You know what I really hate... is when I've typed a long explanation and then hit the wrong button and lose the entire thing... grrrr. (Maybe I need to keep the post shorter and will try to do so.)

Falcon loves riding in the car. A lot. He has begun acting like an idiot when he knows or thinks he is going to go somewhere. Whining, pacing, grabbing at my purse, etc... A few times ago when I let him in the garage and put the garage door up, he ran back and jumped up on the tailgate of my Pilot. He has not always been quite the idiot when going in the car, but it has slowly increased over the past several months.

This is what I am doing and would like input as to if I am going about this the right way and if you have any other suggestions...
As of today I am going to be "training" for this situation instead of just dealing with it when we are going somewhere.

I have put him on a leash instead of just letting him in the garage. He has always had to sit and wait at the door before exiting the house and is still doing so.

After putting up the garage door (which really amps up his "idiotness") I've been working on foos/sit/down in the driveway. My thought is NILIF - if you wanna ride, you gotta work for it.

I'm making him sit at the back of the car and get calm before I open the tailgate.

I'm making him sit calmly before I open the kennel, and before being released into the kennel.

The last two times I've done this has been when we were going somewhere and I did not allow enough time for me to be able to simply wait him out and not move on until he was perfectly calm, hence my starting to "train" this when not going anywhere. At this point what I've been doing above has not been beneficial due to my timing/lack there of.

We use both e-collar and marker training. I've been using the ecollar but am open to trying the marker training in this situation, but my thought is he is so ramped up and excited I'm not sure he will cue in on the marker (i use "yes!").

Any thoughts or advice before I begin officially working on this?

When I had a problem with Tasha lunging at cars I used a clicker in combination with prong collar corrections. I don't know as much as other people here, and my situation was different in that it was definitely drive oriented, but it worked a charm.

I figured that my experience might be relevant because I noticed that my voice would only add to the excitement. It was also hard for me to keep the right tone of voice because the whole situation was so frustrating and embarrassing.

She would not accept food, even very high value food. So I had to work for a while to condition her to the clicker first.

Once I figured out the right timing for corrections and the click, it only took three walks to greatly improve the problem. It was about another week for it to stop completely. She still gears up for it every once in a while, but now a light correction will get the idea right out of her mind.

I had a dog who was a car freak. He used to get really antsy when he knew we were going for a car ride. I got so fed up so I stopped taking him anywhere. I decided to give himself a chance to work his way back in a car ride only when he's being calm.

First, I would take out a leash and made him sit. He would sit nicely for the leash, but he became like a monster when he knew we are walking toward the SUV. I would walk back inside and start all over again. Every times he got all aped I took him out of the car and go back inside back to square one. It took us about 30 minutes for him to understand what I want from him.

He finally understood that, but he would get excited from the sound of an engine being turn on. I did it again and again.. When we started to drive the vehicle around, it became a bit of challenge to get him be quiet. I would only drive around my neighborhood, when he gets excited. I would pull over to one of the neighbors and walked the dog back home. I did this a countless time and it took him a few days understand that.

I learned not to let my patience wear out too thin with this dog.

Thanks guys. I know I need to put this in the "training mode" and simply devote time to it each day just like foosing, etc... I appreciate the insight and look forward to rocking my little guys world tomorrow as we both begin starting from square one on earning the right to ride in the car. I continue to learn from this big fuzzy butt. (HIS, not mine!!

Just put him on a sit outside the garage, car whatever. If he breaks it when you open the car/garage door he looses the reward. simple "nope" and back in the house with him. He only gets the mark and reward (jump in the car) when he holds the sit while you open the door. Vary the time between opening and marking or the dog will anticipate.
Loss of reward to a reward driven dog is harder on them then correction.
Break everything down to simple behaviours then tie them together. No different then learning a series of obedience behaviours and then putting them together for a full exercise.

Thanks Bob, that makes perfect sense.

 Quote: Bob Scott

Loss of reward to a reward driven dog is harder on them then correction.

Connections. Light bulbs. All going off right now.

Hey, I have the opposite problem. Neither of my dogs particularly enjoys the car. The older one used to get car sick. The younger used to like the car, but seems to have cued off the older one. Now if I ahve to take them somewhere, I have to put both on leashes so I can get them in the car!

Sigh...

You need to make being in the car a high-value place for them. Great treats, upbeat mood on your part (be excited about getting in the car, as opposed to maybe, "oh man, now I've gotta get them both in the car..."), etc.

Practice when you're not even going anyplace...in fact, have one dog watch while you have a party with the other one, getting into and out of the car.

leih

 Quote: Scott Garrett

 Quote: Bob Scott

Loss of reward to a reward driven dog is harder on them then correction.

Connections. Light bulbs. All going off right now.

Yep, me to. I knew I would get the advice / insight I needed.