Our Dog Hates Going In The Car

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I'm after some advice from the ACG&S crowd on this.

Harry, our 7 month old cross just hates being in the car.

He goes in a cage in the boot (estate car) but yelps, howls and cries as if he's being tortured the moment we start moving

Following advice, we spend a week feeding him in the car, so he didn't just associate it with travel, we also covered the cage to see if that helps, but to no avail.

All the journeys are short, no more than 20 minutes, drives to the training place, local woods for walks etc.

Is it just a case of keep at it and hope he learns to like/accept it? or are there and old wives tales type tricks to sort this out?

I'm hoping to be able to take him further afield in the summer for nice long walks on the beech or over to the Peak District which would involve much longer drives.

TIA

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It doesn't sound like excitement, but he does happily jump in/out himself. It defiantly sounds more like unhappy sounds.

No puking.

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Prof Prolapse said:

I see you've already tried positive association with not success. What about trying to increase the value of the treats and doing it before his tea so he's hungry? Also if you're getting stressed, or over fussing him too much, it may make things worse.

They do tend to get better with age but now is still the easiest time to train a dog.

I certainly try not to get stressed and leave him to it, not always possible, but most times.

Trips out have been at all sorts of times, although thinking about it, it's mostly late morning after he's had his morning fill, so it might be worth a shot letting him go hungry and giving treats of a higher value than the bits I normally have in my pocket.

He is generally a very excitable dog though, wanting to say hello to everyone and every cat or dog he sees. Our trainer has suggested getting him snipped to help calm him down and I wondered if it might also help with this car issue.

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Spiffing said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Some people will hate me for this, but if you've tried all the niceties what about a slap on the rump? It may keep it quiet long enough it calms down.

Yeah, why not add more reasons to be worried of the car.

It wouldn't really work in my situation either way, as he only yelps when moving, as soon as we stop he stops. He's only associate the slap (not that I want to do that anyway) with stopping the car.

It's like he doesn't like the movement of the car rather than being in the car.

I did try having him up-front with me once in the passenger seat, but even with the window open a crack and me next to him he still yelped.

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Jasandjules said:

Drooling? Panting heavily?

Not that I notice.

Foliage said:

Have you tried him in a seat, with a doggy seat belt? he might not like not being able to see whats going on/where he is going or similar.

Yep, tried him sat in the front passenger seat, not quite as bad (maybe because he could see me) but still yelping and howling with a very worried look on his face

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Cheeky buggers.

I've got a super flash 1.6 diesel Focus now I'll have you know

The Skoda was a much better car though