Thread: Blue Heeler in Car

Originally Posted by ROVERNIT

buy him a defender hahahahaet

My mate took on red cattle dog who had the same issue vet recommended two thing tie him down low on the floor with 30cm lead so he cant look out or those citress collers

Hmm.. I'd have said the opposite, get him up so he can see out.

Dogs need postive reinforcement in their training. Collars etc are negative, its stressful to the dog "learning" by trial & error.

I'd suggest heaps of short trips - chuck him in whenever you're picking kids up from school, returning a DVD, that sort of thing. Shouldn't take long & the dog will accept the car as part of the routine, without anxiety.

You will have a dog that'll be unimpressed when you leave him behind though.

Regards
Max P

I used to have the same problem with my Kelpie, she'd drive me insane with the barking. It's just excitement about going out. 14 months old is only really a pup, and with all working dogs it'll take ages to get through the pup antics. My advantage over you was when mine was a pup I had an old ute. I used to chuck a few bones or smackos in the back tray and hook her up to her lead and take her for a drive. After a while she was more interested in the treats than the wind and sights and ate them in silent bliss. Now she's still an 8yr old pup, but very quiet in the car.

Interesting. My mates dog is the same. When he visits places he knows and likes, but especially the farm he he has, he recognises when he is getting near and he gets excited at the people he will be meeting and the snacks etc so he starts to go spare, barking and running back and forth along the back seat. He is an obdient dog generally but he cannot help it, no matter what. It got so that he would crouch in the footwell and stick his head under the seat to bark. Owner has babies now and sometimes he wants them to stay asleep but this is not possible with the dog. So the ceremony is now usually barking dog and crying babies and frustrated wife (the dog predates her) every time they arrive at the front gate of the farm.

He is not so bad now becasue he is elderly and "relatively" mellow but the problem never got solved.

You have my sympathies, on of our dogs, the kelpie cattle dog cross aka the bitch, is the same,
I have worked and trained the bloody things for years and have almost stopped her from doing it, takes time.
As a herding dog thats what they do, you just need to be patient and be instantaneous when you do your corrections.
Its a bit hard to do when your driving, because you will inevitably telegraph your moves/body language to the dog.
having said that in my experience one good timely correction is all that is needed. And a good one at that.

the citrus and zap collars are fine, in the right situation with a fairly soft dog, but in a car the only imprint the dog will get from being in the car is the zap or smell of the collar, not the pleasure of the drive. I know thats very anthropormorhic. But in the long run it would stop the dog going near the car.

Do some basic obedience with the dog on lead, so you can develope your correction voice, so the dog knows when you are displeased. Plus you can get your timing ring as well.

As tusker said short drives, then gradually build up, to longer ones.

john