Confused dot com and the Dog’s Trust have got together to do some research into dogs and car travel. I found the article a bit confusing as it first states that 41% of dogs enjoy car journeys, then later states that 25% do. In either case I am surprised to discover that more than half of owners say their dog does not enjoy being in the car. It is worrying to hear that 10% of people have had a near miss when driving due to their pet’s behaviour. You can read the article here.
Re: Dogs in cars, some research The article certainly is confusing..... I don't think I would say that Riley enjoys being in the car. He puts up with it and sometimes squeaks a bit but I think that's usually because he'd rather still be asleep or on his walk in the fields. Hopefully he'll warm to it more as he gets older and he doesn't seem to be upset. Barbara
Re: Dogs in cars, some research Hi Barbara Do you usually walk Riley without going in the car? I was thinking about this some more today, and I suppose my dogs love the car because it is so linked with lots of exercise. I very rarely take them out and about without them travelling in the car first. I guess that is not true for many people. Pippa
Re: Dogs in cars, some research hmm one of those articles that doesn't really offer anything helpful for example why not say exactly how it's dangerous for a dog to let his ears flap in the wind. (I wouldn't dare let barney have his head out of the window I'd be too worried he'd try to jump out as soon as he saw anything exciting! barney loves going in the car - if he sees an open car or van door he's in! Rusty used to hate the car which given his first 3 trips were: being taken from mum and then twice to the vets isn't surprising but after lots of journeys with fun and treats at the end he's quite happy in the car. However he's still not keen on getting in. This means I have to sit on the back seat and take advantage of his deep desire to sit on my lap and call him in. Once he's in, i get out and he's fine, oh and it absolutely has to be drivers side. I suspect Sam's right the reason a lot of dogs don't like car journeys is the association with bad stuff at the end - vets, kennel stays and so on
Re: Dogs in cars, some research We do quite often go in the car to walks because he's so young and therefore not walking for too long and I don't want that time to be pavement pounding on a lead when we could be in the lanes and fields. As I say he doesn't seem distressed he just chunters a bit. We tried one of us sitting in the back when he was really little so he felt close to us. We ignored him when he squeaked and paid him attention when he was quiet. As a result he's generally much better but still has a bit of a moan and I can't really see a pattern to it. Barbara
