[Annamarie]

I'm just wondering if anyone out there has some insight or ideas that I haven't thought of yet. This is the scenario I'm dealing with right now.

- Dog travels in crate in back of suv. He's fine on the highway because he knows we'll be travelling for a while. He used to bark or get in a fit about seeing livestock etc but now that he can't see out problem solved. He's anxious on slower roads because he knows we may stop soon. He's HORRIBLE in parking lots where he starts with whining, then barking, then loud shrieking and barking that is just purely ear splitting. When the car is stopped he does the same thing, as well as paws at the door of his crate in a panic.

- I get out, go to the back of the suv, he's still doing the same thing so I stand there ignoring him and doing nothing until he calms down.

- the minute he shows a little bit of calm behavior (ie not making noise or lying down) I'll unlock the crate. this starts him up all over again and I have to again wait there for him to calm down

- i open the door, he tries to rush out the door. i block the door and wait until he's calm again before reaching in and putting his leash on, then lifting him out of the suv (so he doesn't get used to jumping in and out on his own).

- if we're somewhere that gets him excited or anxious (like the beach or the vet), I'll stand there until he's calm and paying attention to me and then we'll go on our way.

This process in the beginning used to take an hour. No joke! Now it takes about 10 minutes, but I don't always have 10 minutes.

Treats don't work, no matter how tasty the treat you can't distract him from this behavior. The ONLY thing that has ever worked to eliminate this behavior completely is using an e-collar in conjunction with a quiet command. But eliminating the e-collar he slowly builds up over a few car trips and then we have to start from square one again. I don't want to travel with an ecollar ALL THE TIME but I'm beginning to think it's the only way.

[Erick Aguilar]

I heard an article about this long time ago, about a dog who would storm into the front door everytime someone opened it.

The trainer, tied a long leash into a door knob, and to the dogs leash.. now, everytime the door would open, the dog would run fast fast fast, and then got pulled back by the tension in the leash, therefore he couldn't storm out of the house.

You could tie a leash inside the crate, or in a tying point inside the SUV... and just let him be, it should be a long leash so he doesn't choke himself when he jumps out.
He will be stopped by the leash, with a hard pull, he may fall a couple of times because it's going to be new to him.

[TooneyDogs]

That life skill of Wait/Stay should begin in the garage or a place with no distractions. Teach the Stay with zero distractions and then add small ones (a favorite toy, another family pet or family member, etc) as he learns what Stay means. Don't try to teach this with the extreme distractor of the beach....you'll only frustrate both of you even more.

[Annamarie]

I can't have him tied in his crate. There's too much risk of him hanging himself by accident. And he has to travel in the crate as I'll have a baby soon that I don't want him jumping all over plus it solves the problem of him freaking out over livestock etc.

I'm not really concerned about the rushing out the door as that's a minor thing that we're working on, I'm more concerned with the noise that he makes as it's extremely aggrevating.

[rosemaryninja]

I think someone else had a similar problem, and this worked for her:
http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-trai...?sef_rewrite=1

[TooneyDogs]

Originally Posted by Annamarie

I'm not really concerned about the rushing out the door as that's a minor thing that we're working on

I gotta tell ya that bolting out the door and possibly into traffic really isn't a minor thing. Learning self restraint is an important lesson that directly affects how he deals with frustration.

[pamperedpups]

Bolting out the door definitely isn't a minor thing, as Tooney said, and I'll bet the dog really doesn't get the difference between the crate door and any other door. One of my puppies became a whiner on car rides because he gets so excited to get to where we're going on the off chance that he might get out there. I've had to change the focus from getting out to getting something for staying in the crate or car and being quiet and calm. I've begun clicking and reinforcing his moments of silence and believe me, when we first started there wasn't much to go on. I have been able to gradually lengthen the time between c/t for calm silence in the crate while driving. Soon I'm going to start offering a stuffed Kong as a jackpot as well as something to keep him occupied with while I get out of the car without him.

[klip]

Hi yes - I am using that calming cap rosemaryninja posted about to try to keep my dog calmer in the car. My situation is different from yours, as my dog barks and howls as long as the car is in motion, and especially if she can see that we are en route to her favorite walk spot.

The calming cap certainly helped a lot - but it very important to spend a lot of time getting the dog to get used to it and associate it with good things. I spent a few days getting her used to it before I put it on her in the car. I generally put her in the car with the cap on, and give her a huge bone to chew.

I found I had to alter the cap so she could not see through it at all.

I dont have the problem with her dashing out of the car, or being particuarly excited / scared about getting out so its easy for me to take the cap off before taking her out of the car. Not sure if that will work for you. It might keep her calmer in general.

Also it sounds as though your dog cannot see out of the crate in any case?

I'm still very careful how I use it as I think she might easily start associating wearing the cap with "I'm on my way to my best walk" and then start the whole thing all over again.

I'm still trying to get her to be calmer in the car without the cap on but I'm starting to lose hope with that.

But its certainly a good thing to have for emergencies.

[Elana55]

Is your dog at all toy motivated? Can that be used as a reward? You ARE making improvement. I prefer faster improvement myself.. but sometimes you have to take what you have to take.

Atka sometimes whines in the truck... but if I bring the Cat (Oliver) she settles better. They discuss whatever they discuss over the seat once in awhile then they BOTH settle down. They cue off each other.

I do know that if we go on certain routes, Atka gets much more excited because she seems to recognize the scenery.. she knows we are going to "Grandma's" or to "the Railroad.." She is more settled if Oliver is there, regardless of where we are headed.

the whining can drive you a little batty.. does she whine over the radio?

[Annamarie]

I hear ya on having to take what improvement you take in baby steps... we're still dealing with a lot of issues that have gotten better but still nowhere near having a polite dog. It's frustrating but I have to keep reminding myself that a year ago it was way worse!

Yes he does whine over the radio. In fact if I had a decibel meter to measure just how loud he can whine and shreik I would bet it would be in the "permanent hearing damage" range.

[kelliope]

Ah, yes, the joys of nervous, toy breeds! I can relate!

Does he like to chew? One thing that worked great for my dogs was giving them their favorite chew treat (Flossies) on car trips. They only get them on car trips. They spend most of their time chewing away and that seems to relieve their anticipation/anxiety.

The waiting for them to quiet thing only seemed to increase their anxiety so I started practicing "wait" before letting them out. Once they had something to concentrate on they became very good.

[Annamarie]

he'll chew on a bully stick when the car is in motion, but the second we slow down he drops it, stands up and starts to panic. if there was only a way to fool him into thinking the car was still going 90 KMH hehehe