I need help, how do I keep my dog calm in the car?!

[AintNobodyGonnaStopMyShine]

So we only got a car recently, so my dog (age 4) has only been in a car once or twice when she was a puppy.

She is an (unexpected rescue at 3 months old) brachycephalic breed.

Her breathing isn't terrible but it's isn't great. She only has short walks.

When we got the car I was delighted because we couldn't go far on walks so she always had the same very boring walk routine.

So I thought now we can drive to beautiful parks and she can have her short walks there!

Well no. She freaks out so much in the car that she is a panting mess and completly out of breath even after a 5 minute drive.

She is in a crate (happily crate trained indoors) in the car but just barks and cries the whole time.

I tried holding her but that was even worse as she tries to jump out of my arms.

DH is a new driver and can't deal with the distraction of her trying to escape (and the noise she makes in the crate isn't great for him either)

Any tips on how I can make the car not so scary?

It feels like the crate is the better option already but she just freaks.

You need to do it in tiny tiny steps.
get her happily getting in the car on her own, no pressure.
let her sniff around, sit on a seat, sit where she’ll be when driving. Build up time. All this whilst stationary.
when she’s relaxed and happy, then you can move on the going very short distances, literally round the block. And slowly slowly build it up.

Spend some time getting her to get in and out of the car calmly. Put her in the crate with a kong and let her spend increasing amounts of time in the car crate until she is calm. Then do the same with the engine running, short periods at first then build up until you then eventually start driving. In effect, make the experience boring and everyday.
Make sure you start with very short periods and reward her calm behaviour.

Thanks that is really good advice.

I can't get her to go in voluntarily as she is in the boot and cannot jump up there, so I have to physically put her in myself.

But tomorrow I will sit in the boot with her for a while sharing some treats.

I agree with tiny steps.

Some dogs will never love the car. My golden retriever just stares at me and pants every time we drive (which is a lot). My vet suggested Kalms, haven't gotten around to trying this yet.

Get a cover for the crate - your dog might not like seeing everything moving around them. We have one - we have 2 dogs in ours, they are asleep by the time we get to the end of our road.

I agree with others that you have to take teeny tiny steps. Use treats, squeaky toys and talk to her in a cheerful voice while you sit in the car with her while it's stationary and the engine off. Do this for a few days if necessary until she's calm and OK about being in there with you. Then repeat this step but with the engine on ( car is still stationary). Do this for a few days, if that's what it takes and when she's comfortable move to the next step of moving the car a very short distance. Build up from there.

I would also suggest changing where she sits, try securing her in the back seat, use a car seat if she's small as many dogs feel more comfortable if they can see out the window. My small dog enjoys being in the car and looking out the window from his car seat but I know he would be freaked out if he was in a crate in the boot as that's what we tried in the early days and he never relaxed there. So maybe you could try changing that as well as taking tiny steps. Hope it all works out!

This 👆

I gave mine his dinner while in the boot a few times too and sat with him in it for varying periods of time.

I started off by standing next to car and literally touching door handle then click and treat. Did this for a week, then opened door click and treat for a week, put a treat on the running board, put treats in foot well and after a couple of weeks one day she just jumped into foot well. Built up to getting in and out of car with door open, then door shut etc etc .

Finally turned engine on😂after about 5 weeks. We have now built up to driving to local village about 4/5 mins away.

Definitely take it really slowly, the slower you go the happier they will be in the car long term.

Do really short journeys at first.

Give her something to distract her. A licky mat with peanut butter or her favourite food might be more instantly gratifying than a Kong?
I'd give her that and literally drive to the end of the street, then walk her back a few times. Once she associates the car with treats and walks and lots of attention, hopefully she'll accept her fate😆

My dog got spooked in my car going over speed bumps one time. It has taken over a year to get her back in my car and happy. She won't travel in the boot anymore. I have her on the back seat in a harness. I started off with someone else usually my daughter travelling with her on the back seat for very short journeys with lots of treats. She is fine now on her own but if do ever try and put her in the boot, she will quickly jump out again. I tried a very short journey in the boot and she was panting like crazy so I've given up on that.

It's not really a 'boot' as its a 7 seater with one of the 3rd row seats down for the crate. So she can see and has a window.