Traveling is one thing; traveling with your pet is another. It becomes even more difficult to take them along with you, especially with anxious dogs, who are afraid of people, environmental situations, and more. Whether it is a road trip, train travel, or flight, an anxious dog can be challenging to handle. If you want to find ways to ensure a swift journey, you must know a few things.
Symptoms Of An Anxious Dog
Several dogs have travel anxiety, and taking them with you can be a daunting task. Such dogs show a few symptoms. They are:
- Trembling and shaking
- Reluctant to get into the car
- Panting or yawning
- Urinating or defecating
- Puking
- Attempts to escape the car
What Causes Anxiety In Dogs?
A variety of factors can lead to travel anxiety in dogs –
- Motion sickness or any bad experience while traveling
- Feeling sick or unstable while in motion
- If they understand that a car ride can only mean going to the vet
- Fearing sounds like traffic or horns
How Can You Help Your Dog With Travel Anxiety?
It is not possible to leave behind your dog every time you travel, especially for constant travelers. You can find adequate ways to help them get used to traveling with you. Some popular techniques include:
CBD Oil Can Help
CBD oil has been an effective way of reducing anxiety in dogs and humans. Since traveling is a situation that triggers anxiety in dogs, you can opt for CBD oil to reduce their anxiety-like symptoms. No wonder, finding the best CBD oil will be exceptionally helpful in treating anxiety right before getting into the car.
Try Medication
Just like in humans, medications help dogs overcome anxiety-like situations too. If your dog responds to several calming supplements or other therapies, you can use these to bring them to a calm state of mind. If the anxiety gets severe, you can speak to your vet for over-the-counter solutions.
Create A Pleasant Environment
There may be several situations that trigger anxiety in dogs. Heat, humidity, motion sickness can cause your dog to feel uncomfortable. You can keep the temperature cool, roll down the windows for fresh air to make your dog feel better. You can even go for a car-adapter version of a dog pheromone diffuser to help them.
Don’t Feed Your Pet
The less food you give to your dog before a trip, the less he will feel nauseous. It is recommended to avoid giving them excess food or water to keep them feeling normal and not pukish. You can also try lining your car seats with puppy pads to absorb accidents.
Visual Barriers
Dogs that get anxious looking at several sights on the street can get overstimulated during a journey. You can use a covered crate to reduce the number of things your dog can see from outside the window. If a crate becomes too big for your car, you can also try a pet harness.
Counter Conditioning
Counter conditioning teaches your dog that there are great things to witness when riding in a car, for example, toys, treats, etc. Over time, they slowly learn to focus on the positive outcomes of traveling rather than negative ones.
Conclusion
You obviously love your dog too much to leave them alone every time you leave home to travel. Therefore, it is recommended to find ways to help them overcome the situations so that they can become your travel buddy too!