Travel Anxiety in Dogs: How to Keep Your Puppy Calm on the Go
As the weather becomes warmer, it turns out as a highly prominent American pastime, especially while you are out on a road trip. With a greater number of hotels, shops, and outdoor cafes that turn pup-friendly, the dog parent gets more inclined towards bringing their furry companions on for a ride. Planning for travel with your furry pup does not just consist of a lengthier vacation or a road trip, as there are several moments when taking your dog for travel for brisk jaunt stands is important.
Considering puppy parenting, each complexity forms a staunch scope for expanding our understanding, strengthening bonds, and heading out for endeavors together. Puppies, mainly Cavachon puppies, are specifically prone to such changes, making it important to prepare well before the trip. Following the right strategies and being equipped with the knowledge helps to keep your Cavachon puppies happy, comfortable, and calm during your trips. In our post today, we are going to guide you through the real reasons behind travel anxiety in dogs with distinctive strategies for keeping your pup calm while on the move!
What is Travel Anxiety?
Travel anxiety is mainly the fear of traveling that results from not knowing what is happening while traveling with dogs. For a couple of dogs, the anxiety is often less about the cars themselves and more about the further destinations, specifically when the endeavors often end right in the vet’s office, at the groomer, or in the boarding facilities. Identical to humans, whenever your pup becomes uncertain about what is going on, it often becomes stressed out and starts showing signs of travel anxiety.
There are numerous other signs that you might find in your pup attributing to the cause of travel anxiety in dogs. One of the most common signs of travel anxiety is due to motion sickness. It is a symptom present in your furry companion and often common across the pups, similar to car sickness that often impacts kids, mostly adults. In a couple of initial car rides, the life of your pup often appears nauseated as it is conditioned similarly to travel with vomiting even post the maturity of their ears, leading to travel-induced anxiety for the adorable pups.
Preventing and Treating Travel Anxiety in Your Pet
Based on the APPA 2021 to 2022 National Pet Owners Survey, it is found that around 70% of the households in the United States own a pet, with 90.5 million homes with dogs, leading to about 78% of the American pet owners traveling with their dogs each year. There are different things pet owners can do to help prevent travel anxiety in dogs.
Get Motion Sickness Under Control
You might often relate travel anxiety to motion sickness, which leads to notable symptoms such as restlessness, drooling, and several other signs of distress. Several pups often experience a combination of both, as even nausea worsens the stress-induced travel. Therefore, addressing motion sickness and dog anxiety is often an integral process.
Consult your vet about symptoms and prescribe medications as needed. Consider taking precautionary measures, such as opening the window to let in fresh air, keeping your vehicle cooler, and limiting dogs’ food intake for a couple of hours prior to traveling, creating a soothing spot for them in the car.
Ensure a Safe Space for Your Dog
It is important to create a safer and quiet space for your dog while traveling in a car. This way, you can rest and make the travel less difficult. You can bring along the ideal toy or blanket, offering a better sense of comfort and familiarity. Cavachon puppies, like numerous small dog breeds, would appear more comfortable within a confined space where they would settle and rest seamlessly. Buying a top-quality dog carrier or a crate is the best solution to overcome travel anxiety.
Often, dogs choose music and find it soothing. Play a few to ward off the scary noise and find out if it can help relieve stress. Furthermore, offer your pup a puzzle feeder or even keep it entertained and distracted throughout the journey. Essentially, ensure that you pack sufficient food and water for your trip, ensuring that your pup stays nourished and hydrated throughout.
Provide Distractions During Travel
Distracting your puppies while on trips is yet another effective way to manage travel anxiety. Similar to humans, dogs often get distracted by engaging in activities that help keep their minds off the travel-induced stress. While on travel, carry the treat-dispensing puzzle or toys to keep them occupied. Whenever your puppies love to chew on them, these chew toys are the ideal way to distract them. Keeping something to focus on can help minimize their anxious nature and prevent them from becoming extremely fixated on strange surroundings or motions.
Desensitize and Counter-Condition
If your pup is displaying reluctance in entering the car then you can work towards the desensitization and counterconditioning tactics. You should help your pups become accustomed to pet travel by taking them on short trips. You can open the window slightly, allowing in the fresh air and reducing the overwhelming feeling of confinement. Yet another effective way to use the ear cover for your pup is by alleviating noise sensitivity or using a blanket for covering the crate, creating visual barriers, and reducing anxiety to ensure better airflow. Also, make your pups see out the windows and find how they would respond to the passing scenic beauty.
Plan Frequent Breaks
Traveling with your puppy, mainly over longer distances, involves careful planning. Ensure that taking frequent breaks is the key to the effective management of anxiety out of puppy travel. You should stop every couple of hours to allow your pup to stretch their legs, relieve themselves, and get some fresh air for the prevention of any discomfort or restlessness. These are the breaks that offer your pup better scope to get exercise and burn off the pent-up energy that keeps them calm for the upcoming journey. During these breaks, ensure that your pup has better access to freshwater with a better scope to rest in a quiet space.
Consider Alternative Solutions
There are a couple of dogs who often feel secure while being in the crate. Consider having a pet carrier instead of making use of a clip-in harness in the backseat or letting them loose to make them feel highly comfortable. It is specifically beneficial during air travel, where the carrier is the must-have. Ensure that you have the crate of the right size specifically for the dog, helping them to settle down in it comfortably. Practice lifting and moving the carrier as soon as your dog is inside it, and try acclimating them to this type of sensation. Also reward the positive behavior with the smaller treats for reinforcing a positive connection with the carrier.
Try Medication and Non-Medical Calming Aids
The vets would often prescribe medications that have the potential to manage dog travel anxiety actively. But, it is important to try out a trial run with the medications right before your travel to find how your dog is responding to its effectiveness. Similarly, non-medical aids such as homeopathic remedies or calming vests might prove beneficial for the pups with mild to moderate levels of anxiety.
The soothing vests offer subtle pressure that can help make your pup feel more secure while reducing anxiety. Homeopathic remedies such as pheromone sprays or herbal supplements have a calming effect on a few pups. Ensure to discuss with your vet the right mode of management of treatment for anxiety in dogs.
Maintain Their Routines
Dogs often enter into healthier habits and routines if you wish to eradicate anxiety with regularity and consistency. Follow the regular feeding and the walking times as they would know about the things to expect while engaging in the regular playtime, offering better mental stimulations and reinforcement of your bond.
It is worth considering in terms of introducing balanced dietary changes eventually right before making the move avoiding any sort of additional stress-based mishaps while on travel. During the run-up to the trip, you will find that offering your dog plenty of exercises than the use can help in burning off excessive energy and feel more tired. This will assist them in feeling calm and more relaxed.
Conclusion
When you plan for long journeys or vacationing with your dog, there are a couple of situations whenever it is a requisite thing to take your pup in the car like visiting the vets, taking trips to dog parks, etc. It is extremely important to help your pup adjust to the lifestyle while ensuring he feels highly relaxed or comfortable in the car rides. But, following the proper tactics and preparations can help bring down dog anxiety and make the entire travel experience enjoyable for both. Initiate slow exposure while creating a soothing space and making use of calming products to help your pup remain calm on the trips.
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