Car Rides.

[southerngirl]

When in the car Missy cries, pants excessively and paces. It's really annoying so my my mom won't let me take Missy places because she doesn't want to hear her. My mom took her to the bank one day without me and say she was perfectly well behaved. Another time she brought Missy to pick me up from school, when she saw me she started crying and going nuts. My mom said she had been fine before I got into the car. It seems that I am the reason that she cries, whines, and makes other noises. What can I do to get her to stop? I really want to be able to take her places.

 

[Mr-Remington]

I have the same problem with my puppy. The only thing that helps me keep him quite is taking a Kong toy filled with treats, or sometimes I just treat the car ride like a training session and ask for simple tricks (i.e sit, down, etc) to keep him distracted. Other times I click and treat when he is quite even for a second, this has only worked a few times. I am trying everything possible to nip this habit in the butt before he gets older. I dont know if any of these will help with Missy but maybe worth a try if you haven't already?

 

[TiflovesBCs]

Bella barks most of a car ride, she has a suprisingly high pitched bark which grates. Suprisingly shes quiet when we go on the motorway lol for some reason.

 

[648117]

I have a sort of similar problem:

Holly has a lot more trouble properly relaxing when I'm around, like she wont settle down and go to sleep in the evening and if I'm home during the day she is active all day, when I'm not home during the day (during the week) she sleeps most of the time.
It's like she's constantly waiting for me to do something with her or she's trying to get me to interact with her, but when I'm not there she doesn't bother and just goes to sleep because no one else will entertain her.
I do most things with her (eg, walks, training sessions, obedience and agility class, going to park, making and giving her kongs and other chews, grooming, playing with toys etc).

Like right now, I was in the lounge for the evening (I usually go and use my computer around 9:30 for an hour, but tonight I didn't) so she was constantly moving and being naughty so I would have to do stuff with her, she would not settle, so at 11 I went into the computer room and within 5 minutes she is asleep (after trying to get into the room only once)
We had already had our evening training session (extra long and with a new trick because she was being so naughty), a kong, multiple play sessions ("wrestling", tugging and fetch), chased the cat (and got a smack from the cat), chewed the lid off an empty coke bottle, zoomed around the room and bouncing off the furniture (so much that our other dog had to tell her off).

I wonder if anyone else notices how there dog is more hyper when they are around?

 

[tigerlily46514]

Fascinating, hope lots of ppl jump in with ideas, for all the various dogs on this thread.
What an advantage that you can don't have to drive, and can devote your att'n to the dog!

Dogs who yawn excessively, drool, etc, may be nauseous/car sick.

Southerngirl, i wonder,
if for your dog, who whines, i wonder if you could try working with a non-moving car, and just have you and Missy sit in car --BRIEFLY--and click/treat if Missy is calm, and get out.

repeat.

Overtime, advance to longer times, and then, to having car actually moving, for super short trips only at first, clicking and treating Missy for calm behavior, and slowly advancing along to slightly longer trips, overtime...???????

This same idea might also help Tif's Bella who barks on car trips, not sure.

I wonder if that could help show Missy what it is you DO want..? This video it's probably the words that are more important that the pictures.

 

[tigerlily46514]

Hey 648117,
on days you are home, and your dog is active all day,
on such days, is your dog more likely to be calm in the evenings then?

 

[648117]

Not really, although I guess she might be a little more settled in the weekend (but then we go to obedience class, dog park and longer walks during the day in the weekend)

It's like she is just constantly more alert just incase I do something fun (I'm just sooo fun , you never know what I might do next )
If she does relax for a bit then as soon as I move she will get up.

I usually go and use my computer for an hour before bed so she settles down then (with me not in the room). Although she will stare at me through the glass door to the computer room (and sometimes scratches at it) for a bit before she leaves to settle down.

It's just pretty boring for her during the day when I'm out, although there is usually someone home and we have another dog (Paris, but her health is failing and she doesn't play anymore), so she sleeps.
I think she saves all her energy for me in the evening . But I don't mind it most of the time.
She also seems to save all her left over energy from during the week for me in the weekend. But if I'm home for a day during the week she is more active all day (but not to the same degree as in the weekend) and is the same as usual in the evening.

But she is still just a puppy so she might settle down when she's older.

I think I'm just her person now
(even though my mum and my sister bought her and I didn't even want another dog, she basically attached herself to me within a few days of us getting her)

 

[tigerlily46514]

//If she does relax for a bit then as soon as I move she will get up......But she is still just a puppy so she might settle down when she's older.....//

WEll, i dunno.........My 4+ year old dog always follows me room to room, every time i get up, he hops up and follows me, and watches..
but, nowadays Buddy also runs around by himself, too, which i had to actually train him was a good thing to do that it is healthy and good thing to go outside and play by yourself, is good. I remember, it took me forevvvvvvvver to get idea to Buddy it was great fun to be outside by yourself. (he has doggie door in nice weather) It was a long long long long time, til he ever tried it, like a year maybe!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'd play with him and then sit out there watching him play, and put new toys out there, hid treat puzzles out there, gave him pigears and stuff,........... and i'd fade myself away,
and bam, he'd come right back in with me. rofl. took a year or so til he felt confident enough to be outside without me next to him. NOW he is good at it, though, at being outside by himself.

But if he is not entertaining himself, which he is MARVELOUS at doing, (even plays catch by himself, and spends hours herding baskets by himself, or murdering bunnies) then he follows one of us around, we move, he follows.

Well, he follows his dad in the daytime, and late afternoon/evening, he is mine.
we take shifts.

i dunno, last night, my dog followed me, from room to room, as i vaccuumed. Even in rooms he rarely goes in, ever, he came in watching me vaccuum. I kept trying to give him something else to do, but, he kept returning to watch the vaccuum.
For real, stayed right beside me, admiring my work the whole time, found it all interesting. This might be also, in part,
due to a training mistake i made early on.....in my efforts to make sure my dog is NOT afraid of our fairly loud vaccuum, i accidentally trained him to sit next to it whenever it is on. For real, every time i turned on vaccuum, my dog ran over, sat right in front of it, and smiled at me as if he'd just done some marvelous trick. Cute, but it makes it hard to vaccuum.



so i had to fix that a bit, and tweak it, training him away from the vaccuum.....but, to this day, he seems to still think he needs to watch that vaccuum. I guess i need to make him to go to his mat when i vaccuum....sigh.

 

[tigerlily46514]

sorry, what were we talking about?

oh yeah, dogs who whine in cars.

ANYONE HAVE SOME IDEAS TO HELP THESE PPL???

 

[648117]

Holly is extemely confident and will go outside on her own, she used to follow Paris out (she's on diuretics so has to go out often) or follow the cats out (one of our cats likes to sit on the other side of the dog/cat door and smack the dogs nose as they try to go through , it's the same cat as they chase) but now she will go out alone during the day, and I don't think she follows people around during the day when I'm not home (she's busy sleeping and doesn't see the point of following them because they are not fun).


Anyway, our cavaliers used to whine in the car if there was more than one person in the car. I could drive them to the dog park on my own and they wouldn't make a noise (sitting in the back or front).
But if someone else was in the car they would whine the entire trip and were actually worse if someone sat in the back seat with them - they would want to sit on your knee (both of them at once, and Kiefer was a big boy), look out the window, lick your face etc.
So, I think if there was only one person (the driver) they knew they would get no attention no matter what they did and they could not sit on the drivers knee, but if there was another person in the car then it all changed.
Paris still whines in the car.
Holly hates the car and goes to sleep as soon as she is put in it.

I don't know if that helps

 

[tigerlily46514]

//Anyway, our cavaliers used to whine in the car if there was more than one person in the car..........................But if someone else was in the car they would whine the entire trip and were actually worse if someone sat in the back seat with them........................So, I think if there was only one person (the driver) they knew they would get no attention no matter what they did and they could not sit on the drivers knee, but if there was another person in the car then it all changed........//


Your whole idea on that, made sense to me...i hope SouthernGirl sees your remark, cuz it sounds like maybe that *might* be what her dog is doing, too? (?) and i wouldn't want Sgirl feeling bad, like it's "her" fault or something, if maybe her dog is like your dogs were---> smart enough to know, in a car, they need a passenger to get any attention!!! who knows, is a cute idea, it makes sense to me, anyway. Dogs are soooooooo much smarter than we give them credit for.

 

[southerngirl]

That may be why she cries in the car, but she's not really trying to get my attention. She paces in the backseat, she is always wanting to be by the windows even though they are closed, cries and when I get her to set or lie down she's panting. It's like car rides make her nervous or scared, but the only thing about that every time she see's a car door open she hops right in. Most of the time when me and my family are going somewhere she isn't coming with us, Missy will run out of the door and get in the car. I will have to get in the car and coax her out. I would think that because she is always getting in the car that would mean that she likes car rides. Typing this I just realized that maybe she is scared of me leaving her. Anyway how can I get her to calm down?

 

[tigerlily46514]

Southerngirl, only thing i know to do, to get a dog to do something, (like be calm)
is to reward it.
Reward what you DO want, ignore (or sometimes interrupt/distract) what you don't want.
Sort of like you do with tricks training...


Capture it, and reward it, is a good way to teach a dog what you DO want him to do.
You could *try* the ideas in Reply#5...........????
TAke care you are rewarding calm behavior....do not reward dog for looking at the treat itself. Just sit in parked car, with Missy, and reward any signs of calmness, gazing calmly out of the window, soft mouth, soft eyes, or lying down, or boredom, no signs of tension or excitement, and CLICK/TREAT.
If you want to, you can help Missy get idea by giving MIssy some calming signals, such as slow blinks, a yawn, a deep slow exhalation out of your nose.

Get out, that's it, that's first lesson. Catch Missy being calm in parked car---CLICK/TREAT. and get out. It's a start.
Repeat this often, but, keep all beginner lessons short. Set Missy up for success.

And slowly, raise the criteria,
beginning in a parked car (cuz one always should try to begin before dog is reactive or in this case, whining) and then, for longer periods of time, (you could even do your homework in the car, while Missy naps)
and then, for super short short short rides, with goal being, Missy is calm.

Let us know if it isn't working, it can be tweaked or we can troubleshoot it, but, it might be worth a try.

PS---you could praise Missy calmly, IF that works for Missy without exciting her, (no high pitch or squealing praise) and massage her lil back, if that is calming to MIssy....

 

[tigerlily46514]

the entire "how to be calm in car" lessons should be BORING.
dull. Getting in, getting out, boring. Yawn, how calm, how dull. What a non-event.
not exciting. just boring and calm.

 

[tigerlily46514]

I also wonder if opening the window might help Missy. My dog so so loves sticking his nose out the window.....bombs could probably go off in the car, but, Buddy is transfixed by the blend of scents going in his nose....last thing on his mind is problems. Being a dog with his face out the window is a big big joy to Buddy.
*My* dog gets carsick a bit, if all windows are shut tight, he begins yawning and drooling,, pacing and panting.
But he is fine if he can stick his face outside, no signs of nausea. If we drive over 40 mph, Buddy pulls his face in, but, if he didn't, i'd shut the window. But buddy sits back enough away from window on his own at higher speeds, so it's more a breeze going by him inside of the car, then.
If it is bad weather, he only gets a small crack in the window opened, but, that still seems to help him.

Some ppl worry about items hitting a dog in the face or eyes, but for decades, all my dogs stick their heads out the window, nothing has hit their face.
Might be worth a try. Might make Missy LOVE car rides, keep her busy sniffing all those amazing scents in the air.

You could put a chest harness on Missy, and attach her leash to the seat belt in such a way she could not jump out at all, too, if that is why you keep windows closed when your dog is in car. (?)

 

[southerngirl]

I've always keep the windows closed, because I've heard that sticking there head out the window is dangerous. It can damage there ears and eyes. I know it's unlikely for something to get in their eyes, but when I was little I stuck my head out the window and got glass in my eye. Also if we were to get in a crash she could get hurt. I could crack it for her just enough for wind to come in the car and allow her to her to smell the air, but I won't open it more than a crack. Also most of the time I sit in the third row with her(the windows don't roll down) because everyone else sits in the front giving us more room, but the wind can blow back their not sure if that would work. When I am in the front I'll crack the window down to see if that helps

 

[tigerlily46514]

Yes, but, probably a dog in a chest harness, that is attached to a seat belt in a way that would prevent Missy jumping out of car, with her face out the window, or close enough that she can at least smell the breezes going by,
is probably safer than Missy pacing around in the car.

Yeah, it *might* be worth a try. I'm stilll not entirely 100% sure Missy isn't just a tad carsick, too. I could be wrong, maybe it's just cuz i have a carsick dog is why i think maybe you do too! Until i read up on it, i had no idea my dog panting, yawning, drooling, and pacing may indicate he is carsick.
who knew?

but, dogs who get queasy to be in cars,
are worse the further back in the vehicle they are.

I read up on dogs in cars, and everything i read said, if you dog is prone to being queasy in a car,
drive him on empty stomach as much as possible,
keep dog closer to front of car, not the back,
and keep dog facing FORWARD------------ not sideways, not looking out the back,
and have windows open.
That worked like a charm for my dog anyway.

If it is too bad of weather to have window open at all, Buddy rides shotgun, or he has to stay home.


I'd get MIssy a seat as close to front as possible, strap her chest harness to the seat belt,
open the window,
and see if car rides aren't something she loves.

Where does Missy sit when just your mother drives Missy?


Yes, you are right, there is a risk to an open window, but, i sort of have to open a window to keep my dog from exhibiting signs of nausea,
and i think the risk is low, imo. But, you are right, it's "not impossible" something could hit the dog's face. Motorcycle riders can attest that lil bugs can occasionally hit your face. None of my dogs ever had a problem, at all, ever.

like i said, city driving, at lower speeds, i think risk is less,
but, at higher highway speeds, my dog, on his own, will pull his own head back, and just have a breeze going by his face.
plus, it'd have to get stuffy all the windows shut, i'd think, i always crack windows in cars, and only wish i could do the same on airplanes...

seems a better option than leaving Missy out of family outings. My dog thinks the sound of car keys is one of his favorite sounds, even if just a short ride to get an item, he thinks a car ride is great fun. Anyone in my family going almost anywhere, usually brings the dog! lol.

 

[southerngirl]

Where does Missy sit when just your mother drives Missy?

She rides in the passenger seat. When she picked me up from school one day Missy was sitting in my lap in the passenger seat with the window down. At first she started making all her noises when I got in, but she did settle down a little bit.

It does sound like she may be car sick, so I'll beg my mom to take me to the park with her or to this sliding rock we're going to this weekend. I'll sit in the second row(my mom and dad will be up front) with the windows down and see if that helps her. I really do hate having to leave her because when we're all loading into the car I can hear Missy inside crying.

 

[tigerlily46514]

//She rides in the passenger seat. //

it *might* be, that being in the front of the car, facing forward, provides just enough relief for Missy to feel okay, (IF IF IF she is just slightly queasy in a car, i could be wrong, could be my imagination).
My one daughter is same way, no carsickness if she is front seat,
but do not put her in back seat for very long...nope.


HOPE AN OPEN WINDOW, as near to front of car as you can get, does help Missy feel better in a car, seems an easy solution if that it is the problem...?...it could be, hope it works!!!

 

[tigerlily46514]

lol, if all else fails, whichever parent is in front, could have Missy on his/her lap?? with window open. CLICK/TREAT the parent for doing that!