Car anxiety, motion sickness and what is actually going on.

Some dogs love the car. They hear the keys and they are at the door before you have stood up, vibrating with anticipation. And then there are the others. The ones who begin panting the moment they are lifted in. Who drool steadily for the entirety of any journey. Who have turned a twenty minute drive to the vet into an event that requires a full change of clothes on arrival.

Car anxiety in dogs is more common than most people realise and it is also more treatable than most people attempt. The first step is distinguishing between genuine motion sickness and anxiety because the presentations overlap but the management is different.

Motion sickness in dogs is primarily a vestibular issue. The inner ear is sending signals that conflict with what the eyes are seeing and the result is nausea. Puppies tend to suffer more than adult dogs because the vestibular system is still developing. Many dogs grow out of it. The practical interventions are well established: travelling on an empty stomach, keeping the car cool, ensuring the dog faces forward, keeping journeys short initially and building up gradually.

Anxiety-driven car behaviour is different. These dogs may not be nauseous at all. They are stressed. The car has become associated with unpleasant experiences, usually the vet, and the anticipatory anxiety begins well before the journey does. Some dogs begin showing signs of stress when they see the lead come out. Some when the car engine starts. The trigger has been learned and the stress response is automatic.

Desensitisation is the long-term answer. Sitting in a stationary car with good things happening. Short journeys that end somewhere enjoyable. Building a new association gradually and with patience. This takes weeks not days and requires consistency that a lot of owners understandably struggle to maintain.

In the interim, supporting the nervous system baseline makes the process more manageable. A dog whose cortisol is chronically elevated is harder to desensitise because every stressful experience lands on an already sensitised system. RUSKO'S Calm & Relax Chews — with Ashwagandha for cortisol modulation, Valerian Root for neural excitability and L-Tryptophan for serotonin support — work as a daily foundation that makes the dog more receptive to the behavioural work rather than replacing it.

The dog who does not travel well is not a lost cause. They are a dog who needs a different approach and a little more time than the ones who jump in willingly. Most of them get there.

If you're looking at calm support for your dog, you can explore our dog calming supplements and what goes into each chew.