What our pets think about travelling in cars

If you're a pet, being strapped inside a hunk of metal with four wheels travelling at 100km/h can be fun. Smiles, tail wags and over-excited wee-wees can certainly look a lot like happiness, but how can we know for certain?

We asked applied animal behaviourist Dr Kate Mornement of Pets Behaving Badly to help us answer our questions. Kate holds a PhD in canine behaviour, so if anyone knows what’s going on in doggo’s heads when they’re in the car, Dr Kate does.

Years ago the common thought was that animals don’t have any feelings, that they’re just like robots. This was 100 years ago or so. Science has progressed a long way since then.

Recently we thought anthropomorphising [Ed: attributing human form or attributes to an animal] was really bad, but research is actually showing that dogs in particular feel very similar emotions to what we do, like fear and happiness.

So do dogs actually enjoy it when they stick their head out the window?

I think they really do like it because there’s lots to see and new smells to experience. Dogs are primarily scent-based creatures whereas we rely mainly on our sense of sight to navigate the world. By sticking their nose out dogs get to smell a whole lot of different things they don’t get to smell at home. But it’s not a great idea if you‘re going fast. You do need to be careful.

Cats have a reputation for being independent creatures, so how do you think they feel about things like walking harnesses, leashes and cat strollers?

If it’s been walked outside on a harness since it was young, it’s much more likely to enjoy that experience. We shouldn’t just put it in a harness and take it for a walk down the street where it might encounter dogs.

Animals like to have control over where they go in case something happens. If they get a big fright they have a fight or flight response. If a cat’s being walked and a dog comes out and gives it a fright, they want to be able to escape. That can be a traumatic experience if they’re on a harness.

The same thing underlies how they experience it. It all comes down to their prior experiences with car travel and whether or not they associate it with something good.

Cats typically only go in the car when they’re being taken to the vet or to the cattery. In general, more cats fear car travel or become anxious with car travel compared to dogs and it’s because they associate it with unpleasant things like going to the vet.

Whenever we‘re doing anything new with pets we want to create a positive association with the activity and gradually ease them into it. Pair it with something positive that the animal really enjoys to help them learn the activity is a nice and fun thing to do.

So when we catch our doggo doing something naughty, are they actually feeling guilty or do they just look that way to us?

The jury’s still out on whether or not dogs feel guilt. Based on some of the latest studies, we think the guilty look is actually dogs responding to our angry body language when we catch them in the act.

It looks to us like guilt but they’re like “oh my gosh, you're so angry” and showing body language to try and appease us, to try and defuse the situation. We often misinterpret things in terms of how we would respond in that situation, but animals may not respond in quite the same way.

There’s no scientific evidence for that, but it’s totally possible. There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence. Lots of people swear their dog does something to spite them as payback.

I don't have the answer, but it‘s a bit of a coincidence that you get the cold shoulder when you go to pick them up from the kennel. Dogs do get very attached to us. Separation anxiety is one of the most common problems I help dog owners with.

If you need help with your pet’s behavioural problems, contact Kate via her website: petsbehavingbadly.com.au