My dog who also just turned one has the same issue. I wouldn't give the anxiety medication, and instead, train him to be calm in vehicles. Bring kibble or treats with you, and repeatedly have him enter the vehicle and reward him when he exhibits calm behavior. It will take a while to see improvement, but it really does work.

Hello everyone,

I need help. My german shepherd turned 1 on the 7th of Jan and lately every time we get in the truck he starts wining. Like loud and pacing back and forth. I don’t know if he is excited or anxious. I got him anxiety medicine today because I just can’t take the crying anymore and trust me I feel like a crappy human for trying to drug my dog. Does anyone else deal with this and know how to deal with it before I start giving him this medicine. I feel horrible giving him medicine when he could just be excited to go some place. I gave him one pill today 2/13/21 and I just want feed back before I fully committed and start him on it. He isn’t aggressive and is very loving. Just whines a lot and I don’t know why

 

My last shepherd did this and I always felt it was a mix of the two -- excitement and anxiety. Ferg LOVED to go on car rides but it was constant whining. He was always an enthusiastic talker, though.

It drove my husband nuts so I worked on it by spending more time in the car with Ferg. LOTS of daily uneventful car trips to nowhere. I figured if a car ride didn't always result in an excitement-inducing trip somewhere fun or an anxiety-inducing to to the vet, that the ride in the car would eventually not be such a big deal to him. We'd also go out and just sit in the car (I'd read, he'd nap). It got much better, less whining (except for when he saw that we were actually pulling in to someplace fun).

But, you know? I sort of miss that car whining now and all the random grumbling, whining, and talking that was a part of our daily life. Our new boy, Luca, is a Silent Sam. Other than an alert bark, he never makes a peep and rides so silently in the back that I can forget he's even there. I sort of miss the enthusiasm for the ride!

 

My gal-dog is 5 and when we are running off leash in the yard with our big-boy she whines. It is excitement and frustration. She really wants to herd but has no idea how. I used to ignore it and now it seems worse to me, so I try to find moments of calm and reward those.
With the car I also did what Catrinka did. Short rides to pick up curb side groceries or to drop off mail, etc. Now she saves her excitement for when we drive through woods. It is almost like she is saying "are we there yet? I'm good with hiking anywhere along here. Look there are trees. Hey you are passing all the trees. Hellllllllllllooooooooooooooo..."

 

That would drive me crazy.
I would not give him medication, especially since the car is the only place he does that.
Maybe some of these older threads offer some good solutions?

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