Trouble Getting The Dog In The CarYou may remember that a few months back I spoke about a reader who was having problems with her dog barking manically when she put it in the car. Not long afterwards I had an email from another reader who was also having car problems. His involved getting the dog into the car in the first place. Here's his initial email to me - "I have a problem that I am finding particularly difficult to overcome. I have a 7 1/2-month-old Schnauzer dog that does not want to get into the car. He was introduced to the car as a pup at 8 weeks old. Initially he sat on laps in the rear seat of the Astra, but as soon as he was big enough (12 weeks) we used a car crate fixed on the rear seat. At this age we had to lift him into the car but as he grew he started jumping on to the rear seat, but we always had to entice him into the crate. At about 5-6 months old we felt that the crate was too small for him and so we obtained a Barjo dog guard and began to lift him into the back of the car. (I also fitted a fan to the guard to ensure circulation.) He has never seemed bothered by travelling in the car. He did jump into the back of the car on his own initiative twice. The first time he did so we had been walking on Cannock Chase in the rain, when we got back to the car it started to hail, as soon as I opened the back he jumped in. The other time he'd found a tennis ball whilst walking on the Chase, when I threw it into the back of the car he automatically jumped in after it. |
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I have tried to get him to jump in by using toys and treats, by getting him excited and running with him up to the back of the car, but no. A couple of weeks ago we visited some people whom we know that breed Schnauzers to ask their advice generally. Cliff felt that he was coming-it, this is also the opinion held by the trainer at our obedience class. Cliff put a choke chain on him and walked him round some of his dogs until Siggy ignored them and then handed the dog over to my wife, for her to repeat. He is of the opinion that we were not dominating the dog. When we left, Cliff walked him up to the car and told him to get in, he refused, he walked the dog around again and then told him to get in the car, Siggy jumped in. I was then invited to try and he jumped in first time. Each time he has jumped into the car he has been praised. On the journey home we stopped for a break and to feed and exercise the dog after several attempts at getting him to jump into the car I wound up lifting him in. Later I spoke to Cliff to ask what he would have done had the dog refused, he said he would have persisted until the dog had done so, and that it was all down to dominating the dog. If we continued to do so we would succeed. So far he has since jumped into the car three times. When excited by my neighbour whilst playing. Whilst out for the day my wife threw a Jaffa cake into the back of the car. Last Saturday after walking on the Chase using a lot of patience and treats I managed to get him to jump in. But he steadfastly refuses to jump into the car and does not
seem to appreciate being lifted in. Every time we use the car
it is to take him somewhere he finds pleasurable. None of my
previous dogs have behaved like this; in fact they were all
opposite. We use the car approximately 4 times a day I need to get him to access the car of his own free will, in case my wife ever needs to take him to the vets etc. I have tried getting him to enter the car using the other doors in case the tailgate was the problem, the result has been the same. Any advice or help you can give me will be greatly appreciated." Ernie Noakes And here's my initial reply to him - Hi Ernie, Apologies for the delay in replying to you - I've been away on holiday and am only just back. Before answering you I have a few sets of questions I'd like to know the answers to - #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 Sorry to ask so many questions, but the fuller the answers you're able to give me, the better the picture I will have of him and your relationship with him. This in turn will make it much easier for me to give you an answer that's likely to work for you. Regards, Andrew The following day Ernie sent me the answers to my questions. Here's what he said - "Thank you for replying, I knew you were on holiday and did not expect a reply so soon. Since I wrote to you we have managed to coax him into jumping into the car 3 times. Each time has been after a walk on the Chase. All have been similar, he was hungry and we used treats to lure him into putting his front paws on the sill, then by throwing another treat into the back of the car he jumped front feet into the back and back feet onto the sill, copious praise. In each case there was nothing else about to engage his attention. I still cannot get him to jump into the car at home, we live on a busy main road and there are always many distractions. But to answer your questions:- We feed him twice a day, approximately 1330-1400 and when we get home after walking him approx. 2030-2100. He gets the same food each time, he has a good appetite and seldom leaves any food (cooked chicken breast and Burns Lamb and rice). He is a good jumper, Schnauzers are. He is able to use both methods it seems to depend upon the circumstances at the time. Our car is a hatchback. one of the times I attempted to lure him into the car by throwing a treat into the back he looked under the car for it. He cannot see the floor of the car from the outside. No the Schnauzer is the middle size of the 3 a medium size at 19" fully grown, which to all intent he is now. No I do not do any agility with him, but I am sure he would enjoy it and I would like to. Schnauzers are designed to catch small vermin, the hunting impulse seems highly developed, I have walked him off the lead on the Chase on one occasion he caught a crow. There are deer on the Chase, he has seen them and knows what they smell like he will chase them if he can scent them. I have used the methods you advocate, on one occasion he found me after being loose for 30 mins. He will come to me when I use a whistle ( I cannot always depend upon my voice) if there are no distractions. He is a very gregarious animal, his concentration span is minimal, he is intelligent and cannot be bribed a second time. He always reacts to movement. There are conservation areas where all dogs should be on leads. The ground beneath the Chase has been extensively mined, there are fissures and subsidence warnings in places advising keep to paths. Much of the Chase is undulating and covered with bracken substantially higher than 19". There are always notices up advertising lost dogs, if I lost him my wife would kill me. I do on occasions allow him off the lead, when I feel able to. After writing this I wonder why we visit the Chase, but this part of the west midlands is riddled with old mine workings. My wife takes him to obedience classes, he has just finished the first 15 weeks. At 4 months he would do almost anything, at 6 months he would do little. We have re-appraised our behaviour and attitude and he will now walk to heel and sit anywhere, at class he will down and walk to heel off the lead. But Schnauzers are a handful, he still tries to dominate my wife. We both like to walk, ideally I want to eventually have enough confidence in him to be able to complete some of the long distance footpaths with him. I hope that this diatribe is of help to you." Ernie Noakes Having got a better picture of Ernie's situation, this is what I told him - Hi Ernie, There are a number of thoughts which cross my mind, but they are, inevitably, speculative to a certain extent as I do not know the dog. It's not helped by the fact that I've never had any dealings with Schnauzers so I'm not familiar with any little foibles of the breed. But from your description it sounds to me as if he's a bright, intelligent and active dog who tends to be very strong minded in what he wants to do. My suspicion is also that he gets bored easily and that he has the abilty, if he so chooses, to be somewhat destructive. Would this be a reasonable assessment of his character, or have I got it wrong? If I'm right, especially with regard to the getting bored easily bit, you should find that he will respond positively in all manner of unexpected ways if you can channel his energy and intelligence in positive ways. You need to keep him occupied for as much as possible. Give him as much contact as possible, talk to him a lot and make him feel as though he's very much part of everything you do. I also suggest that you step up his training to a more advanced level. Your local training class may be able to help here, but there are a number of things you could look into such as agility, tracking, flyball or competitive obedience. I'm not suggesting that by doing any of these things you will suddenly have more control over him and that you'll be able to order him into the car and he'll immediately do it. What I'm implying is that by getting him involved in some of these extra activities it will give him a release from some of the pent-up 'emotional energy' that's inside him at the moment. And in doing so he will feel more relaxed and a more 'complete' dog. This in turn should help him to become more 'mellow' and his whole persona should be influenced as a result. You will hopefully see a noticeable shift in his behaviour as he becomes less wilful and happier to please. This should manifest itself in all sorts of areas, one of which will hopefully include his attitude towards getting into the car. In addition the very act of getting involved with all these extra activites with him should strengthen the bond between you and make him more willing to please you. I realise this might all sound a bit hippyish and arty-farty, but it really is true. You say you enjoy walking. Think of how you feel if you've been unable to get out for a walk for a week or so. Perhaps you've been unwell, or too busy with work or maybe you've been away. And then think of that great sense of 'unwinding' you experience when finally you are able to get out for a walk. On your return you'll be feeling far more relaxed and somehow more satisfied. And in this 'de-stressed' state of mind you'll probably be a lot more receptive to suggestions that earlier you might have baulked at. We often hear stories of bored disruptive teenagers with nothing better to do than hang about on street corners. Yet those same kids if given the opportunity and encouragement to take up sport or some sort of hobby can suddenly blossom into confident and mature people. It works with dogs too. My first dog was a lurcher, a dog bred to run and chase things. Until he was about two years old he could be incredibly destructive. Whilst he was with me he was always as good as gold, but left on his own the damage he did had to be seen to be believed. He stripped wallpaper and ate holes in the underlying plaster. He wrecked the inside of my car, eating the back seats and the arm rests, and he demolished a sizeable piece of fencing in my back garden. Around the age of two I began working him. I used to take him 'lamping' for rabbits at night. In order to get him fit for that I used to take him miles every day on my bike. He'd trot beside me on the roads for at least 5 miles a day and in addition I'd cycle hell for leather across the fields in order to give him a few miles of hard running. And then at night he'd be doing what came naturally, chasing rabbits. Within just a couple of weeks of starting him working he was like a different dog. Suddenly he calmed right down and all his destructive behaviour just stopped. He now had something to channel his energies into and it left him feeling fulfilled and 'complete'. Over the rest of his life if I ever went through spells when I wasn't working him he started to get restless again. He was never so destructive again as he'd been as a youngster, but you could tell from the change in his attidude that something was missing from his life and he wasn't feeling fulfilled. As soon as I gave him the chance to go rabbitting again he'd immediately calm down. He was like a junkie who needed a fix. If you can find something that Siggy enjoys and finds stimulating I think you will see a mellowing of his overall behaviour which will make life in general with him less of a challenge. Instead of finding him such a handful you should hopefully find he becomes more maleable. Obviously the key is finding the right thing to do with him that he enjoys. If the first thing you try doesn't seem to 'click' for him, keep trying until you find what works. This is clearly a long term strategy that isn't going to help at all with your immediate problem, but hopefully will lead to you having a much happier and more fulfilling relationship with him over the years to come. I do have some short term suggestions with regard to the car however. I want you, for the foreseeable future, only to feed him in the car, and never anywhere else. I realise there will be times when this is inconvenient, like when it's lashing down with rain, but if you can stick with it I think you'll see an enormous improvement in his attitude to the car. And until the right time comes (only you will know when that is) I also want you only to let him get in the car in order to eat. That means no walks at Cannock Chase, or anywhere else you have to drive to get to. It also means leaving him behind when you take your wife to work. The reason for this is that I don't want you to put yourself in the situation where you ask him to get in the car because you _have_ to, and he might ignore you. For instance when you get back to the car after a walk. I don't want you to take him anywhere in the car until you're happy he'll get in when told. The day before you begin I want you to starve him. No food of any description for a full 24 hours. But make sure he has access to drinking water that whole time. If you think this sounds cruel please don't worry - it isn't in the slightest. Dogs in the wild never have a cosy two meals a day at set times. They frequently go several days at a time with nothing at all to eat, followed by gorging on a kill. I know Siggy's not a wild dog but his digestive system works in exactly the same way as his wild ancestors'. He will come to absolutely no harm at all by missing food for a day. If it comes to it he could quite safely go without food for two or three days without suffering any ill effects at all, provided he always has access to drinking water. Never deprive him of that - being without water _is_ dangerous. So on day two at the normal time for his first meal let him see you preparing it as usual. He should be very hungry. Let him follow you outside with the foodbowl over to the car, put the food in and tell him to get in the car. Don't plead and cajole - just a quiet, simple 'in you get' (or whatever command you use) and leave it at that. If he jumps in just quietly watch while he eats then as soon as he's finished call him out of the car. That's it, exercise over. If he didn't jump in for the food don't make a big thing of it. If you've waited about 15-20 seconds and he still hasn't jumped in just take the foodbowl out of the car and go back inside. Put the food away where he can't reach it - do not under any circumstances give in to the pleading looks. At the next mealtime just repeat the process. Once again if he still won't jump in for the food just take it away without letting him have it. He will now have gone for two full days without food. He'll be very hungry but he won't be in any danger of starvation or malnutrition or anything like that. Try again the next day. If he still doesn't jump in for the first meal of the day on day 2 (which will be day 3 without food) email me straightaway. Assuming that at some point in this initial 2 day process he jumps in to eat, he will now no longer feel hungry. Take him out to the car as before for the next meal. He may not jump in for it this time as he had a bellyfull of food not so long ago. If he doesn't jump in, just take the food away and don't feed him. Try again at the next scheduled mealtime. You should find that he will very quickly learn that if he jumps in he gets fed, if he doesn't he goes hungry. If he's keen on his food as you suggest he is, this on its own should be sufficient motivation to ensure he jumps in for the food every time. Hopefully by about day 4 or 5 he will have learnt this lesson and will jump in to get the food each time. Up to now you have always put the food in first, then told him to get in. Now you need to change your timing slightly. Instead of putting the food in first, I want you to tell him to get in AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU PUT THE FOOD IN. So hopefully he'll land in the car at the same time as the foodbowl touches down. (If he's already begun to anticipate you and has started to jump in before you were ready that's fine. Just say the 'in you get' command immediately followed by praise as soon as you see him start to jump.) After a couple of days of this you need to change your timing slightly again. Now give the 'in you get' command just before you put the foodbowl in. You want him to eagerly leap straight in. Assuming he does be sure to praise him quietly and immediately give him his food. If he didn't jump straight in, but was instead looking at the foodbowl and realised it was still in your hand, just go back to how it was before when you ordered him in at the same time as you put in the food. Keep doing this for another day or two then try again. Sooner or later he _will_ eagerly leap in at your command while you're still holding the foodbowl. When it happens be sure to reward him immediately by giving him the food. Once you get to this stage your next step is very gradually to make him start waiting longer and longer after getting into the car before you give him the food. At first it will only be a few seconds. Then 7 or 8. Then 10 or 12. Then 15, then 20, then 30 seconds and so on. Around now start closing the boot of the car behind him for a short while before putting in the food. In other words you tell him to get in, quietly praise him while he waits about 20 seconds, then you close the boot of the car, keep it shut for maybe 5 seconds, then open it again and put the food straight in for him. Gradually make him wait longer and longer before you give him the food. Soon you'll be able to tell him to get in, then shut the door behind him and leave him there for 5 -10 minutes before opening the door and giving him the food. Don't forget that up to this point you've not been taking him anywhere in the car. He's only gone in to be fed, then come out again. At some point you have to make the transition to actually going for a ride. The way I suggest is to continue doing things in a nice gradual way. So you tell him to get in, shut the door behind him then get in yourself and go for a short drive for no more than a few minutes. As soon as you get back feed him while he's still in the car before he's had a chance to get out. Gradually extend the length of journey you take him on before returning to feed him. At some point when he's happy with that tell him to get into the car, go for a drive for 10-15 minutes that brings you straight back home, then call him out of the car. Make a fuss of him, then send him back into the car before feeding him. After another day or two doing that when you're quite sure he's happy at that level you can tell him to get into the car then drive to Cannock Chase. Tell him to get out. Make a fuss of him, don't go for a walk but send him straight back into the car and feed him immediately then go straight home. If he's happy with that you can gradually extend the length of time you're at the Chase for. So the first time you'll go for a one minute walk then put him back in the car and feed him straightaway. Gradually extend the length of walk. At the same time start introducing some of these 'mini walks' where he has to wait till you get home before you feed him (but still, always feed him in the car). In other words you take him to the car with the foodbowl, tell him to get in, close the boot and drive to the Chase. Have your walk (albeit only a short one of a few minutes duration) then tell him to get in, drive home and immediately feed him while he's still in the car. I'm sure you get the point. You're all the time gradually asking a little bit more of him, always aiming for the point when you can tell him to get in and then go for your normal 1.5 hour walk. By having the foodbowl in the car with you if he ever gets back to the car and seems reluctant to get in, by brandishing the bowl you ought to be able to give him the little nudge he needs. But to be honest, if you've done the preparatory groundwork thoroughly enough, jumping into the car should have become such an ingrained habit by then that you're never likely to run into any problems. Obviously this is quite a long drawn out procedure and it will inconvenience you while you go through it. But he's a young dog with years ahead of him. To my mind it's worth going through a few months of inconvenience (if that's how long it takes) if it means you then have him happily jumping into the car for the rest of his life. How long it takes is down to him and you - you have to play your part diligently and make sure you don't cut any corners. That doesn't mean to say it _has_ to take ages. You must take your cue from Siggy and go at a pace that suits him. He may pick it all up very fast or it may take him ages. There's only one way to find out I'm afraid.... If all this sounds just too much hassle there are one or two other things you might try. It's just possible there's something about the inside of the car that he doesn't like and which is putting him off jumping in. Maybe he doesn't like the dog guard. Or maybe he doesn't like the back seats being up. Have you tried taking out the dog guard? Have you tried putting the back seats down to give him more space? Or maybe he doesn't like whatever surface he's on once he's in the car. Does he ride in a basket? Or on an old towel? Or on nothing at all? Whatever is, or isn't there, might be affecting his attitude. It's possible that by changing things around that might be sufficient to persuade him in. I have to tell you that I don't think it's very likely, but it certainly _is_ possible, so you might think it worthwhile doing a bit of experimentation before embarking on my suggestion above. The other thing that might help is if you permanently keep something in the back of the car that you know he really likes to play with. A toy or old slipper, a synthetic - or real - bone, it doesn't matter what it is, just so long as he knows it'll always be there waiting for him (If you go down this road make sure he doesn't have a duplicate treat somewhere else. In other words the _only_ place he ever gets to chew on this real all time favourite thing is when he's in the car.) Please let me know what you decide and how you get on..... Regards, I realise this letter is getting rather long, so I'll draw to a close as quickly as I can as I can. But rather than make you wait for the next issue to find the outcome, here's the mail Ernie sent me just two weeks later - "Hi Andrew, Just a few lines to let you know how we are getting on with Siggy and the car. When we received your e-mail Siggy had an upset stomach and was already empty, he seemed very hungry so we prepared some chicken and brown rice and decided to try your advice. He must have known what was going to happen, because he jumped in almost before we had opened the car. To date we have fed him in the car (as well as offering the odd treat to entice) we have never had a failure with a meal and hardly ever on other occasions. If we have failed I've returned him to the house, and left observing all normal actions, setting the alarm etc., on return I have successfully repeated the procedure. We have now reached the stage where he gets in the car and we shut the door and leave him for 5 mins. The only other difference we have made is that I now reverse the car onto the drive. Our drive slopes and as I said before we live on a very busy main road, initially I reversed the car part way into the garage to reduce the distractions. He now pays less attention to the distractions and seems to be enjoying his food even more than before. After he had finished his meal I threw a small chew into the car to see what would happen, he jumped in after it so now its part of the ritual. Next step will be to get him into the car and go for a drive for 15 min. I'll let you know how that works out, but I've no reason to think that it won't." Regards, Well done Ernie! Once again it goes to show how fast dogs pick things up if you make the message easily understood and you're consistent about it. Recommended reading "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".
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