Frenzy when going for a ride in the car

[pappups]

Our little girl Papillon loves to go for rides in the car. She watches every move I make for signs of my heading to the garage to drive somewhere, watches for me reaching for keys, getting my jacket on & any other signs. As soon as she sees I'm going to be getting in the car she starts spinning madly around as she runs and barking her head off. If I put her in the car, she just explodes in a frenzy, barking and grabbing anything in her teeth that's loose in the car-gloves, baggies, seat belts etc and just flings stuff around until the car starts to move. Once in motion, she settles down with a look of absolute dog bliss, watching everything outside as we pass by. It's kinda comical and hard not to laugh, but we are trying to break her of this habit. Any ideas?

[mia]

Hi Pappups,

I am not an expert on this but, what I would do is get a small plastic kennel and introduce her to it slowly, just place it where you are in the house with her blanket and treats, get her used to it first. When you are going somewhere she will know, have a word, maybe," Ride" or "Lets go" and hopefully she go into it. Otherwise go strap it in the vehicle and carry her out and put her in it. My little ones know everytime I am going somewhere and just wait for me to take them with. They always ride in a kennel which is strapped in just like a child.

If she needs to look out the window there are also many different products on the market, my little ones just go to sleep when we drive.

Let us know how it is going.

Mia

[Deaf Dogs]

You need to teach her some self control. I would do this with clicker training. I would work on a reliable sit and wait. Ask for a sit, then click/treat after a few seconds, work on building up the length of time she waits, then move it to the doorway, start over again, short duration sit/wait. gradually lengthen that time before clicking, then put on your coat, start over again. Never do this when you're actually going out, and only work in 5-10 min. sessions a few times a day. then work on the sit/wait with opening the door, then on the other side of the door, then by the car. finally move it into the car, reward heavily for sitting in the car. finally, start the car, ask for a sit/wait.

The movement of the car is rewarding for her, she thinks the reward for doing her little "dance" is movement of the car, so dont move the car until she is reliably doing the sit/wait. It wont take long for her to figure out she is not being rewarded for her "dance" but for calm sitting.

If you have never done any clicker training, go to Karen Pryor Clickertraining for ideas how to start.

[Sarah]

Good Advice Deaf Dogs gave. You don't have to do it with a clicker, you can follow deaf dogs instructions without a clicker and still be successful.

Be Patient, determined and teach with love.

[Deaf Dogs]

Good Advice Deaf Dogs gave. You don't have to do it with a clicker, you can follow deaf dogs instructions without a clicker and still be successful.

Be Patient, determined and teach with love.

True, you absolutely can do this without clicker training, but clicker training done properly is alot faster, and the dog remembers the exact moment she's doing the right thing, better, faster and for longer. I used to think clicker training was useless, but I am so totally amazed by how the dogs respond to it.

[newbear]

Great advice, Deaf Dogs, I love clicker training and I am addicted to it! I absolutely agree that pets learned faster and better using clicker training. Most importantly, pets enjoys training sessions if clicker training is used properly. I even train my hamsters and kitten using clicker training. They really enjoy the training sessions and responded really well to them!

[Sarah]

Deaf Dogs, I'm not saying nor would I say that clicker training is useless. This person may not have a clicker on hand, and she can still follow your directions to get the dog to remain calm before she gets in the car.

All I'm saying is clicker training is one method of training, and she has options.

[Deaf Dogs]

Deaf Dogs, I'm not saying nor would I say that clicker training is useless. This person may not have a clicker on hand, and she can still follow your directions to get the dog to remain calm before she gets in the car.

All I'm saying is clicker training is one method of training, and she has options.

Very true, and i wasn't thinking you thought it was usless, though I may have come across that way. I was attempting to say how I think it works better, faster, done properly, and I used to think that clicker training was stupid, I really did, how can a click work better than a "good dog" but when I decided to try it I was sooo amazed by how well it worked Karen Pryor's book "Reaching the Animal Mind" explains why it works, and the science behind it... She even tAught a fish to swim through a hoop! And after reading the book "Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog" I was astounded by what ckicker training can be used for.

I wasn't saying anything against your suggestion, but that It will work better and faster if the OP is willing to learn the methods and give it a go Sorry for the bad wording

[Deaf Dogs]

Great advice, Deaf Dogs, I love clicker training and I am addicted to it! I absolutely agree that pets learned faster and better using clicker training. Most importantly, pets enjoys training sessions if clicker training is used properly. I even train my hamsters and kitten using clicker training. They really enjoy the training sessions and responded really well to them!

I adore clicker training too! I've never tired it with anything but dogs and cats... i'd like to try my friend's Guinnea Pig but I dont really have the time to right now. They really do enjoy clicker training sessions. My hearing fear reactive dog is flourishing because of CT. He does the most amazing tricks! 15 mins of free shaping is better than an hour walk on a leash for tiring him out, and we've made huge inroads with his reactivity

[newbear]

My hearing fear reactive dog is flourishing because of CT. He does the most amazing tricks! 15 mins of free shaping is better than an hour walk on a leash for tiring him out, and we've made huge inroads with his reactivity

My dog is scared of water in the past. Hence, I decided to help her overcome her fear recently. We succeeded! In the past, when she saw water at a long distance away, she would run away. Now, my dog feels comfortable and is able to walk around the kiddy pool that I bought, look into it and even lie down beside it. I love to do capturing/free shaping with my dog too. When we first started it, she would look at me blankly. However, now, she will do different sorts of tricks and invents some of her own.I love capturing as it encourages the dog to think and be more creative.