Stressed Doggy

[Venture]

Its that time of year again. Holidays and kennels. Can anyone recommend something for a dog who gets very stressed out on the journey there. I don't really think its the idea of the kennels that stresses him out because once there he's fine, but just the travelling. He howls the whole way there. Panting and salivating to extremes that I'm frightened he's going to have a heart attack. No amount of sweet talking or assurance calms him down. We've had to put him in a cage in the car because he keeps trying to climb over the seats and he's pretty hard to keep still.

It makes me feel even more guilty about going away and having to put him through that because of it. He's three years old and vocal at the best of times but this particular annual journey is a nightmare. Can anyone help please.

[padfoot]

My grans dog was the same, vet gave her summit think was a mild sedative

[Ash]

My grans dog was the same, vet gave her summit think was a mild sedative

yeah ive heard of people doing that

maybe do some trial journeys before you go... try different things, lots o toys... a treat if he behaves

[Venture]

Thanks padfoot and Ash. The vet dosent recommend a sedative for a short journey. Ive tried short journeys, toys everything and nothing works. He is a rescue dog and the vet thinks he might have had a bad experience as a puppy in a car. Im looking for suggestions of anything herbal that other dog owners have tried.

[Blondie]

Thats a shame. Do you have far to take him in the car? Couldn't you give him half a dose of sedative even?

Liz can maybe help you with a herbal remedy.

[neepnipper]

You could try spraying DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) in your car, it simulates the hormone that bitches give off when they give birth to keep their pups calm and free of stress, it does work, it's quite expensive but a little goes a long way and it can be used in lots of other situations such as on bonfire night.
They sell it in Pets at Home, the vets, or you can buy it online.

[Kathy@watten]

HAve you tried taking the doggy for a few happy experiences in car like feeding it, going to new walks and perhaps using a darkened cage, we used the cage at home first and used it as base for our dog then used it as it's bed in car so it was a safe place...the dog got used to it and we started with short journeys to say the woods or even just to the village for a walk and sometimes we went nowhere...it normally is just a case of patience and habituation with animals. I sat in car reading my magazines and let her sleep or eat in the back and we now have a very happy traveller!

[Liz]

There are quite a few natural remedies you can get which would relax your dog and so should help with the stress of a car journey.

If your dog is quite 'nervy' all the time I can recommend Relaximax from www.healthydirect.com (http://www.healthydirect.com)

If you just want something for car journeys then there is a really good bach flower remedy called 'Relax'. You can get it from www.creaturecomforters.co.uk (http://www.creaturecomforters.co.uk)

DAP , as recommended by Neepnipper, is excellent as well and you can now get this as a collar which your dog could wear in the car. The cheapest place for this is www.vetuk.co.uk (http://www.vetuk.co.uk)

Kathy's is a good idea as well.

[Venture]

Isn't the org just a wonderful source of information. No matter what the problem, somebody always comes up with an answer. A big thank-you to all those who replied with advice, especially Neepnipper and Liz. I will be trying out the DAP recommended by Neepnipper and Liz has kindly offered to give me one of the bach flower remedies. Thanks again everyone for your help. I'll let you know how Miles gets on. Fingers crossed.;)