I have a 1-year-old Rottie who won't get into the car on his own.

When he was small, he would get carsick a lot, so I didn't force him except when necessary (to go to the vet, etc.) and he would always fight me, not wanting to go. I had to pick him up and put him in the car.

As he got older, I started taking him on short drives around the neighborhood (with him still fighting me), just a few minutes at a time, to ease him in, and it worked. Now he gets excited when I tell him we're going for a ride, and he seems to really like it. He jumps up and down, spins in circles, etc. just like all my other dogs have always done. Once in the car he has fun, and he hasn't gotten carsick at all in the last few months.

When I open the house door and give him the OK, he bolts for the car and dances around it like he can't wait to get in, but when I open the hatch for him he just stands there, waiting for me to pick him up and put him in. This was OK when he only weighed 15-20 lbs, but now he's over 80 and still growing.

He's extremely food driven, so I thought of tossing a treat in the car and having him go after it. The first time I tried, he jumped in so easily it was like he'd been doing it all his life, and I thought the problem was solved, but I haven't been able to get him to do it since. He salivates when he sees the treat, and he dances around, but then he just looks at me and waits for me to pick him up. I'm too old and he's too heavy for me to keep doing that now.

Lately I've been giving him a chance to get in (motivated by a treat), but after a few minutes, when he won't even try, I just put him back in the house and go alone, although I know he'd love to come with me.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Could you get in the car yourself and have a yummy treat and then call him into the car with you?

I'd actually tried that before, a while ago, and it didn't work, but after seeing your reply I tried again and this time he got in.

Thanks for your suggestion!

If this solves it, I'll be happy; if not, I'll be back. :-)

I'm glad it worked!!

Calling him while holding a chunk of meat might work too if a simple treat doesn't do the trick

if you have a big car maybe it is the jump that messes him, a step stool comes in handy for me with my very large senior girl when I need her to get into the car.

I'd put him on a leash and moving him at a little bit of a quick pace guide him directly towards the car's open door in a way that he either jumps in or comes to a stop. With the leash you can keep control of him and start the movement all over again if he stops. Put a command with it and do it more then once.

 Quote: Ira Victor

I'd actually tried that before, a while ago, and it didn't work, but after seeing your reply I tried again and this time he got in.

Thanks for your suggestion!

If this solves it, I'll be happy; if not, I'll be back. :-)

Yes, that IS a neat method. Kind of hard for the dog not to want to come with when he sees you in there. :-)

The same with the leash method: It can work great too, and if he ever starts to balk as you get closer, get in with him.

This won't last long. It doesn't last long, IMO, unless it is allowed to become an entrenched habit.

That's nice that his carsickness is already outgrown. Sometimes it lasts to almost a year old.

Thanks for the replies. I've found a variation on Jennifer's suggestion that's worked well twice so far (fingers crossed!).

I open a door on each side of the car, make him sit-stay by one door, walk around to the other side and lean in holding a treat. When I release him, he jumps right in after it.

It's so easy I don't know why I didn't think of it myself, but that's why we have forums. Thanks again!

Just as something to consider Ira, I look at getting in and out of the vehicle like any other obedience. They have to get in or out when I give the command because I'm always loading and unloading them around other dogs, in parking lots, kids around, you name it.

At some point I think you would want to transition from luring him in to being able to send him in. For me it may be a little easier because I'm almost always sending him into a crate so the crate training at home has allready given him an idea of what I want.

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I look at getting in and out of the vehicle like any other obedience. They have to get in or out when I give the command

That's fine to say, but he just wouldn't do it. I tried for 11 months before posting here, so it's not a simple matter of obedience.

I know I have to transition him, but right now I just want him in the car. He's smart and eager to please, so I'm not worried about that, it'll come. I just need to stop lifting him.

Anyway, looks like it's a moot point now.

He probably thought he was supposed to wait until you lifted him.

I adopted out a (enthusiastic) dog once that I had taught to wait until told before getting in and out of the car. The people who adopted him wanted to take him everywhere with him. I mentioned his training to them (along with a few billion other things I told them). A few weeks later I was asking them how things were going with the dog, and they said, great, but mentioned "it was strange, when we opened the car door he didn't want to get in or out, but we fixed that with some encouragement." LOL.

He's probably just doing what he thinks he should be doing. Do you use marker training with him? Sounds like he'd really enjoy it and getting into the car would be a great exercise to marker train, so he'd know what was expected of him.