or on an 'as needed' basis (for example: about an hour before a car ride).

Something else to consider is using a 'Thundershirt' ( a snug fitting t-shirt works well) - some dogs find them calming, for others, like my lab mix, it can add to their distress.
 
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