Car travel
Many dogs – of any age – can struggle with car travel. This may present itself as reluctance to go near the car (and so being put in), drooling, vomiting, soiling and in barking and wild behaviour.
Lots of puppies really don’t like car travel – this can often depend on what work the breeder did with the litter of pups as to whether they had early experience of cars and the sensation of travelling. If not, their first experience was being taken from their breeder’s home, often with the next travelling being to the vets! Adolescent dogs can suddenly develop anxiety or reluctance to get in the car, so don’t be surprised if this happens. Some rescue dogs come with a massive fear of cars – especially in those who have been travelled by road from another country.
Remember that the Highway code states that dogs must be suitably restrained in the car so must not be loose for your safety and theirs. Here’s a great informative blog from PDSA
If the dog is happy to attempt to get in the car, try travelling the dog in a different part of the car – or in their crate in a different part of the car. The ride in different parts of the car is different and this can be motion sickness related.
If your dog gets really excited about getting in the car, we need to build calmness near, in proximity to and inside the car. Wildness can be overexcitement but can also be a sign of anxiety. It doesn’t really change our approach as we can only really guess how the dog feels!
Essentially we need to unpick what the car means and we will approach this through exposing the dog to the car and travel in the smallest way possible and build up from here. We will also teach calmness around, near and in the car.
Stage 1
- Get the dog ready to go as though you are going to out to the car – observe what the dog does… Is the dog calmly standing for their collar/harness lead? Do they run off? Panting? Barking? Whining? Do they get wild and leap around or make it generally hard to get them ready? If yes to any of these – this is your starting point
Stage 2
- Open the door and walk out towards the car – observe what the dog does… Put the brakes on and stand still refusing to move? Panting? Dragging you out the door? If yes to either of these – this is your starting point
Stage 3
- Walk up to the car – observe what the dog does… Drag you towards the car? Barking? Whining? Grabbing/biting the lead/your clothing? Panting? Refusal/reluctance to approach? If yes to any of these – this is your starting point
Stage 4
- Open the car door (side door or boot) – observe what the dog does… Try to dive in as you start to open the door? Step away from the door? Reluctant to approach? Barking? Whining? Panting? Grabbing/biting? Drooling? If yes to any of these start here
Stage 5
- Put the dog in the car (whether they jump in or you lift them) – before you secure them (harness, crate etc) – observe the dog… Moving around a lot? Standing very still (looks a bit stiff and stary)? Moves away from you? Barks? Jumps around? Panting? Mouths things (including you)? If yes to any of these start here
Stage 6
- Secure the dog (harness, crate, shut boot lid etc). Now what happens? Does the dog settle – looking out the window, sitting, laying down? Or do you get attempts at leaping? Panting? Mouthing? Barking? Whining? Drooling? If yes to any of these start here
Stage 7
- Get in the car and switch the engine on… Now what happens? Calm still? Or do you get attempts at leaping? Mouthing? Barking? Whining? Drooling? If yes to any of these start here
Stage 8
- Drive the car a short distance… now what happens during the journey? Drooling? Vomiting? Panting? Whining? Barking (all the time or intermittently when they see something)? Jumping around? If yes – you will need to start here
Stage 9
- Stop the car and go to get the dog out – now what happens? Barking? Whining? Attempts to get out quickly? Drooling? Panting? You may need to start here!
Unpicking the behaviour into these steps (roughly) will let you work out your starting point.
How to change how they feel
Depending on your starting point, you are going to expose the dog to the trigger for the behaviour (whether this is getting ready, leaving the house, approaching the car etc etc) but in a small way and not in the same way you usually so.
For example – stage 3 behaviour – your dog is not happy to approach the car. They hang back, move behind you, start panting and back away…
- Do lots of approaching the car with the dog on lead and then walk past, walk around the car, open the car door and reach in the car (like you are looking for something) etc etc. Anything other than make them get in the car – keep the lead long so the dog isn’t forced closer by the lead tightening (as this can create panic in the dog)
This may take a number of sessions over a number of days but you will begin to see their body language change and they are less reluctant. Then you move onto stage 4…
This is all about breaking down the prediction that something is going to happen and then we can move to re-teaching the dog that its positive things that happen…
