Case Study: A Dog Who’s Afraid of Just One Car Ride
Learn what makes dogs afraid of car rides, and what to do about it.
Jolanta Benal, CPDT-KA, CBCC-KA
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Case Study: A Dog Who’s Afraid of Just One Car Ride
A listener, Joanna, writes that just in the last couple of months, her dog Daisy’s been stressed and afraid about getting in the car. But only on one particular trip. A couple of days a week, Joanna drops Daisy off at her mother’s house to spend the day while Joanna’s at work. Daisy’s comfortable on the ride there, but going home is a different story. Daisy hides behind Joanna’s mom’s legs and won’t follow Joanna to the car. She doesn’t whine or bark, but after the first five minutes she lies on the back floorboard instead of her usual perch on the backseat. What gives, Daisy?
Why Might a Dog Hate Riding in the Car?
This week, some things that could make a hypothetical Dogalini not want to ride in cars. Fingers crossed, one of them gives Joanna a clue about what’s up with Daisy.;
Does Your Dog Hate the Destination?
Many a smart Dogalini has learned that every time she gets in a car, she winds up someplace she doesn’t like–the vet’s office, say. Dogs are great at figuring out that Event A predicts Event B. If Event A is getting in the car, and Event B is always, or almost always, a crummy, anxious, painful hour at the vet’s, Dogalini will likely say no thanks every time the chauffeur opens the rear door.
The reverse is true, too. Our subject, Daisy, jumps in the car eagerly when she and Joanna are headed for places she enjoys. It seems improbable that she actually dislikes being at home, but if something unpleasant usually happens when Joanna gets there after a day at work, that could account for Daisy’s reaction. The “something unpleasant” might not be anything awful from a human point of view, either. Maybe Daisy hates baths, but she always gets a bath on work nights because she gets muddy at Joanna’s mother’s house. Well, it’s a long shot, but worth considering.
Does Your Dog Get Carsick?
Many a smart dog has figured out that every time she gets in a car, she winds up someplace she doesn’t like.
Nausea–just thinking about it makes my stomach lurch. Surprise, surprise: Dogs who get carsick tend not to enjoy car rides. Apparently it’s common for dogs to feel squiffy on their first couple of car trips, then adjust and learn to enjoy the experience. Daisy’s done a lot of time as a passenger, so if she does feel carsick it’s not from the novelty.
And at first glance, carsickness seems unlikely–Daisy enjoys all car trips except for the one. But some dogs seem to feel carsick on a full stomach, others on an empty stomach. If Daisy gets breakfast before she leaves in the morning and doesn’t get supper till she gets home at night, then her stomach is full on the outbound ride, but empty when homeward bound. Joanna could give her a light meal before the evening ride to see if that helps. Or, if the stomach full/stomach empty drives are the other way around and Daisy feels sick on a full stomach, Joanna could wait to feed her till they got home.
Dogs Can Be Carsick for Many Reasons
There are other reasons why this one trip could make Daisy feel carsick even if she’s fine on other rides. Maybe she’s on a medication that makes her vulnerable to nausea and that is most active in her body at this time. Or does she get treats that make her feel sick once the car gets under way? Does the commute home involve a lot of stop-and-start driving? I don’t know of any research suggesting that this affects dogs, but it sure can make human passengers feel wonky.
Since dogs’ noses are so much more perceptive than our own, it’s not out of the question that a smell present only in the evening makes Daisy feel sick. Joanna suggested new-car smell as a possible problem, but presumably the car smells just as new in the morning as it does later in the day. If an odor is the problem, it could well be one a human would never notice. So even if she can’t identify a factor that’s making Daisy carsick, Joanna could ask her vet to try a nausea remedy. If it alleviates Daisy’s distress about the ride, Joanna may have solved her problem, even if she never knows exactly why.
Distress or Pain May Make Your Dog Afraid of the Car
Dogs who’ve been in accidents may become afraid to ride in the car. I don’t know whether that’s happened to Daisy, but it’s a stretch anyway–I’d expect the fear to extend to car rides in general. As for other possible sources of emotional distress, this gets a little delicate. Is Joanna usually irritable or upset during the ride home? For sure, our emotional state affects our dogs. Finally, a dog may stop enjoying car rides if arthritis or another physical problem makes it painful to jump in. This is another long shot for Daisy, since she’s bothered only by a single trip.
Joanna gave me one more wild-card clue–Daisy’s dislike of the ride home started just a couple of months ago. Did anything unusual happen right around then? Did anything in Daisy’s life change? A frightening experience on the ride home from Joanna’s mother’s house could have created a permanent fear. It would be unusual for the fear not to extend to other trips, however.
What to Do About Fear of Car Rides
If none of my ideas lead anywhere for Joanna, she may still be able to help Daisy with a program of counterconditioning and desensitization. In this behavior modification technique, we help dogs become comfortable in problem situations step by tiny step. For instance, we might start just by feeding a dog delicious treats near her guardian’s parked car. I’ll save a detailed explanation of the method for another article, but the ASPCA’s Virtual Pet Behaviorist offers a quick guide here.
You can see what the problem is with behavior modification – Joanna has to get Daisy home, which makes it hard to undo her fear step by tiny step over the course of weeks or months. She might need to leave Daisy home and have a walker come for the time being. Also, desensitization and counterconditioning aren’t going to help a dog who’s nauseated or in pain. But my money’s on some factor that makes Daisy feel sick to her stomach on the trip. If Joanna can alleviate that problem, Daisy’s fear may be an easy fix.
Finally, a word about Daisy’s safety in the car. Since she’s free to climb into the rear seat well, we know she isn’t restrained or confined in any way. Red alert! Joanna, please check out my article on the dangers of dogs riding loose in cars, and get Daisy strapped in or crated, pronto.
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Image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Jolanta holds professional certifications in both training and behavior counseling and belongs to the Association of Professional Dog Trainers and the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. She also volunteered with Pet Help Partners, a program of the Humane Society of the United States that works to prevent pet relinquishment. Her approach is generally behaviorist (Pavlovian, Skinnerian and post-Skinnerian learning theory) with a big helping of ethology (animal behavior as observed in non-experimental settings).