# Travelling with anxious dogs



## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

We are getting someone to drive us and our two dogs to Spain but they are both nervy, one in particular is scared of her own shadow  Can anyone who has been through this recommend anything to calm her please?


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## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

1. Talk to your vet, they do have calmers available.

2. Practise, practise and practise again if you can. We had a rescue dog who was so hyped up about travelling that he started to drool as soon as he got in the car. We literally took him out round the corner of our cul de sac and got him out, gradually he improved so much we were able to to take him 400 miles in a day (emergency) without incident. 
3. Stay calm yourself, never scold, and reward good behaviour.
Best of luck.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Some good advice there CCM. I will definitely try going round the block and see how it goes. Thanks!


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## Phil Squares (Jan 13, 2017)

We made the journey from Hampshire to Alicante area in August, we had our 2 dogs (Labradors) and 
our daughter's cat (10 yrs) who hated being in the car. The dogs were ok, but the younger dog would get stressed with the cat meowing. We were not looking forward to the journey. 

We drove the entire way and planned to do the drive in 4 relatively short days. The first day, we left late in the day after the movers were finished and stayed in Calais after the Eurotunnel train crossing. I can't really remember where we stayed the second day but it was in France, the third day was in Zaragoza Spain and the final day was our destination. 

As much as we didn't want to, we were up early every day, like on the road by 5:30-6:00 AM. We stopped every 2 hours or so and let everyone out, including the cat and that worked out well. We were generally finished by 2 pm. We stayed in Accor hotels, (IBIS) and they have a VERY pet friendly chain. We made sure the dogs had their favorite beds, blankets toys and everything else that made them feel at home. 

Funny thing is it went off without a hitch! The cat meowed about 2 times and the dogs were great. They slept most of the time since we headed out early. We made sure they got a god amount of exercise. The cat, on her first trip to the Vets here in Spain, meowed the entire time so maybe it was the dogs. 

Our daughter in law is a Vet and she offered us some medication but really advised against it if we could. But, that is a personal decision for you to make. I am glad we did it and it proved to be far less effort and stress than we had planned.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

I wonder why medication is frowned upon? The guy who is taking us has advised not to dose Millie up too. We got some stuff on Bonfire night called Pet Remedy which comes as a plug in and a spray and it did work a tiny bit. To be honest I am dreading it and mind end up spraying myself with Pet Remedy at this rate! But thinking positively, the guy who is taking us seems like a nice bloke and does this all the time so other than the pooches hyperventilating all the way to Spain I'm sure it'll be fine.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Nine years ago next Saturday we drove from Prague to western Andalusia with our Rhodesian Ridgeback. He's not a nervous dog but he's a big boy.
We bought a LR Discovery so there was plenty of room in the back for him, he had his bed and his favourite toys. We drove in a mini convoy of two cars each with two way radio, the kind you have for skiing.
The journey took three days. We planned it as a holiday experience so we booked hotels with good restaurants a short drive off the motorway, in small villages, with walks for Our Little Azor and relaxing for us. We left after a good breakfast, stopped for coffee and lunch and booked in the hotels at 5pm, time for a hot bath before dinner.

We left Prague in sub zero temperatures and snow, drove through a frosty Germany, crossed into France and Northern Spain, where it warmed up then over to Granada where temperatures plunged and we stopped to play snowballs, then south west again.. We took loads of photos to remember the trip by.
We got to my son's house just before sunset and took Azor for a long run on the beach.

The whole experience was totally stress free for humans and dog. If you are relaxed your dog will sense this and share the mood. Our dog rescue charity sends dogs out of Spain on a weekly basis , some nervous, some not, with no problem whatsoever. Some fly, some drive ut all reach their destinations fit and happy.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

That sounds just how I want our big adventure to start! Unfortunately I don't share your optimism about our dogs as they are both not great travellers and the youngest one in particular is as nervous as a kitten. We had a dog trainer here a couple of weeks ago to see if she could knock the girls into shape before we go and apparently we've been doing EVERYTHING wrong!! Hopefully we'll get another few sessions in before we go


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## Localizer (Jun 23, 2016)

We brought our two highly sprung spaniels over by the ferry - Portsmouth to Santander. 
We had about 120 miles to drive in the U.K. and 650 miles in Spain either side of the ferry journey. 
People advise taking meds to calm the dogs, and whilst we had them with us we never needed them. 
The car was quite packed up as we are out for 6 months, they had much less space than normal on a short trip. We fed them lightly from the day before and made stops every second hour of the trip. 

We played little music, spoke to them throughout and had frequent walk and water stops!

I actually think they did the journey better than we did .....! Both have adjusted to the hotter weather, both seemed to have forgotten the long trip by the time we’d had our first walk on the beach after arrival!

You know your dogs best, have some meds with you if you think they may be useful, but contact with you whilst enroute and frequent stops in the calmest atmosphere you can manage will help them get here happily and safely. Good luck!


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Thanks Localizer. Maybe I am panicking too much-the girls might step up to the mark after all!


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> The whole experience was totally stress free for humans and dog. If you are relaxed your dog will sense this and share the mood. Our dog rescue charity sends dogs out of Spain on a weekly basis , some nervous, some not, with no problem whatsoever. Some fly, *some drive out *all reach their destinations fit and happy.


Do you mean that you teach them to drive, as well??


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Some dogs are just bad/nervous travellers and there's not much you can do about it except drug them. 

Our little Yorkie was a nervous wreck - and it did our nerves no good as well - for the entire journey from Bristol via Santander to Jimena which is near Gibraltar. The other two dogs were fine - just slept all the way

The Spanish vet was very worried about her - it does dogs no good at all to pant incessantly for hours on end - so she gave us some meds for the way home - which knocked her right out.

This is what we found out about meds:

The Spanish vet gave Acepromazine - known as ACE. This knocks the dog pretty well out for about 5 hours and is cheap and easy (a tablet) to minister. Our English vet was horrified - said it should never be given. It's dangerous and anyway doesn't make the dog any less anxious - just inhibits its ability to react to the anxiety. So Ace is not good and you probably couldn't get it in the UK anyway.

The English vet gave Zylkene (I must resist the temptation to call it Zyclon- the vet is German and she might be offended). This is completely ineffectual. Don't bother with it. I have put a complaint to the ASA about claims made in its advertising.

The vet then gave a new drug called Sileo which is a green sticky fluid you squirt into the dog's mouth from a graduated syringe. The dog mustn't swallow it - it must be absorbed through its cheek.

It appeared to work well. 

The downside is cost. Fine for us - Button only weighs 2 kilos so only needed one shot every couple of hours but the dose is per weight so for a dog which weighs 20 kilos it would be a lot - the syringe costs £18 and there are 18 shots.

I hope your journey goes well. Ask your vet about Sileo.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

We have Yorkies too...and both of them pant for England in the car. The guy who is taking us all has recommended not to give them loads of meds, and to be honest it doesn't appeal to me either. I am going to have a good look on the net to see if I can find something natural.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

infomaniac said:


> We have Yorkies too...and both of them pant for England in the car. The guy who is taking us all has recommended not to give them loads of meds, and to be honest it doesn't appeal to me either. I am going to have a good look on the net to see if I can find something natural.


Well good luck.

The problem I've found with 'natural' products is that they don't work and if you're just setting out from Calais when this becomes apparent it might be difficult to do anything about it.

I would at least ask your vet about Sileo.

Some info here.

...and when you have completed the journey will you come back here and tell us what you did and how you got on? It's a subject of interest to many dog owners.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

I certainly will post about our trials and tribulations...if I am still compos mentis by then! I have been looking at Zylkene-it gets really good reviews. You reckon it's that bad? The other stuff is a non-starter as Millie would have a fit if we tried to squirt stuff into her mouth! We are hopefully having another session with a dog trainer next week so I will ask her if she knows of anything


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

infomaniac said:


> I certainly will post about our trials and tribulations...if I am still compos mentis by then! I have been looking at Zylkene-it gets really good reviews. You reckon it's that bad? The other stuff is a non-starter as Millie would have a fit if we tried to squirt stuff into her mouth! We are hopefully having another session with a dog trainer next week so I will ask her if she knows of anything


I'm not saying that it doesn't work at all but it certainly didn't help Button one little bit. 

Reviews/testimonials are dodgy for various reasons. The only true test of a treatment like this is a blind, randomised, placebo controlled trial and I can find no trace of one having been done - one wonders why not.

My complaint to the ASA concerns the wording of some adverts which state 'proven to help' and I have my doubts that it is actually proven - we shall see.


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## Localizer (Jun 23, 2016)

infomaniac said:


> Thanks Localizer. Maybe I am panicking too much-the girls might step up to the mark after all!


Well, our two Cockers - Nutty and Needy (not their real names, but great descriptions) really surprised us... hopefully you’ll get something much better than you’re fearing! Let us know how it goes.


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