10½ Week Old Gsd Hates The Car !

[Tarmons]

My 3.5 mths old puppy hates the car. As soon as he sees his harness, he tries to hide. This has gone on since he was 8 weeks old. He did get car sick several times but he has overcome this.

I ignored it... just kept putting him in his travel crate and heading off. Now that he has out grown the travel crate he sits on the back seat- harnessed and clipped in. He is in the car every day - it's a way of life in our household.

My advice is ignore it... make no big deal about it. I agree there's nothing worse than a hollering puppy in the car especially when they give passers-by the impression that they are having their throat cut.

Laugh about this if you like...but classical music seems to have a calming effect on him as does also lavender oil...

[Poodle wrangler]

If the harness is on securely, then ignore, ignore, ignore. What can happen if he's in the harness? Give attention/ pats and you're reinforcing the bad behaviour.

[Riley'n'Mia]

Thanks for all the advice !

Riley and I spend some time in the car last night and he was happy to curl up on the back seat and go to sleep I also put him back in the car this morning and drove out of the garage with him just lying on the backseat without the harness (I know not restraining him in harness or crate is bad but it was only for 2 seconds and I just let the car roll out of the garage) !!!!!!!!!!! Please no one get mad at me, he was happy with that as he could look out the window and see where we were going with the harness he's forced as you know to sit low in the seat and I guess he can't see what's going on. We have a crate but it only arrived on Wed evening we are going to get serious about crate training this weekend so will experiment with travelling him in the crate once he gets used to it. :rolleyes:

[malchi_girl]

Hi there the trainer at our puppy preschool reccomended putting some pillows on either side of the puppy so that as you go around corners he can lean on them and use them as a buffer. she also said to turn the radio up nice and loud to drown out outside noises. she said it would take them some getting used to but trying to make it a fun experience i.e giving him a piece of cabanossi as he sits quitely in the car just before you drive down the driveway ( only small though cause you dont want to make him sick.) i havent tried any of these as charlie is happy lying in his crate in the car but another puppy at preschool tried it and after a week it worked. good luck

[Sarah L]

Thanks for all the advice !

Riley and I spend some time in the car last night and he was happy to curl up on the back seat and go to sleep I also put him back in the car this morning and drove out of the garage with him just lying on the backseat without the harness (I know not restraining him in harness or crate is bad but it was only for 2 seconds and I just let the car roll out of the garage) !!!!!!!!!!! Please no one get mad at me, he was happy with that as he could look out the window and see where we were going with the harness he's forced as you know to sit low in the seat and I guess he can't see what's going on. We have a crate but it only arrived on Wed evening we are going to get serious about crate training this weekend so will experiment with travelling him in the crate once he gets used to it. :rolleyes:

Hi rileymygsd, great to hear you started the practise, don't worry about not restraining him on theses short sessions for now. Its not as if you are traveling a great distance. Crate training him is an excellent idea and you are right about getting him used to the crate before putting it in the car. Make all your crate training over the weekend short and positive sessions just like your doing with the car. It is a very good idea not to feed dogs while they travel in a car as they can vomit or worse choke on it. Its a very big no no to feed dogs while they travel. Giving a treat upon return and the dog is out of the car is ok. keep up the good work and I am sure you both will be traveling happy together soon.

[Kavik]

I agree with Tapferhund and would go with the crate. Although when he gets bigger you may not be able to fit the crate in the car! My GSD was always pretty good in the car, we only introduced the harness later though, he will just lie on the back seat.

My younger Kelpie loves the car but when he was a pup he tried to eat the seat covers :rolleyes: so he mostly travels in a crate which he loves. I am trying to get him used to a car harness, but he is still not sure about that, freaked out the first time and tangled himself - we had to stop the car and undo all the buckles to get him free!

[Riley'n'Mia]

My younger Kelpie loves the car but when he was a pup he tried to eat the seat covers so he mostly travels in a crate which he loves. I am trying to get him used to a car harness, but he is still not sure about that, freaked out the first time and tangled himself - we had to stop the car and undo all the buckles to get him free!

Sounds familar I had to stop the car on the way to the vets for vacc no 2 last week as Riley was wriggling so much he ended up stuck upside down and couldn't get up right he freaked as did I since I was on the New England Highway had to pull over in a dairy cattle farmers driveway to free him so he'd stop whinging :rolleyes:

[Kavik]

Kaos had really managed to tangle one of his legs in the seatbelt and he was struggling - I was worried he'd break a leg! Having already done that with my GSD who broke it doing zoomies in the yard as a pup, I am a tad paranoid! Not something I want to repeat.

Once I untangled him, buckled him back in, told him to drop and behave, he was good the rest of the short trip, but still didn't look overly impressed. I think he prefers a crate :rolleyes:

Edited September 7, 2007 by Kavik

[Flaves]

My 9mo pup STILL hates teh car.

She stresses andi have to lift her into it most times.

She is no longer vomiting but she DROOLS a lot.

We are perservering but i have never had a dog that hates the car so much.

[zoepuppy]

My previous GS was like that, cried and howled when she got into the car then got better as she grew older. Drove me absolutely nanas..

My new GS puppy now 6 months old however is just the oppossite - no peep from her when she is in the car. I don't know what i did right this time. When we picked her up from the breeder, she laid on my lap in the back seat. The same blanket that I wrapped her in is on her bed now.

For the first few weeks whenever she travelled in the car with us, she'll sit on my my lap in the front seat. Good as gold.

Then we put a harness on her and put on the back seat. No problems there. Quite happy to lay there when we leave her in the car by herself.

Last Sunday, we took her away with us on a long trip (7 hours journey each way) and she slept 90% of the time, other times just looking around the car and out the window and sticking her head between the front seats to say hello. Of course we stopped a couple times for her to stretch her legs, to do her business.

Maybe we are just very lucky she is a very good traveller, but we like to think that we had done something right. We were very conscious in praising her good behaviour and ignore the bad ones.

Good luck!

Edited September 13, 2007 by zoepuppy

[Riley'n'Mia]

My previous GS was like that, cried and howled when she got into the car then got better as she grew older. Drove me absolutely nanas..

My new GS puppy now 6 months old however is just the oppossite - no peep from her when she is in the car. I don't know what i did right this time. When we picked her up from the breeder, she laid on my lap in the back seat. The same blanket that I wrapped her in is on her bed now.

For the first few weeks whenever she travelled in the car with us, she'll sit on my my lap in the front seat. Good as gold.

Then we put a harness on her and put on the back seat. No problems there. Quite happy to lay there when we leave her in the car by herself.

Last Sunday, we took her away with us on a long trip (7 hours journey each way) and she slept 90% of the time, other times just looking around the car and out the window and sticking her head between the front seats to say hello. Of course we stopped a couple times for her to stretch her legs, to do her business.

Maybe we are just very lucky she is a very good traveller, but we like to think that we had done something right. We were very conscious in praising her good behaviour and ignore the bad ones.

Good luck!

Hi Zoepuppy

I'm jealous your puppy sounds like an angel

I must admit OH and myself took Riley to the park on Sunday and he only complained a little on the way there and was so tired on the way home he didn't make a sound was out cold the whole way home.

Then last night went to puppy pre school and he cried and carried on the whole way there but was really well behaved all the way home so I talked to him in a really really nice voice all the way home and he was wide awake listening to my everyword with his head moving from side to side very cute.

[zoepuppy]

Aren't they cute when they twist their head from side to side? My previous shep lived for 13.5 years and up to the last day she was still twisting her head from side to side whenever I talk to her. Hope this one is the same. Enjoy your pup, they grow too fast!!