Driving with your dog can be a delightful experience, but it’s essential to ensure they remain calm and comfortable throughout the journey. It’s useful to think about how to keep your dog’s calm when you drive them around, even if you’ve purchased an electronic vehicle (EV) because recent research from TV vet, Dr. Scott Miller says dogs stay calmer in those. Here are some tips to make your car rides with your furry friend more enjoyable.
Train Them Gradually
Don’t just chuck the dog in a car and expect it to handle a long journey straight away. Imagine it from their point of view: The car is an enclosed space that sounds weird, and those two experiences may cause your animal to feel pretty stressed. Train them to drive, that means starting with short trips and then increasing the duration of the journey. Try to make the travel experience calm and positive those first few trips. Maybe reward them with a walk or treat once you arrive.
Make them Feel Safe
Does your dog feel safe in the car? Do you just assume it feels safe? Don’t do that, train them. Teach them to travel in a pet carrier, crate, or use a dog seat belt harness
Train your dog to settle in a pet carrier, crate or in a dog seat-belt harness (this is one of the most popular money can buy). Don’t worry that they feel restricted – dogs like that feeling because it makes them feel safe. Using this kind of protection is also the law in some countries.
Learn When They are Stressed
Watch for signs of stress when you travel. Signals include when your dog whines, barks drools, pants, chews its paws, licks or chews itself or the seat. When you see this kind of behaviour you should pull over and give your dog a short walk to break the tension.
Make it Positive
Make the car a nice place to be. That means nice music on the radio, potentially including dog-focused Spotify or Apple Music playlists. We use a series of chilled out playlists at home to calm our animals during the fireworks season. Those calming sounds should also work in car.
Sound Advice
Don’t forget that your dog’s ears are almost four times more sensitive than your own. That means they hear both high and low frequencies that you can’t hear yourself. That means engine noise, including other vehicles, heavy rain on the roof, or overly loud music can all upset your dog, so be empathic to their needs.
Keep it Ventilated
Motion sickness is a real thing for some humans and animals. Dogs also have powerful olfactory organs (which is why they pick up scents). If you’ve ever travelled on a bumpy road, or smelt the smell of the motorway, then imagine how those smells and sensations are for your dogs. Try to drive smoothly, and keep your vehicle ventilated to help reduce motion sickness.
Climate Control
Keep the car cool. Your dog’s body temperature is at least two degrees higher than your own. Make sure the back seats remain under 20-degrees and always travel with plenty of water. This will help your dog stay comfortable and stress-free.
Got to Stay Cool
Your dogs react to your mood so keep it chill – even in a traffic jam. Dogs can smell cortisol, which is the stress hormone humans release, and when they do smell it they will immediately think there is something wrong. That makes them stressed in turn. The easy solution is to keep yourself as calm as you can.
Plan Ahead
On that note, plan your journeys to include regular comfort breaks for your pooch, and to avoid heat and traffic jams. Check the route map too, so you don’t become stressed or delayed by unexpected road engineering works. Put it this way, the more chilled out you are and the steadier and shorter the journey, the happier your dog is going to be.
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