Ok... Third different topic about Sam our poodle since I joined here and since we got him.....
I read here about melatonin for calming anxiety due to loud noises, but how about riding in the car? Sam displays the same kind of behavior (Panting, yodling and winding him self up) that some dogs do for thunderstorms or noises....
Dramamine does not work at all.... Gave him a whole tablet and not only did it NOT make him sleepy like people here and our vet warned us it would, but he acted as if we gave him nothing at all.... And we made sure that it was 2 hours before we went anywhere....
We have tried to work short trips with him, but this is hard.... We live in the center of Baden-Baden in Germany and most of the time we are on foot.... The car is only for longer trips (Especially with gas prices.... Its not any cheaper here than in the US)... And I can't drive the car myself
I don't know how to drive a manual transmission car..... So its only the time we can't walk or take a short bus ride (He is ok, but can get wound up on the bus too if we don't find a good spot) that we ride in the car......
He is seatbelted.... Will always be seatbelted..... and in the back seat..... It doesn't matter if the windows are open or not, if the AC is on and me being the back with him works a little, but not a great solution....
Rewarding with food is not a good option..... Its seems to be more reinforcing the bad behavior... The timing is not easy and he only will take the food for a bit, then stop.... And forget trying to reward him with his favorite toy, the tennis ball..... He ignores it....
HE actually the other day tugged at my t-shirt sleeve and grabbed the backpack strap of my partners back pack and tugged and chewed on it.....
What we need is something to help him relax.... He just winds himself up until he's so excited/panicked that he can not relax......
He is fine in the house.... Even alone he is good..... Our neighbors (who are dog people and we asked them to listen for him) say he does not bark, or only a little in reaction to loud outside noises.... The same for the people who work in the jewelry store on the first floor.... Hes fine with being in the living room with the tv on (CNN) and a fan during this hot weather..... He also has water and dry food......
He is great with kids, getting better with other dogs, could care less about horses-motorcycles-scooters-cars and BIG buses.... And NO food aggression at all... none.... He let the cat eat from his bowl yesterday with him.....
Just this anxiety with the car, and we have an 8 hour minimum trip ahead of us in August.... We also want to go hiking in areas where we will need the car to get to (He LOVES hiking...)
So I was wondering if the melatonin might help (We have it in the house, Vegetarian based melatonin 3 mg - Keeps my partners sleep patterns set along with her light therapy) ..
Sam is 9- 10 kilos, which makes him 19 pounds I believe... SO how much could I give him and when should it be given before the car ride? ANd how often.....
Thanks for any help and advice... and We do not at the moment have a crate... also our car is a smaller one and a crate for him would take up so much room...
Melatonin and Car Anxiety 
