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Dogs are lively, friendly pets. One of the things that dogs enjoy is taking short walks within a few hundreds of centimeters around the home or a long walk spanning a few meters away from home. The practice of taking dogs on a walk has become a routine so that it is being incorporated into creating dog-proof apartment by people who keep dogs. However, people have found that many dogs develop anxiety when they are about to go on road trips. And this attitude has become a major concern among people in the dogging community. Road anxiety is a condition whereby a dog begins to show that it is not excited about embarking on a road trip.
Reasons for Dog Road Anxiety
Previous negative experience. Past negative experience of a dog may cause a dog to be anxious when it is to be taken on a road trip. Negative experience includes a number of things including previous trips to a veterinarian, abandon in a shelter, and previous road accidents. Any or all of these causes may stimulate a dog’s anxiety for a road trip.
Car sickness. Traveling in a car nauseates many dogs, just like many humans too. Smells from different sources including the car itself and smell from fumes, may disgust a dog when it goes on a road trip and make it want to vomit. This condition can make road trips unattractive to the dog. And may cause it to show a lack of interest in road trips.
Frequent unfamiliar feelings. A dog might often have certain strange feelings whenever it goes on a road trip. This type of feeling may result from car motion, vibrations, fast-moving winds, and several objects moving speedily past the traveling car. On the one hand, such motions may be strange to the dog altogether. On the other hand, the dog may be irritated by such motions.
Tips for Fixing a Dog Road Trip Anxiety
Get your dog acquainted to car rides. One way to overcome the road trip anxiety of a dog is to get the dog familiar with car rides. To do this, it is pretty good to entice the dog to the car with treatsreference and toys, and start with short rides. Thereafter, the trip may be increased gradually. However, it is vital to access the performance of the dog after each trip. This will enable the dog owner to think about some other way whereby they can further assist the dog.
Consult a veterinarian. Where car sickness and unfamiliar feelings are the reasons why a dog is anxious about road trip, it is quite easy to overcome the anxiety. All that the dog owner needs to do is to consult a veterinary doctor. There are medications that can help the dog get over the anxiety. And the good news is the medications are quite inexpensive.
Keep your dog busy in the car. In order to help the dog overcome its anxiety, it is good to engage the dog while the trip lasts. This can be achieved by providing sufficient toys and food puzzle for the dog so that there is no dull moment throughout the trip. This will help prevent unruly, disgusting behaviors during the trip.
Keep the head and paws of your dog in the car. Many dogs develop road trip anxieties from fast motions and vibrations. Thus, one way to help the dog overcome its anxiety for road travel is to prevent it from sticking out its head and paws during the trip. Facilities such as a kennel and pet seat belt can help confine the dog to one place and help restrict its movement during the trip.
Get a dog first-aid app on your mobile device. First aid is a vital component when taking a dog on a trip. This is particularly so when the dog owner is aware that the dog is vulnerable to road trip anxiety. There are many mobile-based, dog-walkerreference and first-aid apps that make this easier. An example of first-aid app for dog is the American Red Cross Pet First Aid App.
Assemble or buy a first aid kit. The dog owner can help the dog overcome its anxiety by keeping in handy, a first aid kit. A first aid kit contains the essentials that are needed to apprehend emergencies during the trip. Also, it is important to take along all the essentials including toys, treats, the dog’s favorite, water dish, bed, poop bag, collar and blanket.
Let your dog eat its food ahead of the trip. It is unsafe to feed a road-trip-anxious dog during or just before getting on a trip. When the dog is fed this way, chances are there the dog will get sick on the journey. Veterinary doctors advice feeding a dog that gets anxious on a road trip a few hours ahead. And in case a trip cuts into the meal time, light food should be fed to the dog 3 to 4 hours before embarking on the trip.
Take your dog out to friendly places. Let your dog get used to road trip by taking it out to dog-friendly places such as restaurants, stores, hotels, and rest-stop, in the car. The kind of excitement that the dog has visiting such places might just be enough to help the dog conquer its road trip anxiety.
Let your dog get used to trips in the car at a young age. As with other animals, dogs learn much better when they are younger than when they are older. So, taking the dog on short rides in the car when it is young can make a lot of difference than struggling with it on the training at old age. The point here is that the younger the dog is or the earlier it begins the car trip training, the better.
Conclusion
Keeping a dog who is anxious about road trip can be very frustrating because most dog owners like to have their pets close to them. However, adopting some tips can help adapt the dog to road journeys although applying the tips requires a lot of patience.
