First time long car ride for Moomba...HELP!

[chakasmom]

Hi,

I am driving with my chow girl Moomba (17 months) to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving, about a 9 to 10 hour car ride. Can anyone suggest something to give her preferably not a tranqilizer but maybe something non-medical to calm her for the ride so sleeps for most of it? My last girl Chaka was an absolute joy to travel with in the car, she slept most of the way. When she woke up she would lean her head against the window and just watch the scenery go by. This one I know is not going to be easy.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you,
Cher (Moomba's mom)

[kingalls]

Does Moomba not like car rides at all?

[chakasmom]

Hi Kingalis,

I actually do take her in the car often but not for very long rides, at most 40 minutes. I have a seat belt for her that connects from her collar to the seat belt but she still manages to go all over the place, leaning out the window, standing up on the seat, she is very fidgety. I can only imagine what I will have to deal with for 10 hours even with stopping several times. Plus I will be in a rental car so will have to make sure everything is covered so she does not do any damage.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Cher

[CHowgal]

I prefer to crate my chows when we're going for car rides. Of course they're both really calm in the car (after Jasper got over his fear of riding in the car). But I give Jazz his Kong toy with treats in it so he doesn't get bored. Tippsy sleeps most of the time in the car if she's not trying to look out the windows she can see out of from her crate.

I hope this helps...

[chakasmom]

Has anyone heard of this?

PetCalm™
Homeopathic remedy soothes fear and nervousness during stressful situations or everyday disturbances

PetCalm Benefits:

* Improves emotional well-being and calms the nervous system
* Soothes the nerves in pets with nervous dispositions
* Maintains emotional balance and confidence during competitive events
* Calms easily startled pets during difficult times
http://www.nativeremedies.com/petalive/ ... -cats.html

[kingalls]

It's a two hour drive for us to get to ChowFest. The first time we did that was a bit of a nightmare - only because Nahkohe didn't like DH in his seat. Nahkohe was use to riding shotgun because that's where he sat when going to the groomer's or vet - never in the backseat unless he decided to lie down. Shiloh wouldn't stay on her own side of the backseat and that really made Nahkohe more irritated. So now I have them restrained in the back seat. It's not a seat belt hookup. It's just a long nylon cord with a snap on the end. It's tied to one of the headrest arms. So they have some freedom of movement but can't come up front. When Nahkohe travels, he usually lies down after about 20-30 minutes. He will periodically get up and look around but will lay down again. Shiloh likes to look out the window and will lie down after about an hour.
Moomba will most likely settle down after about an hour. I'm sure she is just excited to go on a trip. When doing the 2 hour drive to SF, we don't stop. If we were to go on a longer drive, I would probably stop at least every 3 hours. You will probably need to figure on more than 9 hours to get to Vegas if you will be making rest stops for the furkids.

Oh, if the rental car has the electric windows, make sure the child lock is on so that they don't accidently roll the window down by stepping on the button....something Nahkohe did once and that wasn't fun trying to drag him back in by the harness . I've since cut a small piece of cork that fits under the window button so that it cannot be pushed down. (I don't have the child window locks.)

You might want to get a rental car that allows Moomba some free space in the back but you can block her from coming up front.

[Boogie and Linda]

Be careful letting her put her head out the window. I let my usually calm Boogie sit with his head out the window the other day and he saw a horse and tried to jump out of the window while I was going 40 MPH. Thank god he had his harness and seatbelt on but he did manage to get all four feet in the window frame and was kind of teetering there. I had to pull him back in with one hand while trying to stop the car slowly and pull over. It scared the heck out of me. I will never let him have it down again.

My Teddie is always restless and sounds like your Moomba. He is fidgety and moves around the car but as long as it keeps moving he is okay. The second we stop at a stop light he is whining to get out and hopping all over. I actually find he does better on long drives because the car keeps moving and he will watch out the window until he falls asleep.

As for something to give her to calm her down, I believe some of the people here use Rescue Remedy. It is homeopathic and is supposed to calm them down. You may want to do a search on it here to see what comes up. I remember someone here reccommended it to me that had used it.

[chakasmom]

Thanks everyone for all your great advice and suggestions! The window thing is very important and also that I keep her somewhat restricted with her seat belt. I looked up the Rescue Remedy Pet, this is exactly what i was looking for, thanks so much.

We'll see how this goes, no doubt I'll need a stiff one by the time I arrive...and I don't even drink;-)

[Sirchow]

Rescue remedy is much more effective if given a few drops at a time in water over a longer period. So I would give for a couple of hours before setting off, every five mins or so. If you have someone with you who can continue administering it every so often during the journey it will work best. You can get it is a spray which you might be able to squirt at Moomba yourself whilst driving!

Some chews that are really high tarriff would be good to produce at those "are we nearly there" moments

[chakasmom]

Thanks Sirchow, I will do that!