Car travel

Me again! Neither of my dogs travel very well in the car and my dobie does nothing but cry any suggestions on how to make them happier in the car. I have tried toys and music to no avail and treats only work while they are eating them!

How do you travel them? In a cage? Loose in the back?

is it an excited cry or an anxious one?

The little one is seat belted in the front seat and the big one was seat belted on the back seat but she keeps letting herself out of the seat belt and coming through the front seats. I have now emptied my boot and fitted a grill between boot and back seats. The cry is more of "why can't i sit on you lap" if i stroke her she is ok

One of my dogs used to squeal & whine in the car, out of the sheer excitement of going for a walk! He wasn't car sick, or worried by the car, & happily & enthusiastically jumped in & out. He just knew that a car trip meant going somewhere nice to explore, meet friends, have a dip in the river or a game with a ball.

What I did was if I had to make a longish journey (say, more than 20 to 30 mins), I'd take him on a 2 min drive to the local park first as I could put up with the noise for a short time. Then I'd give him 15 mins or so to play, sniff, wee, do normal doggy things & then back in the car & continue my journey. He was much quieter after a short walk & we all benefitted. He's much better now so I don't have to bother with this anymore.

Another thing you can do is lots of quiet, calm behaviour training using the car, which is easier if they are in the boot or in a crate that they can jump in & out of. Train lots of sits & downs in the car (calm body positions) but only click & treat for calm, relaxed behaviour ~ you have to watch carefully for this, as it's easy for a dog to sit but immediately get up again, (which is not calm behaviour!) so extending the period of sit or down can help with this. Perhaps try it at first at the end of a car trip when they are less excited ~ get them out, then in again, for sit, down, lie, or whatever you use. After a few repetitions, maybe over a couple of days, get back in the car yourself, switch the engine on for a few seconds, then off & get out & let them out again. Then short drives round the block, & gradually extend the travel period all the time they remain calm.

Then do the same thing but at the start of a car trip.

It may take a few weeks but with repetitions & building up gradually, you'll hopefully see that the car becomes less of a trigger for crying/whining & more of a trigger for calm, relaxed behaviour.

You say they are ok when there are treats... How about maybe filling a kong and giving it them whilst they are in the car

I think you rewarding the noise by feeding them makes them worse. Id crate them both, so that they cannot bounce around and that way should be calmer.

It can be a good idea when you have a dog that gets excited about the car as it knows its going somewhere good to take the dog on short trips with no walk at the end of it, that way the dog doesnt always associate the car with the beach or the park. I found this worked with my GSD,

I think my first post was overtaken by the post saying the dogs sat on back seat & front seat with seat belts!

Now that the dogs are in the boot with a grill fitted to stop them getting in the front, it will obviously make it safer & less distracting when you are driving. So ~ ear plugs?

I use a hoody on one of mine, works till he gets it off but as it is Celt it takes him a while (G)! He is actually barking at the trees because down the bridle path we are on the trees sometimes attack the car. He is fine on main roads and long trips

rune