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Help my 9 year old Parsons Russel terrier has just developed real bad anxiety when in the van .
he has done thousands of miles with no problems but one very rainy night we were swamped by the bow wave of a truck going the other way and now he is a nervous wreck in the van shaking and panting .
leaving him at home is not an option as no one here to walk him so he needs to come with me every day except weekend .
any ideas very welcome
Rescue remedy in the water bowls is worth a try.It has been effective for some of our dogs in the past.
Can you try making it less 'van like'? My Parsons didn't like sitting in the passenger seat but now she has a basket in the back seat and curls up and goes to sleep. Dunno, just an idea,. Good luck anyway, great dogs, Parsons 🙂
Can you get someone else to drive and you ride shotgun with the dog on your lap to comfort him? It may get him used to relaxing in the van again.
Or you sit in there with him and get someone else to to chuck a couple of buckets of water at the windscreen.. Sounds mad but maybe it would replicate the bow wave closely enough to convince him it couldn't hurt him and everything's ok?
I'm no expert in this sort of thing but I found with my GSD puppy I could get him to cope with stuff that initially scared him by demonstrating that it wasn't going to hurt me. Like shaking hands with people he was sketchy about or sitting on the air compressor after it fired up automatically and made him wee a little..
I've not long been through this exact same problem where my springer puppy kept being sick in the car as he was so stressed.
I tried numerous methods and had pretty much given up until someone told me about [url= http://www.thundershirt.co.uk/?SID=4p6h0722fi8s9tqrelb6ofd0m1&___store=uk ]Thundershirts[/url]
After 4 weeks of wearing the Thundershirt when going out in the car, he was completely cured and no longer needs to wear it.
Another vote for Thunder shirts. Made a big difference for our Saluki around fireworks night the last few years. Adaptil too if they react to it, some dogs it just doesn't work.
Desensitization - take your dog's favourite toy or bed into the car for a short period, lots of play, praise and tasty snacks to make it a 'fun' place to be. Gradually increase the time and maybe let him sleep in there. One of our puppies hated the car until he got to sit in my lap - fine as a puppy, less so as a 30kg Basset Hound!
Get your vet to give him some vallium before you put him in the van
Let him drive. Less likely to be stressed if he feels in control.
Need pictures
Our dog goes in a crate when in the car, he just curls up and chills. Without the crate he's not scared, just on high alert the whole time, but I think he's happier in the crate and isn't too knackered when we arrive to do stuff.
It's one of the plastic travel crates so feels like a little kennel, a cage might benefit from a blanket over the top.
Get out of your dog?