Nervous dog travelling in a Motorhome

I would presume that the adults get into the MH with the dog and assume that the most terrible situation is about to occur and the dog is going to go through hell?

It obviously started when the dog was first on it's own and you reacted to it's consternation!

It's easy for me to say but put it out of your mind and just get on with travelling except for you it is certainly nearly impossible....but not totally impossible!.

Apart from that I can't offer any further advice from a distance but getting on with things is the only solution!

Our dog did the same in the MH, KD, and got worse as he got older. Letting him see out of a window helped a bit as did making shorter journeys. We never resolved the issue - sorry. 

Adaptyl is supposed to work. The prices are lower on line than in pet superstores. I would try the collar rather than the spray, I think. 

I'm pretty sure there is/was a thread discussing this in the Pets section.

You are not alone with this type of problem Kdee and it's a difficult one to solve. It doesn't appear to have anything to do with earlier training either. Both of our dogs have got worse at travelling. In fact the larger dog demolished a fabric travelling crate that he once was quite happy to use. We now use a collapsible metal crate. We've noticed that certain noisy road surfaces have an affect on his behaviour, cattle grids are the worst. We assume he can feel the difference and it produces a fear reaction. We now drive very slowly over grids!

Our smaller terrier started climbing all over the other dog which resulted in chaos. So we've separated them out. The larger one has the crate to himself near enough to me as the passenger so that I can reach round and calm him with a reassuring hand through the crate. I now have the terrier out on a harness right by me. She is travelling better and I just keep an eye on the crate when we pass over noisy road surfaces, jointed bridges etc or  anything which sends a vibration through the van floor.

We had the same ,when we changed to a M/H, towing the caravan she would travel in her crate in the back of the car , now she travels in the same crate in the M/H just behind the seats ,but gets a bit agitated , I think this is due to the stiffer ride and more noises ,we tried putting a blanket over the crate ,in the hope that if she couldnt see she might lay down ,it worked to a degree and she is getting better, again once we are on site she is fine 

our M/H is on our drive and we let her in it as much as we can ,to try and get her more used to it 

i don't think there is an universal answer ,just trial and error

One theory I've heard is that dogs pick up the whine from the engine turbo. There's no doubt that travel in a MH is noisier than in a towcar so it seems likely that noise is a factor.

Wow! Well in a way it's reassuring to see that I'm not alone...I'll wait to see if there are any more replies with someone who's nailed it! I'm sure we'd all be interested

On another note, it's interesting to read about the blanket on the crate.

I had a friend who's spaniel howled, or should I say HOWLED one year all the way down to Cornwall. It had been an 8 hour drive. My friend was at the point of hysteria when one of her children accidentally threw her coat into to the boot and it landed on top of the dog in the crate. The spaniel stopped howling...immediately.

They were 10 mins from the site

That said, the journey home was a lot more enjoyable!

May be a bit left field for a non dog owner but have you considered an animal Behaviourist. No idea whether it would work but my sister in law's dog became almost frightened to go out as he was very sensitive to noise. They came up with some suggestions that helped and he is a lot better now although he still goes and hides at the first sign of fireworks which I expect is not uncommon.

David

We had a problem with our dog when we changed to a M/V,and found road noise was one reason, but also there tends to be much more roll with a m/v than a car , he seemed to need to "hold on" but he got better the more he travelled,and in the end would get into the van "first"  

It's probably because the MH is more noisy with all the rattling that goes on. Can you put a radio on closer to him? 

It's times like this that a PM system would be so helpful ,,,,, Thank You CC