I like the crating idea. Marley came with a LOT of undesirable behaviors, so I crate trained her while we were working on those. Now she LOVES the crate. It's in my bedroom and Marley sleeps in there half the time - I took off the crate door, so now it's basically just a little dog den for her. She's super comfortable and relaxed in it, so she'd probably calm down a lot if I crated her in the car.
If I'd just wanted to drug my dog, I would've hit her with the Dramamine already.
Alphagam, there's a product called
Bitter Apple that you can spray on a dog's paws to keep them from licking. It runs about $4 a bottle. You've got a good point with the sores, though - I wouldn't want to put anything directly on them, either.
Last time I went on a trip, Marley got so anxious she created what the vet called a "hot spot" on her flank - one spot that she kept licking and licking until a sore formed, and then she KEPT licking, so she was at risk for infection. It was really hard to keep her from licking while it healed - she'd made a habit of it, even though the original stimulus (me being away) was gone. Plus dogs have the instinct to lick their wounds to clean them, so I really had my hands full.
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