How do I teach dog to be calm in the car?

[ornellaia]

We have an 18 month old cocker spaniel who has some serious excitement (and anxiety?) issues about going in the car, I'd like to know how I can help him to be calm.

The whimpering/spinning around/mouthing and general looniness begins when we're putting coats on and getting ready to go out. He goes in a crate in the boot, once he's in he also barks, whines and scrabbles around. Once the car is moving is he settles down and generally doesn't make a peep for the rest of the journey.

He used to be much better in the car but he started getting more and more wound up about it and jumping on the DC (NOT while the car was moving!), even with a harness on he would do his best to spin around and jump. The car crate stopped him from being able to bounce around so much but his whining and yapping seems to be getting worse all the time.

He's generally a good dog, a bit exciteable and tends towards the nervous/anxious but pretty laid back at home, he's also very eager to please so hopefully if I can work out how to show him what I want he'll do his best to do it.

You could try cutting out the exciting build-up to the car journey (putting on coats, picking up the car-keys, whatever) by just quietly fetching him and putting him in the car when you aren't even planning a journey.

Leave him in the car for a few moments and then quietly take him out again. Do this lots and lots of times, so that getting in the car is disassociated from any kind of preliminary excitement and also from any kind of pay-off (a lovely walk at the end of a journey, etc).

During this period it might be best to minimise the number of real car journeys for him.

Then when you build up to actual real car journeys, take him on as many as possible trips that just aren't exciting -- just picking up the kids from school and then back home again without getting out of the car, or just driving down the road and straight home.

(oh, also, the crate seems like a brilliant addition. I'm sure that it will help him gradually get calmer)

Thanks AIBUqatada (brilliant name BTW ) that makes perfect sense.

A friend of mine, who is a veterinary nurse, recommends a collar called Adaptil. Apparently it gives off pheremones which calm dogs down in stressful situations. She uses it on a very highly strung whippet. Pricey, but effective, apparently. She can tell when the month it lasts has reached its end. Sounds like magic.