Are you taking the dog to visit grandma this year? Diffused lavender odor may be a practical approach to manage travel-induced excitement in dogs that are prone to that sort of thing.

In the finest tradition of a cross over study design, 32 dogs were exposed to the natural environment or the odor of lavender in random order during 6 rides to familiar walking sites.

Compared to normal odors, dogs surrounded by lavender in the car spent…

• Significantly more time resting and sitting
• And less time moving and vocalizing
• Dogs’ sex, castration status, and day of travel had no effect on the results
• The order of odor exposure had no effect

There was no mention of the effect of lavender on the drivers.

Illustration: Laboratorio Scuola

10/20/06 21:4 JR