My puppy is not a fan of the car. Meaning...she is so nervous that she has piddled herself, or she has thrown up. Today, she had to go back to the vet to get her stitches out. I have devised a whole system to protect my car from her nervous reactions. I have waterproof sheeting put down on the seat and the floor in front of the seat. I take her sheepskin bed and lay it on top of that. I figure having a bed she feels comfortable in will make things less scary. (And it is machine washable, so I just toss it in the washer when we get home...).
But still.
Doesn't make me want to take her places, ya know?
People like to tell me it will get better with practice, but I'm not so sure I want to go through this on a regular basis in order to acclimatize her. I think I'll just keep her around home.
My old dog, Basie was the same way about car rides for years. He's 13 now and manages the ride to the groomers okay, but it's still an anxiety-riddled ride.
Posted by: Arlene | Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 04:01 PM
Oh no. Yeah, practice will probably get her used to it, but how to protect your car in the meantime is a problem.
Posted by: Barbara W. Klaser | Friday, March 02, 2007 at 10:35 AM
oh nooooooo! and in your new car, too! I don't blame you! It's like when i refinished my hardwood floors and my cat, Mollie, always runs to throw up on my area rug and not the hardwood floors which would be so easy to just wipe clean. What is UP with these adorable pets we own? Maybe they want to tell us that these material things aren't as important as we make them out to be?
Posted by: shawn | Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 10:13 PM
Staying home would be my preference too, rather than cleaning up urine or vomit. Alison used to throw up a lot, and it was NOT fun at all. I used to carry about 10 towels in the back of my car--just in case.
Posted by: Margaret | Thursday, March 01, 2007 at 05:15 PM