Could anyone give me some advice on how you settled your dog while travelling in the car? Saska is 11 weeks and I know that it will take time, but she gets herself into such a state and cries the whole journey. Is there anything I can do that might make it less stressful for her? I have tried treats, but she eats them then in seconds is climbing through the bars onto the back seats. I have now taken to tying her lead at the bottom of the bars so she can't climb high enough to squeeze through. I just wish it wasn't so stressful and if anyone can give me tips or advice on what they did. Thankyou!

What are these bars? A restriction from a crate or a divider from getting in the front eat? How does the dog travel? Is it in a crate, seatbelted, in the feet area?

As a puppy mine have always had to be in a travel crate. it worked for the best. Usually the weekly trip to puppy class turned travel into a routine then we were able to work on our later travel arraignments (adult dogs rides with seat belt, or loose, or seating where.

Have you tried a high value treat that takes time, something like a chew or a kong with peanut butter to lick out. I am thinking if you can occupy her it might help.

Like anything else, training.
It sounds like you have an SUV or CUV and are putting the dog freely in the back with some divider bars to contain him. That's what we do and it works great.

Start with short trips and rewards at the end of the trip. Drive him 2 or 3 blocks to a park or open area where they can get some exercise and play. Bring their favorite toy. Give them treats when you get to the location. Increase the distance you go over time. In very short order your dog will see your vehicle as the favorite place to be.

If the back end of our Subaru is open, the dogs jump in without command now because they know that a car ride means going somewhere fun. I'll be unloading groceries with no intent to go anywhere and they jump in and get excited to go for a drive....it can be annoying.

If you have a particularly scared dog, have someone else drive while you comfort the dog in the dog's area. After a couple times of comforting car rides that end up in fun locations, you should be able to withdraw from the comforting part of things and be on track for the rest of the training.

Many years ago I had a Spaniel who got carsick and did not want to travel.

Since I was on the road quite a bit visiting friends where the trip might be up to 3 hours and I seldom leave a single dog alone at home - I had to find a solution.

My course was similar to what has been noted with the addition that I had to be aware of when she was getting uncomfortable.

I'd physically put her in the back seat of the car; go for 20 - 30 minutes and then pull off to let her out. If she wasn't feeling sick, I'd treat; if she was, I'd just wait out the discomfort. then drive another 20-30 minutes.

Since she liked the woman I normally visited she gradually came to see the travel as bearable and eventually was "ready to go."

I think the trick is to make it as enjoyable as possible; stop and let him "smell the roses." Dogs, almost without exception, would rather be with their owners so helping him see that travel is fun goes a long way to building the confidence to travel worry free.

Thanks everyone... I will certainly try all suggestions and take on board all the helpful advice. I drive a SUV type vehicle Dave... and I'm longing for the day that Saska just jumps in ready to go on our journeys. I have a jack Russell who sits seat belted up front so I don't think that helps as Saska prob feels separated. Colleen, the bars are a divider from rear of car boot space where saska sits loose to prevent her climbing freely into rear and front seats. They are properly approved for animal and driver safety when transporting dogs. As Saska is still small, she manages to squeeze through the top bar and roof as there is a slightly larger space. I do plan on repeating the process daily as Al suggested ...maybe try and make it more enjoyable for her by using the suggestions given. Thankyou everyone. Let's see how this goes. She's picked everything else up fantastic !!

In my mind, 90% of why your pup is crying so much is because you're way up front, and she's way in back, and probly why she is squeezing thru the bars, so she can get closer to you. You said she is small, is there a way she can be crated and secured, closer to you? If she is closer to you, she can feel your presence better, you can talk to her, etc. The more car rides she has while she is young, will help greatly for car rides in the future. My two LOVE car rides, and are quiet as a mouse until we get to our destination...because they had MANY car rides as puppies (coming home from the breeder was about a 5 hour drive alone) Associating the trip with "fun" won't necessarily keep them quiet, on the contrary, their anticipation of getting to where they are going can make them cry/whine the entire way, it pretty much only helps with knowing the car isn't a bad thing/experience. Like Huskylear mentioned, having a chew toy *may* help, but I think the biggest thing, right now while she's still young, is to have her closer to you...if possible. It won't last forever, and gets her used to the car rides , so in the future she will be good to go

That's something I was thinking myself Jimmy. She is fine when sitting beside me. Not a whimper. She travelled 2 hrs in the car home from breeder on my knee and slept stretched out. My jack Russell whimpers most of the time but that's out of excitement so you do have a very valid point. I wonder if I try seat belting her while she's small just to get her to like the car. Previous vet trips weren't so bad either when she was sitting up front beside me. I'm possibly thinking ahead too soon. I thought it was best to get her used to her 'spot' early on but maybe this is doing opposite. I will try swapping their places. Thankyou !

That's exactly how mine rode on the way home from the breeder

I have a small SUV, I started mine as pups, riding in the front with me, mostly just so I could keep an eye on them, haha my boy still prefers to ride up front with me (and I let him) but he can ride anywhere else in the car and he's fine. My girl likes the back seat, she will hop up, sit down, and she will stay like that (except for the occasional step up on the center console to "give me a kiss", haha...like "are we there yet?! Hahaha) until we get where we are going. Anyways, my girl has a clip on her leash that latches to the seat belt, so she is secure...I'm thinking something like that for your pup would be safest in the event of a possible accident, what I'm not sure about is how safe that is for a puppy (just because of her size) and you might look into that, and/or someone else here may be better informed than me. Once she's grown, I have no doubt she will be better with car rides, wherever she is in the car, by just getting her "comfortable" in the car now, while she is young.

And forgot to say it earlier...congrats on your new pup! She's a cutie

Thankyou Jimmy... I am absolutely in love with this little fur ball haha!

...that didn't post my entire message I think you are right Jimmy, and I'm going to take your advice and clip her in up front with me and phoebe. She follows me everywhere, so it's pretty clear she loves her pack haha. It wasn't any trouble before so I should not have changed it. Hopefully she behaves well and I can continue with it into her adult stages. Now that would be serious progress haha.