When you’re thinking about how to calm an overly excited dog, you’re usually thinking about doing it in a house. People come over, and you can throw your dog a treat or toy to keep them happy. There’s plenty of room for them to run around and get their energy out.
While dogs might very well be people’s best friends, they aren’t always a road trip’s best friend. Excited dogs in the car can be fun for a few minutes, before quickly becoming annoying to the passengers or sick themselves. Calming an overly excited or stressed dog in the car can be a real challenge.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to calm an excited dog in the car. A hyper dog in a car is no fun, but there are techniques that you can use to get your furry friend to begin to calm down and have a fun drive. In this article, we’re focusing on techniques that can help your dog and techniques that can help you cope with their energy.
Before You Get in the Car
Most of calming an overly excited dog in the car is all about preventive measures.
- Make sure they have plenty of food and water. Feeling hungry or dehydrated will make them feel a bit more distracted and out of it. Keep your dog’s vibes high by making sure their needs are taken care of.
- Let them go to the bathroom before they get into the car. If they have to go to the bathroom and know that they’re not supposed to in the car, this will only make them more anxious.
- Make your dog part of the plan. If your dog doesn’t understand what is going on or feels forced into something by you, they won’t feel good about getting into the vehicle. Be communicating with your dog all morning or day before they go for a ride. Give them treats and make sure that they feel cared for.
- Give them plenty of sleep and exercise. If your dog feels really tired, they may get anxious and obnoxious when they find that they can’t go to sleep in a moving vehicle. On the other hand, if they find that they’ve had too much sleep and not enough exercise, they may feel a little boxed in and have too much energy. It’s all about balance.
While in the Car
The easiest way to not have to calm down a dog is to not get them riled up in the first place. Remember to create a dog-friendly environment in the car by doing things like:
- Keep the music at a lower level. Upbeat music that has high 808 kicks can cause a dog to become overstimulated, which can make them get a bit excited. Keep their excitement levels and stimulation levels down by turning down the music. Opt for some slower acoustic vibes and your canine companion will thank you.
- Give them plenty of room. We all get frustrated by not having enough room in the car. Our furry friends are no exception to this rule. Give your dog plenty of room so that they don’t feel trapped.
- Make them comfortable. A lot like small children, a dog will have about as much fun in the car as you allow it to have. If you make them comfortable, they may settle in and find a different kind of enjoyment from the ride. To make a dog comfortable in a car, try something like a doggy hammock. The doggy hammock can really help your dog settle into the car, and makes the space feel like your own. To make dogs more comfortable, you can even let them sleep on the doggy hammock in your house for a few days before putting them in the car with it.
- Pack well. Bring treats, toys, and all the wonderful things that your dog needs to be happy. You can store all of those things in a doggy tote like this one on Amazon.
When They’re Excited
Eventually, however, all your best preventative measures might fail. At this point, you’ll need a contingency plan to keep your dog’s energy from ruining the trip for themselves or the rest of the car. Remember that these steps are generally pretty simple. Don’t overreact because this can cause your dog’s energy to simply increase. Make sure to have some food if they get a bit hungry, specifically things like yogurt and canned pumpkin to calm stomachs that get upset. Roll the windows down and use air conditioning to keep conditions cool. Always be ready to stop to give your dog a break.
Don’t Panic
Dogs often mirror the energy and personality of their owners. Don’t panic. Don’t overreact to motion or energy from your dog. This might encourage their behavior as they begin to meet the energy levels that you approach them with. Keep calm, and respond to your dog’s energy in a gentle and loving fashion.
If you begin shouting or singing around with your friends and also have a dog in the car, the dog will get excited by the energy. Also remember that an overly excited dog in the car is not necessarily a bad thing! Excited dogs can be a bundle of fun for you and your friends, as long as your dog isn’t unhappy. If you and your dog are happy with their energy level, this doesn’t have to be a problem!
Get Them Used to the Car
If your dog doesn’t ride in the car very often, or isn’t familiar with motion, riding in the car can be a really stressing experience. To help familiarize your dog with the car, get them used to hanging out in the car for extended periods of time, even when they aren’t moving. Take them on shorter trips so that they can get used to the motion.
Food?
Should you give your dog food or water or treats in the car? Heavier foods like yogurt or canned pumpkin can not only feed your dog but also keep their tummy under control. If your dog is hungry, or experiencing an upset stomach, or both, try giving them a bit of yogurt or canned pumpkin.
Try to avoid giving your dog anything heavier than those things, because it can make your dog sick. As long as you give them food before you leave, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Have Someone Play With Them
“Play” here can just mean hold them, talk to them, and give them attention. If you’re driving by yourself, this can be a more difficult process. Talking to your dog and engaging with them helps center their energy again instead of extending it outward in every direction.
If you have a free person to be with the dog in the backseat, they can sit and hold the dog. Petting, massaging, and interacting with a dog will help them calm down during the journey.
Soothing Music
While it can be fun to put on some pop beats and dance to the tunes, some simple acoustic music or instrumental music can really calm down your dog.
Be Ready to Stop
An excited dog isn’t always misbehaving. Sometimes that dog is just ready to go to the bathroom or needs a breather. Like human beings, if dogs get distracted by the way that the car is moving and don’t focus their attention on the road, they can begin to feel sick. If your dog is wandering around the car a lot and begins to feel sick, you may need to pull over for a bit.
Also, build stops into your road trip. If you can stop every few hours for even 15 minutes, this will help your dog adjust to the road trip lifestyle and keep them from becoming stressed and overwhelmed. Remember that driving long distances with your puppy can be uncomfortable, and they’ll need a bit of TLC.
Roll the Windows Down
Yes, everything that you’ve seen in the cartoons is probably true. Dogs really do like to hang their little furry heads out the window and stick their tongues out into the air. When dogs stick their heads out the windows, they get a lot of airflow in their noses. This causes them to experience an all-you-can sniff buffet of different smells rolling through. At the least, this can entertain and calm them down.
Keep it Cool
It is important to keep your dog cool in the car. While the windows can keep things cool, so can the air conditioning. Dogs and people alike are far more likely to get car sick in hotter conditions than in cooler ones. If you’re in a cooler environment, you can roll the windows down to get both airflow and a cooler temperature for the car. If it’s hot outside, go ahead and keep the windows up, but run the air conditioning so that things remain at a cool temperature. You can also choose to invest in different types of car fans for your dog to keep them cool during your drive.
Conclusion
When trying to figure out how to calm an excited dog in the car, remember that every dog is different. The same excited pattern of behavior from two very different dogs will come from very different causes.
The methods of how to calm an overly excited dog will vary depending on why you think that your dog is excited. They may be excited because they’re happy or because they’re anxious. Knowing your dog is the best way to keep them from getting overly excited, because you’ll know why they’re excited and how to deal with it. Be patient, be ready to stop, and have a number of these tricks and tips on hand to deal with the scenario.