Car - Clicker Training

My dog can be an absolute nightmare in the car. She loves travelling but she cries and whines almost all the time. I think it's because she gets excited thinking about where she might be going. She is like this no matter where we go , even to the vet. Tonight , I made a bit of a breakthrough. She responds very well to clicker training. I had to go out for a little while so decided to take her with me. As soon as her harness went on , she started. She hasn't worn this harness since last summer when she got the seat belt wrapped very tightly around her hind leg. Anyway , I fastened her in , started the car and off we went. Nothing , not a peep from her so she got a click and a treat. Further down the road ,she was still quiet so she got another click and treat. She was so good. during the whole journey , I randomly issued clicks and treats as she was so quiet I had to check she was still there ! . Only when we got near to my boyfriend's house, the crying started. It doesn't help that he lives right beside one of her favourite walks. The Meadows in Edinburgh. I completely ignored the crying ,( anyone who knows, a Staffie crying frantically is very hard to ignore). BF got in the car and she was even more frantic. We both ignored her , she stopped crying so she got a click and a treat. I dropped BF at work , and Missy cried only a couple of times then was quiet. Click.........Treat ! She was good all the way home. She didn't even cry when I stopped the car , usually , she always does.

wow, now that sounds like really good progress.

Thanks , but I think I've made her ill . I used smoked pork sausage for the treats. She's never had that before and now she's very unwell . ( see thread Missy's Not Well). The training worked though .

Well done with the training breakthrough! It is always brilliant when you achieve something like this, sorry to hear of her upset tummy Does she usually have a delicate tum with different foods?

Well done for your efforts, and bad luck on the poorly tum! Sounds like you're doing brilliantly. We were lucky with Bongo - we had her in the car from an early age, sometimes just to drive round then back home so she didn't get to associate it with anything in particular, and she took to it really well.

The training was excellent and I'm very pleased with how she responded. The upset tum was caused by the smoked pork sausage I used as treats. Yes , she reacts to certain foods with an allergic reaction so that's smoked sausage off the menu for good. I'll stick to cheese in future , she's ok with that.

Brilliant news I bet you were well chuffed clicker rules.