Dislikes car trips

**Criosphynx** · 02-20-2010, 02:26 PM

Mikey's outline is great.

Kiwi, would fight you to the death before jumping in a car...after struggling for a week I went outside.... Put a piece of lunchmeat in the car then went inside and got her and did our usual "struggle to get a 45lb dog in the car routine"

She never hesitated to jump in the car again, never had to use meat again either. I got lucky on that one.

Tippy, on the other hand, as proved not as bribe-able (lol) I had to go through the things Mikey described. I think thats a better way anyways

oliwa · 02-22-2010, 10:32 AM

I'll start tonight with desensitizing her to the car.

I tried luring her with a really tasty treat on Saturday and gave her a few morsels...she threw it up on the way. Unfortunately, the road there is hilly and twisty so I'm sure that doesn't help.

I'll try getting her near it and maybe work on getting to take treats off the seats.

Mikey · 02-23-2010, 04:15 PM

Quote:

I had to go through the things Mikey described. I think thats a better way anyways

As an added bonus your neighbors can think you are really weird too!!

(I don't know what it is about my neighbors but they think when they are peeking out their windows I cannot see them. Oh well-I still stood in pink pajama's out in the driveway with a shaking dog and a bag of treats -and now they think I am weird)

Quote:

I'll try getting her near it and maybe work on getting to take treats off the seats.

Sounds great-just remember -dont' push. Where her threshold is, where she gets scared or resistant-work one step below that. If you push too much they'll stop playing the game.

Brittany · 03-02-2010, 10:47 AM

How is she doing? Any progress?

oliwa · 03-02-2010, 03:23 PM

Yes, there has been progress!

Day 1
Our first night consisted of us going out into the garage with the door shut and she was off leash. I opened the back door and put treats on the door threshold (the bottom part of the door). She was cautious, but would slowly walk to the car and eat the treats. I calmly praised her as I stood a few feet away. I didn't want to scare her or make her think I was going to force her into the evil backseat.

I gradually put the treats further into the car, but when they got past to where she could get them with all 4 paws on the ground she looked at me, whined, and walked away. I pulled them closer and encouraged her to try it again.

Day 2
On our second night (last night) we did the same thing, except this time she was much more comfortable with getting them off the threshold so I started to put them out of reach. She used 1 paw to elevate herself so she could get the treat. I said "jackpot" and tossed a few more treats on the ground. After about 10 minutes she had both paws on the car and was reaching in the back seat to get the treats.

She is definitely making progress, and as stated before, counter conditioning isn't very glamorous, but it's necessary.

I'll keep you guys posted!

Brittany · 03-02-2010, 03:31 PM

Congratulations!! She will get there. Great progress so far!

Mikey · 03-02-2010, 05:24 PM

Awesome!!! A great one too is 'target' -they seem to forget something is scary when they are focusing on touching something for a treat

**fawkese1** · 03-03-2010, 01:41 AM

Quote:

She is definitely making progress, and as stated before, counter conditioning isn't very glamorous, but it's necessary.

truer words have not been spoken! lol... so glad that you are making progress tho... good job!

**Criosphynx** · 03-03-2010, 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliwa

Yes, there has been progress!

Day 1
Our first night consisted of us going out into the garage with the door shut and she was off leash. I opened the back door and put treats on the door threshold (the bottom part of the door). She was cautious, but would slowly walk to the car and eat the treats. I calmly praised her as I stood a few feet away. I didn't want to scare her or make her think I was going to force her into the evil backseat.

I gradually put the treats further into the car, but when they got past to where she could get them with all 4 paws on the ground she looked at me, whined, and walked away. I pulled them closer and encouraged her to try it again.

Day 2
On our second night (last night) we did the same thing, except this time she was much more comfortable with getting them off the threshold so I started to put them out of reach. She used 1 paw to elevate herself so she could get the treat. I said "jackpot" and tossed a few more treats on the ground. After about 10 minutes she had both paws on the car and was reaching in the back seat to get the treats.

She is definitely making progress, and as stated before, counter conditioning isn't very glamorous, but it's necessary.

I'll keep you guys posted!

I swear you're a natural at this stuff. Sounds perfect. Good job!

oliwa · 03-03-2010, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Criosphynx

I swear you're a natural at this stuff. Sounds perfect. Good job!

I think Snickers makes me look good!