My brother is here, he has a problem with his dog (staffy) and has asked me to post this question.

[DustyTv]

His staffy dog is appox 3 years old he has had him now since April. He would like to be able to occasionally drive him in his van, but the dog is kinda scared of the van.

Does anyone have any advice for him please.

TIA

Try Serenum. It's a mild sedative that is used for travel sickness and to help nervous dogs. I used it for one of my now deseased dogs for travel sickness and also because he was very skittish. It calmed him very well for car trips.

Should have said it's available in petshops. I always found Pets at home the cheapest place to buy it.

Thanks

is the dog restrained in the van or left to tumble around?

Could always get a dog seatbelt, or crate for the back (depending on space etc) and just encourage it in with lots of praise, run ups to the door etc and bribe with food!

He has a doggy seat belt for him, but it is just getting the dog into the van in the first place. He does not like vehicles.

I was once in my mums land rover (I know ) and the dog had the whole boot with a dog guard up and he just went mental. I ended up having to walk him home to my brothers as he was just so scared.

There was a dog like this on one of the dog whispering programmes on TV. The trainer drove the car with the owner in the passenger seat and the dog in te footwell, dog was on a choke chain and when he started going mental the owner had to say no and tug on the chain. 3 days of this made it slightly better but still not great and the trainer gave up. Dunno if it might be worth trying to see if your brother's dog responds better.

male staffs often have this thing whereby they have an irrational fear of a particular thing. I have some great books on staffies - get yourself a book specific to the breed written by a well known breeder of them. You will probably find a whole section on wierd phobias specifc to males particularly as its such a common problem.

What he needs is to find something in the van or about the van that makes him feel great....juicy bone or similar and lots and lots of praise and attention when in the van and sort of ignoring him out of the van so that suddenly being in the van is preferable to being out of it - does that make sense?

don't like the sound of the choke chain training! Staffs respond to praise and attention because us human are the centre of their universe (and they expect to be the centre of yours too!!)

crate in the back, lined with familiar smelling blankets, covered with same

start feeding the dog in the crate every day, without switching engine on

heap praise, treats, toy rewards when letting dog out each time

progress to engine on

progress to moving the car v short distances (up/down drive, turning car round) - take dog for lovely walk after each exercise

might take a few days or it might take a few weeks - am fucking disgusted at the choke chain idea btw

I have a feeling that actually she means a CHECK chain and a "tug" is infact a CHECK that lasts 1 second (as in you move the lead so rapidly that the collar tightens and loosens within 1 second (yes - we time it to prove how undamaging it is))

You can indeed pick a dog up by one of these collars with all its weight hanging on it, and it will NOT suffer. It will cough a bit and obviously not like it - but it won't damage the dog, so having a 1 second check is nothing other than a small reminder that the behaviour is undesirable.

When used properly it is infact, not bad.

Some good advice. Just put him in the van dont praise or talk to him as this only adds to his anxiety.Sit with him without engine running untill he becomes calm. When he does, switch on engine and if he starts creating turn it off till he calms down. Keep doing this till he remains quiet with engine just running. Then try what has been suggested, just driving short distances. If he becomes aggitated then stop till he calms down. It may take a while but is worth it.