dog trouble riding in car

[Vinny's mom]

I need advice about helping my rat terrier/jack russell who is afraid in the car. Last year he was frightened by a huge semi passing our vehicle going by in the opposite direction. The window was open and the close truck made a very loud sound. Ever since then Vinny barks wildly and jumps around when any truck, camper, or motorcycle comes toward us. He was a good traveler before that semi incident. I've tried to distact him with chew bones, toys, etc., but that doesn't last long. He still seems very upset and barks until it's gone and then a little more. Any advice to help him overcome his fears?

[lisahumphreys882]

My dog does that too! I'm not really sure if he still does that though because it was a long time ago that I took him in the car. He'd do that on the normal speed roads but then for some reason when we went on the highway, he didn't do it which is ironic because the cars are going faster and they are louder as well. Maybe you could get a muzzle type thing or a shock collar. I'm not really sure what you could do. If you don't know what else to do...you could always ware him out so he sleeps for the ride. It's funny though I thought my dog was like the only dog that did that...but apparently not.
Well Good Luck!

[Karen]

Have you tried keeping him on a leash within the car, so you can give a quick tug and distract him, focus him on you, when he starts panicking?

[mruffruff]

Possibly an airline carrier would make him feel more secure. For a small dog it should be easy to do. A towel over the top would block more noise also.

All animals should be secured when in a vehicle anyway.

[Zipsmybaby]

When he starts to bark when a truck or semi comes along and you give him a toy or treat to distract him, you may be reinforcing the behavior. Try instead to reward him when cars and gradually larger vehicles go by and he doesn't bark..of course not treats or he would gain a lot of weight if he got one for each car he didn't bark at but the praise goes a long way. Hopefully this will help modify his behavior a bit for you. Good luck.