Reposted this for some advise here???

When we get ready to take Bella (our 8 month-old Choc. Lab) in the car she gets crazy excited? Not thegood excited but very nervous energy? She's kind of calm until Ior my G.F. gets in the car then she barks and "gets in or face" all crazy like??

If we want her to stay in the car while going in somewhere she gets all nervous and excited, basically the same thing as when we get in the car. I can tell by the look in her eyes that it is a very nervous excitement.

When riding in the car, everything is cool. When we stop and the car shuts off she goes all crazy and gets nervous like she is going to get abandoned or something...

Tried to put her in the car drive in the driveway and just sit there. Did this with me alone (driving) and with my self driving and GF passenger. Will just sit there for a few minutes and just let her sit. there is no calming down at all. I ignore the nervousness and don't harbor that reaction, but nothing seems to be working??
also put her in the car and leave her there while Iam in the driveway but still very nervous energy there??

Any ideas

thanks

Adam

Does the dog get excited when she knows she's going for a ride? How do you let the dog know she is going for a ride?

Do you restrain the dog in the car?

When she starts this nervous behavior, what do you do?

When you return to the car, how do you greet the dog?

I've learned that sometimes the best way to deal with nervous behavior is to ignore it, stand completely still, make no eye contact with the dog, until the dog calms down.

I also make my dogs sit down and wait before I let them get into the car. And I harness my dogs so they do not have free movement while in the car.

julie

I guess it isn't so much nervous energy as traditionally thought of. She’s not like when a dog hides in a thunderstorm, but more of a "testy", "How dare you", "I'm not happy, pay attention to me" type of energy. But I would still categorize it as nervousness.

I do make her sit and wait in the car, and before she gets in. I tried to distract her from getting to the point at which she goes bark crazy, and Ihave got no improvement?

I've tried to correct wit the prong collar in the car whenshe starts it up, but that doesn't even phase her?

And, It ONLY happens when the car is at rest, not when we are driving? She is fine when we are driving, but as soon as the car comes to rest she goes nutz.

Thining about E-collar for training but might also work here??

I'm out of ideas???


Thanks for any more help in this situation??


Adam

I'm no behaviourist, but it sounds like she is simply being an excited puppy. She IS still a puppy and puppies get crazy excited sometimes. If you don't crate her when in the car, my advice would be to get a barrier for your vehicle so that she is separated from you and can't get in your face. This worked for me. And, I only needed to use it for a while. I have a 120# black lab who also was a nut in the vehicle. His problem was that he really didn't like riding in the car, so he wanted to sit in my lap for safety. It wasn't fun trying to drive and push a 120 # dog to the back.

I also agree that you two should completely ignore her when she gets crazy. Instead of correcting her, try speaking to her in a calm easy tone. She might just want your acknowledgement, so try saying things like "Yes, its ok", hush (if she knows hush).

What is crucial is that the two of you stay completely calm during her excitedness. This is always a challenge for me, so I have to tell MYSELF to be calm, take some nice relaxing breaths, and it really does transfer to them.

Good luck, and I hope she grows out of it.

This may sound crazy, but I once read a book by April Frost on dog ob, behavior, etc. One thing I do recall from the book was how incredibly intuitive dogs are about human energy. Do you get all "amped" in your mind, essentially bracing yourself, perhaps even talk about the "crazy wild pup" when getting ready to go? IMHO, this will fuel your pups craziness.

My dog MoJo used to get in the jeep and go NUTS in the back on the way to wherever we went...I tried April Frost's advice.

When we got in the jeep, instead of me getting all hyped with NO's and shhhhhh's and it's ok's, etc....even being quiet, but mentally thinking "SHUT THE #(@)^@ UP!!!!" I tried visualizing a quiet MoJo, one sitting, quietly, patiently waiting, visualized me slowly petting his head, calmly...and you know what? With practice (on my part at truly getting this visual in place) HE DID IT!!! He'd calm.

HOWEVER, when my son, or husband was in the car after I had it down good alone with MoJo, we had to start from scratch the distraction/energy prevailed and the dog was back to crazy.

I taught my son about the calm visual thing, and MoJO would be calm if my son and I were with him. He never did get it entirely when my husband, son and I were all in the car with him, and I think really, it was cuz my husband thought I was a nutbag for telling him to "think CALM MoJo" and could only focus on the nutbag dog flipping out in the back and could only think "SHUT THAT WHIMPERING NERVE BAG DOG UP!!!!" He didn't believe me that MoJo was *fine* with my son and I....

JME...thought I'd throw it out there...

I don't get all "amped" up with the dog. I remain quite calm becasue I know that she is a puppy. My G.F. on the oher hand will get very frustrated (Like the dog hates her orsomethng Ha Ha??) with Bella.

It is vey bad f I stop my Jeep (Grand Cherokee) and go ththe back and open the hatch.. It's like I'm robbing the truck or something with the barking and goings on that she does...

She doesn't jump up in the front or try to climb over th seats when driving. The "in the face" comment I made was in reference to her barking?? I get in the car and it's time to bark at me??

I'm gonna give her a few more months with his??

Thanks all for the help

Adam

Adam, just throwing this out, you may want to try it or not. You mentioned just sitting in the car in the driveway and Bella doesn't calm down. After you put her in the car, get in with her and sit by her with a treat bag. Tell her "settle" or "calm" or something similar, pet her if that helps to settle her. When she's calm, give her a treat and calm praise, saying "good settle".

After a few sessions of this, hopefully she will be calm for a longer period of time, as you praise and treat her. Then do one session where you sit with her, after a few minutes move to the front driver seat. By then she should be familiar with the settle command. If she starts getting nervous or whining, show her the treat, give her the command and when she settles, give the treat right away.

Perhaps a few sessions of doing this will help a lot. When I first started taking my pup in the car, I was a treat machine from the front seat so he would associate riding in the car with good things. After he understood the down command, I would treat for laying down when told, and even when not told. Hopefully something similar will help you.

I was thinkig something Like that also? I think I will try it. I'm also going o post a video on Friday or sat (I'm working about 5 hrs from home right now) to show you guys what I mean by "nervousness" and "Excitement"...

Thanks for all of the ideas and advise


Adam

 Quote: Adam Dorn

When riding in the car, everything is cool. When we stop and the car shuts off she goes all crazy and gets nervous like she is going to get abandoned or something...

This sounds like seperation anxiety to me, but I'm not really getting a clear picture of what you're describing. I think posting a video of the behavior is an excellent idea...just make sure that you have someone film the whole situation (begin inside the house, take a short drive, turn the car off, etc, and act like you normally would) so that we can hopefully offer you some sound advice.

In the meantime, I would suggest searching this website for seperation anxiety and see if it sounds similar to how your dog is acting.