How To Keep Your Dog Calm During Car Rides
By Verina, Zenimal Natural Therapies
Dogs can act crazy-excited when they’re going for a ride in the car.
This behaviour can lead to potentially dangerous situations, so how can you implement calm in the car?
It’s common for dogs to get very excited in the car, because usually car rides mean they’re going somewhere fun! They know the car means going to the park, the beach, or meeting their doggy friends for group walks.
There’s nothing wrong with them being happy, but not when it’s going overboard to the point where it puts them in any sort of danger. Keeping them calm in the car is something that you need to address when teaching your dog to behave.
How can you calm them down?
The key to keeping your dogs calm is taking the association of excitement out of the car.
Take them in the car, drive around the block and go back home…Nothing to get excited about, and if you do this a few times they’ll reserve their excitement for the destination instead of the journey.
You can even take it one step further and just sit in the car with them, not going anywhere. Put some quiet, calming music on and give them pats, creating a calm environment. This will introduce the car in a new way to your dog, that it isn’t the excitement machine they think it is.
Verina is a certified Dog Trainer and Canine Myotherapy (CMT) Practitioner, two passions she combines in her business Zenimal. Check out her website and connect with her on Facebook.
