Anxious Dog

We're taking our dog, Tia, in to be groomed tomorrow, and with this we will once again be reminded of her anxiety! Ever since her eye was removed, she has been very nervous on car rides, even if we aren't on the way to a grooming appointment or the vet. As soon as we get into the car, she begins to pant (vigorously!) and shake, and nervously looks around for a place to sit. We're always amazed by the fact that she will generally continue to do this throughout even a four hour long car ride. We occasionally persuade her to settle down, but she often gets right back up and begins panting and shaking all over again.

We've tried practically everything a person could think of- putting her in a crate in the car, letting her ride in my lap, ignoring her, giving her a cozy blanket, giving her a treat, purchasing an actual dog "car seat", purchasing a Thundershirt, and giving her some calming herbs for dogs. Some of these things have worked momentarily, but none of them have fully worked to keep her calm during car rides. Giving her a blanket and a cozy spot to sit in seems to work the best, but it takes her quite a while to settle down. In fact, on our last long car ride, it took her about three hours to settle down! 

We don't bring her with everywhere we go, because we know that she prefers to take it easy at home and sleep all day (and it's not always convenient to take her with). But, on the days that we do take her with, I wish that there was a solution to this.

 Have you had a similar problem? Do you have any ideas?