Drama queen in the car

[kimbersmom]

log the whole way home after class, so when exhausted the car is apparently fine. I tried giving her a chew toy the second time but apparently that’s not exciting enough. I think I’ll try a frozen kong but I fear that will just entertain her while it lasts and then she’ll start whining again. Maybe I need to bring a cooler of ice so I can give her a frozen kong when she starts to get bored?
(She gets doggie day care the day of training as well as a good romp in the yard right before we go into the car, and I’ve learned the hard way that if she’s too tired she’ll just pancake and refuse to participate, so I’m going to take “exercise her more before class” off the table.)

[kimbersmom]

Full message!
Our new training class is one hour away, which is soooo faaarrr in Stormy’s world. She’s very good and mostly naps for 30-40 minutes…and then she gets bored and starts a high pitched whine. For 20+ minutes. Sometimes she makes Chewbacca growly sounds. I’ve checked to see if she’s in any physical distress. Nope. And she sleeps like a log the whole way home after class, so when exhausted the car is apparently fine. I tried giving her a chew toy the second time but apparently that’s not exciting enough. I think I’ll try a frozen kong but I fear that will just entertain her while it lasts and then she’ll start whining again. Maybe I need to bring a cooler of ice so I can give her a frozen kong when she starts to get bored?
(She gets doggie day care the day of training as well as a good romp in the yard right before we go into the car, and I’ve learned the hard way that if she’s too tired she’ll just pancake and refuse to participate, so I’m going to take “exercise her more before class” off the table.)

[SunDance]

Would the goodies in a frozen Kong possibly come right back up during the excitement of class?

I think I'd enjoy the Chewbacca moments.

[kimbersmom]

I'd probably go heavy on the ice-part of the kong. Because I have to feed her a steady stream of kibble to keep her barking excitement to a minimum in class, she gets a LOT of food during it.

[smartrock]

Does she do this on all long car rides or is this about the longest ride she goes on? Did she do it on both the first and second drive to class? I'm just wondering if it was only on the second ride, did she somehow sense where she's going.

[Snowshoe]

There is doggy television to entertain pets at home alone. I wonder if sounds played in the car might keep her attention and thwart the whining? Maybe not those soothing whale sounds, I can imagine them provoking accompanying high pitched sounds. But then again, maybe not?

IS she in a crate with the crate covered? If so, maybe no crate? I know, safer in the crate.

[kimbersmom]

I have a sedan- too small for a crate- so she's buckled in with a harness. Went with Kurgo since it was crash tested.

She's always been impatient on longer drives, so I'm not surprised by this latest challenge. During the pandemic we stayed very local so it wasn't something I worried about, but now that we're hoping to get out and about more, I'd love to get her more chill. DH recommended taking her on a drive to a place ("it's only 3.5 hours away") and I had to remind him Stormy is not Kimber, who would nap in the backseat for long stretches. We took Kimber to Key West (12+ hours one way) and only once did she whimper and it was for a potty break. Stormy is much more, "Are we there yet? How about now? This is boring! Why can't I ride in the front seat?" Sigh whimper pout.