Hi All,

I've a problem I hope someone can help with. I take my dog out in the car a lot (parks, mom's house etc.) and he is in the car almost every day.

problem is when he's in the car he screams like mad. Not all the time but enough to make the journey uncomfotable for me. It's mainly when he first gets in the car (until we reach the motorway) and just before we get out of the car (he seems to know where he is and when the end of the journey is near and starts screaming then).

Is there any reason for this? I just put it down to the fact that he doesn't like the car but I have no choice but to take him in my car most days.

I have tried to coax him with treats/toy etc but he's still not happy.

Any pointers?

John (with ears still ringing)

John are you sure you are reading your dog correctly?

I have a Lab that acts up when we first get in my truck because he's thrilled! He also acts up when we get to our destination, park, lake, etc. because he's happy.

When he (screams) is he obviously frightened?

Need more info

I guess that Robert is on the right track. Is the dog happy or afraid? Is his tail wagging or tucked under him? How is his body positioned? Does he look about to bit you or chew through the car door?

I really don't have a problem with my dogs in the car other then they both want to sit in the passenger seat whether my wife is sitting there or not.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies.

I'm pretty sure he's afraid and doesn't like it. His tail is not wagging (that I remember) but it's not exactly tucked either.

When I try to get him in the car he'll lay down on the ground and I have to tell him to get up and into my arms so I can lift him in (he goes in the back of my hatchback and I have a dog guard between the boot and the back seat).

He'll try to get into the back seat, I used to keep him there with a blanket but he started moving around trying to get into the front with me so I had to move him somewhere safer, and he'll have a go at the guard tying to get in.

He has no real problem getting in the back seat if I open my door and push my seat forward (kinda busts my theory about being scared) but he still screams and moves a lot (reason for the guard in the first place).

I might be reading him wrong but I'm a n00b and not sure what to look for other than tail between legs.

Cheers

John

Hi John-
Has he spent time in the car at home without going anywhere? My old dog would always be overly excited in the car, but the destination was always for him, dog class, vet, swimming....it wasn't just a ride along, so a ride meant something exciting to him. My new pup, 6 mos. now, I take everywhere. When he gets in the car(don't have a crate in my car) and I put it into drive he immediately lays down and goes to sleep. He doesn't lift his head till the car is in park and if I say wait for me he doesn't even bother getting up. I take him to the bank, store, post office, so at least 75% of the time he doesn't get out of the vehicle til we get back home.
When I got my female shepherd when she was 2 I crated her in the vehicle-had my van then. We went a couple weeks where we didn't even leave the yard, I just took her out and stuck her in the crate in the van, kept the doors open on the van and just talked to her as I cleaned the van. Then I would just leave her in there and kept expanding the amount of time, (keeping in mind the temp) then started the short trips. She has been a very good rider also and doesn't make a peep. I figured it was my fault with the old dog for getting into the routine of he always got to go somewhere special, so after doing some reading I did things different with the other two.
If he doesn't mind so much being in the back seat, isn't there a way to fasten him somehow or have a crate in the back seat so he doesn't climb over?
Don't know if any of that is helpful-
Sue

I would agree with the other posts. I've had a 2-yr-old GSD for about 5 months and most of her initial trips in the car were to the beach. Got to where she was whimpering, whining, etc. as soon as she was in the car and got worse when we got w/i a mile of the beach - she could probably smell it. I know it's just excitement, 'cuz there was none of it on the way home. Since then, I've made a point of taking her as often as possible to different places so it's not always a trip that ends up with a fun time at the beach or park. I'll take her when I run few errands so she'll be in the car for a 30-60 min. and end up back at home. I don't think she associates each car trip ending up with fun time at the beach or park anymore. She's rides a lot calmer now, lies down often - except when she gets a whiff of beach air <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

As per Ed, why not just throw some treats into the car to get him in? But I wouldn't give him treats/toys while he's is the car and whining as that may just encourage more of it.

You can see another type of restraint here. It works great for me, except now my dog has figured out how to back out of it, so I need to re-think how I have it anchored. I've had 2 accidents where someone turned left in front of me, and I shudder to think what would happen to an unrestained dog flying forward with that kind of force.