Nervous Nellie...

by Kevin Panting
(Illinois - USA)

Our 8 y/o male mini, Buddy, has always been a bad car rider. He wants to be in the car...as long as it isn't moving. When the car would start moving, he would get nervous and pace, scratch at the seats, breathe heavily and sometimes poop in the car. Just recently we went to take him and our 5 y/o mini, Maddie, to the dog park about 15 minutes away. While we were getting everything ready, we let him out in the yard. He knew we were going for a car ride. (Don't ask me how he knows, he just does.) By the time to get IN the car came around, he had scratched the paint on both driver's side doors of the car. When we finally got him in the car, he went nuts. He chewed holes in the armrests, (Why we can't have anything nice...lol), was trying to chew on the seat belts. He chewed up Maddie's leash, and when I reached back to try and comfort him, he bit me. Not that cute little nipping Schnauzer thing either. It was a full on, left a bruise on my hand bite. We had to turn around and take him back home. We can't put him in the car at all now. He gets so nervous and over-wrought, that we are afraid he will have a stroke or something. He's an older guy, and may becoming a crotchety old-man. But his car behavior is not acceptable. Do any of you have any of the same issues?