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Are you blessed with a hound that is a happy traveller?
Unfortunately, not all dogs are good in the car. They may exhibit bad behaviors such as chewing the seats, barking at passers-by, or whining.
For example, imagine the dog who cries constantly and poses a distraction risk to the driver. Worse still, the dog can barely travel round the block without drooling heavily and then losing his breakfast all over the backseat. This makes it almost impossible to take pleasure trips to the park and adds a whole new layer of stress to routine vet clinic visits.
Sometimes these behaviors are a reflection of deep-seated issues that need working on, such as being anxious, over-protective, or bored. Some dogs misbehave in the car because they associate the vehicle with feeling sick or it might be they once had a bad experience in the car which makes them fearful on board. However, with time and patience, it's possible to create new, positive association with travel to turn things around for the better.
Behaving well in the car enables travel to fun places (for the dog's benefit!) safely, without distracting the driver. To achieve this requires a mixture of training and practical considerations, such as restraining the dog in transit.
The ultimate aim is to have the dog travel in a relaxed manner, so that he feels content to settle down and sleep for the duration of the trip. Depending on your dog's earlier travel experiences, this may take considerable time and retraining or be relatively simple.
Key to success is recognizing the challenges faced by the dog, and then putting a plan in place to overcome this hurdles one by one, until the dog behaves well. For those dogs with the worst problems, you may need to avoid car travel while you rebuild the dog's confidence. For others, the answers could be as simple as taking the dog for a good walk ahead of the journey and providing them with a chew toy en route.
To do the job properly rather than paper over the cracks, requires you to list how your dog misbehaves in the car, and then analyze their behavior to look for triggers. For example, the dog that gets stressed just getting into the car needs to learn new, happier associations with travel.
To get started you will need:
Adequate travel restraints for the dog
A food bowl and treats
A favorite toy
A spray bottle containing water
Time and patience
Medications to prevent travel sickness
The Travel Restraint Method
Most Recommended
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Most Recommended
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Safety first
Knowing the dog is safe and won't interfere with your ability to drive is crucial, and allows you to ignore bad behavior and stop rewarding it with attention.
Travel pods
For toy or small dogs, consider a travelpod or dog booster seat. These are a car restraint that raises the small dog up slightly so they can see out of the window. This can reduce motion sickness and help the dog to settle because they can see where they are going.
Invest in a travel harness
Travel harnesses are available in a wide range of sizes from small to giant dogs. The dog wears a special harness which attaches to the car's seat belt system. Look for a crash-test certified harness (Top tip: Some unscrupulous manufacturers state their harnesses are 'crash-tested' - What they fail to add is they were tested and failed...so be sure the harness has crast test approval.)
Grills or dividers
For larger dogs that travel in the cargo area, get a sturdy metal grill that confines them there.
Travel crates
Consider a crash-test approved crate for transporting medium or larger dogs in the cargo area.
Build acceptance of the restraint
Whichever method you choose to secure the dog, get your pet pal used to it first. This could mean wearing the harness indoors or sitting the dog in the travel pod while giving them rewards. Only once you are sure the dog is happy, take them on the road.
The Undo Bad Memories Method
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Effective
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Park the car
Take baby steps, start with the car parked and engine off. Open all the car doors so the dog won't feel trapped, and scatter ultra-tasty treats on the back seat. Give the dog as long as he needs to find the treats (never force him - walk away and try again another day if necessary) then praise his boldness.
Feed him in the car
Once he is happily jumping in for treats, close one or two of the doors and start regularly feeding his meals in the car.
Start the engine
Once he accepts eating in the car, switch the engine on while he eats. Praise his calmness.
Out of the drive and back
Now he's happily eating meals with the engine running, reverse out of the driveway and then back in.
Short pleasure trip
Finally, only once he shows no sign of stress with steps 1 -4, go for a short drive round the block. Ideally, if there is a park or field at the end of the road, drive there and take the dog for a game so that he realizes the car is a way of making fun things happen.
The Curtail Howling Method
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Effective
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Rule out stress or anxiety
For the inveterate howler, first rule out the possibility he is nervous, anxious, or stressed. Do NOT use the following technique on a stressed dog but use The Undo Bad Memories Method instead.
Equip yourself
Take a friend along for training purposes. Equip them with a spray bottle containing water.
Respond to the howl
When the dog starts to howl, have the friend immediately spritz the dog's face with the water and say a short, sharp "No".
Repeat
The dog will likely fall silent, so continue your trip. Each time the dog starts to howl, repeat the same action of spritzing and saying "No"
Phase out the spray
Keep the spray to hand, but start issuing the "No" slightly in advance of the spritz. This gives the dog a chance to quiet, without getting a shower.
Written by Amy Caldwell
Veterinary reviewed by:
Published: 10/06/2017, edited: 01/08/2021
More articles by Amy Caldwell
Training Questions and Answers
Husky refuses to sit still and will continously bark and whine while in the car. He will go from the back row to the front and cause safety issues for the driver by walking over them or barking and attempting to bite. He will walk over any and all passengers and will only bark louder when you tell him to stop. He will not listen to commands like sit or move back at all and we have to physically move him in order for him to not be in a position where he does not hurt himself or others.
April 10, 2022
Husky's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1128 Dog owners recommended
Hello Elias, First, pup absolutely needs to be using a doggie car harness or crated while riding, to physically keep pup and the rest of those riding in the vehicle safe. I recommend desensitizing pup to the car and slowing the overall process down. Start by simply feeding beside the car while its off, then feeding treats along the runner with the door open, then inside the car with it still. For at least a couple of weeks practice the Down Stay command on the middle seats' floorboard or seats (if a row seat). Gradually move to practicing with the car in the driveway but still while on - don't turn on in the garage for gas breathing reasons. When pup is completely relaxed in the car and can do a solid down-stay, recruit a second person to drive or train, so the driver can only focus on driving. Have the person training enforce Down, while the driver simply pulls out of the driveway and back in When pup can stay relaxed during that (which will require a lot of repetition before pup relaxes then too - once pup sees that the driving is boring through repetition), then drive down the block and back. Gradually increase the distance and level of excitement as pup improves, only moving onto further distances or more exciting locations once pup can stay relaxed at the current level of training. If pup is reactive/aggressive toward things outside of the window, opposed to over excited or nervous riding in the car, I recommend hiring a professional trainer. https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGoodDogTraining/search?query=reactivity%20car Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
April 11, 2022
My dog go crazy when he is the car he barks and act like he is afraid he and lick the window crawl at the door and wants to lay under my legs while I am driving
March 23, 2022
Cash's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1128 Dog owners recommended
Hello, I recommend desensitizing pup to the car and slowing the overall process down. Start by simply feeding beside the car while its off, then feeding treats along the runner with the door open, then inside the car with it still. For at least a couple of weeks practice the Down Stay command on the middle seats' floorboard or seats (if a row seat). Gradually move to practicing with the car in the driveway but still while on - don't turn on in the garage for gas breathing reasons. When pup is completely relaxed in the car and can do a solid down-stay, recruit a second person to drive or train, so the driver can only focus on driving. Have the person training enforce Down, while the driver simply pulls out of the driveway and back in When pup can stay relaxed during that (which will require a lot of repetition before pup relaxes then too - once pup sees that the driving is boring through repetition), then drive down the block and back. Gradually increase the distance and level of excitement as pup improves, only moving onto further distances or more exciting locations once pup can stay relaxed at the current level of training. I would also desensitize pup to wearing a padded harness - if pup isn't already used to a harness, and have pup ride clipped into another seat with a doggie car harness for everyone's safety. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
March 23, 2022
I just adopted my dog in mid-October. Even on walks he wants to chase cars. When traveling in the car he STILL wants to chase cars, but even MORE. I first tried a seatbelt tethered to his harness. He still manages to try chasing and goes as far as the tether allows, back and forth. Next I tried a crate in the cargo area with a blanket covering it. He can still hear loud vehicles and starts barking/whining and at night he can still see a glare so barks and whines then too. I don't know how to desensitize him from wanting to chase cars, but especially when he's IN one where it's much, much worse!
Jan. 6, 2022
Hoss's Owner
Caitlin Crittenden - Dog Trainer
1128 Dog owners recommended
Hello, First, I highly recommend hiring a professional trainer who is experienced with chasing behaviors and obsessive compulsive behaviors. Check out James Penrith on youtube, who specializes in livestock chasing behavior to learn more in general. Car chasing is similar to livestock chasing. I would address this on leash before I address it in the car. Once pup has improved on leash, then you can apply what pup has learned to the car. I suggest teaching a solid Leave It command to pup. Follow the Leave It command using the Leave It method from the article linked below. https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-shih-tzu-puppy-to-not-bite Second, teach pup a structured heel - practice away from cars at first. Check out the article and video linked below Heel article - The turns method: https://wagwalking.com/training/train-a-poodle-to-heel Heel Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTiKVc4ZZWo Third, purchase a high quality remote training collar with stimulation, lean how to fit it properly and find your dog's "Working level" - which is the lowest level that your dog feels and responds to. Only use a high quality collar such as E-collar Technologies, Dogtra, Sportdog, or Garmin. Check out the videos below: Fitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLxB6gYsliI Working Level finding: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cl3V8vYobM Examples of using an interrupter with prey drive. Jeff Gellman cat aggressive dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MLJV5PBh7Y More e-collar work with cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8lkbX0dhT0 Fourth, teach an e-collar heel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJaZsZdcjwU Fifth, put it all together. Walk pup on a collar or harness that's secure. Practice your e-collar heeling with cars in sight at a distance pup can respond to your training at, slowly decreasing the distance between pup and cars during practice as pup improves (obviously keeping out of the road at all times though). Whenever pup starts to fixate on the cars or break the heel position, tell pup "Ah Ah Heel" - If breaking heel, or "Ah Ah, Leave It" - for fixating on cars, and correct on pup's working level on the e-collar. Practice around cars a lot until pup will ignore them and focus on you around them. It's extremely important to make sure pup's training tools, like harness, collar and leash, ect...will prevent pup from getting away from you though, and running into the road with cars. Safety is another reason why I highly recommend working with a trainer experienced with this area. Any other training you can do to help with impulse control is also great, such as a long Place, Down-Stay, waiting at doors, not exiting a crate until told Okay, ect... Once pup is consistently responding to your commands and can be around cars on leash without being reactive, then practice in the car, with pup in a seatbelt harness. Start the training somewhere calm, like a parking lot, or by having a friend come over and just drive their car up and down your driveway with your car stationary where pup can see the other car from the window. Start with calmer scenarios without a lot of movement from either cars, correcting reactivity, using commands to instruct pup, and rewarding pup for ignoring the other cars. End the session before pup seems overwhelmed. Taking a break for at least an hour or waiting until the next day to repeat the training again. This process will take a lot of repeated sessions most likely, to slowly work pup up in the training. If you start out with training scenarios that are too exciting for pup pup isn't going to respond the way you need and learn. So take your time and easy up to closer distances, being around cars moving faster versus very slow, and practicing in your car. If pup redirects aggression toward people while walking with you, a basket muzzle also needs to be introduced ahead of time so that can be used during practice to keep everyone safe. This behavior is called redirecting and many but not all aggressive or reactive dogs do it. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
Jan. 7, 2022