Hi all,
I've got a bit of a tricky situation. About a week ago I accidentally shut my puppy's tail in the car door -- it's quite long and he flicks it around a lot, must have moved it between me putting him in the car and wrapping it around him and me shutting the door. Anyway, he now associates the car door shutting with pain and is very fearful of it. He will move away from it into the driver's seat, which is annoying when he is all muddy and I have to coax him back into his seat.
I've tried only giving him treats in the car when he is in his seat, shutting the car door with him leashed in his seat and giving him treats immediately after, giving him a treat to eat while I shut the door, and shutting the door from the other side with me in the driver seat while feeding him treats.
He is still very fearful and I can't figure out what else I should do. I'm worried this is a case of single event learning and that no matter how many times I give him treats after I shut the door he will always be afraid. He liked the car a lot before and I'm worried this will grow into a bigger behavior issue where he'll start to dislike the car.
I thought it might just be the loud noise, but shutting the door gently doesn't help; he is still afraid of it coming towards him. Eventually when he gets bigger I'm going to modify the back seat (I have an access cab Tacoma and it's not very comfy for him) for him to sit in, but for now he sits in the front where I can rub him and comfort him while I drive to make sure he enjoys car rides.
Any thoughts? I'm going to speak to my trainer about it but wondered if anyone on here had a similar experience and could offer advice.
Best,
Kim
I've got a bit of a tricky situation. About a week ago I accidentally shut my puppy's tail in the car door -- it's quite long and he flicks it around a lot, must have moved it between me putting him in the car and wrapping it around him and me shutting the door. Anyway, he now associates the car door shutting with pain and is very fearful of it. He will move away from it into the driver's seat, which is annoying when he is all muddy and I have to coax him back into his seat.
I've tried only giving him treats in the car when he is in his seat, shutting the car door with him leashed in his seat and giving him treats immediately after, giving him a treat to eat while I shut the door, and shutting the door from the other side with me in the driver seat while feeding him treats.
He is still very fearful and I can't figure out what else I should do. I'm worried this is a case of single event learning and that no matter how many times I give him treats after I shut the door he will always be afraid. He liked the car a lot before and I'm worried this will grow into a bigger behavior issue where he'll start to dislike the car.
I thought it might just be the loud noise, but shutting the door gently doesn't help; he is still afraid of it coming towards him. Eventually when he gets bigger I'm going to modify the back seat (I have an access cab Tacoma and it's not very comfy for him) for him to sit in, but for now he sits in the front where I can rub him and comfort him while I drive to make sure he enjoys car rides.
Any thoughts? I'm going to speak to my trainer about it but wondered if anyone on here had a similar experience and could offer advice.
Best,
Kim