Chasing cars...from inside the car!
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| Josie,
This is a tough one. You can try giving her something to calm her down before going for the ride (i.e. Rescue Remedy). The other thing you may want to try is taking it in baby steps. Put her in the car - reward her for good behavior - take her out. Next time, try it for a while longer - be sure to reward her when her behavior is appropriate. Alot of times - the lunging at cars is a form of their "herding" behavior. You should secure her in the car (in a seatbelt, crate (if it would fit), and/or tie the leash in a knot and shut it in the car door so she can't move around too much). Use a command such as "Enough" and when she stops the barking, lunging - reward her with a treat. You can use the Rescue Remedy for Seperation Anxiety as well. Try giving her something to do while your gone - like a Kong stuffed with goodies, a good marrow bone, etc.). I would recommend crate training her - she would probably be more "secure" when you left. (Has she ever been crated?). Best of Luck! Kristen |
| Josie,
I know a great trainer - who owns 3 OES of her own - I think she lives in Storrs, CT too! I can give you her email address if you want - just send me a private message by clicking on the "PM" button below or email me privately by clicking on the "email" button below. She's wonderful with "difficult" situations like you described! Kristen |
| We have the same problem with Truman. When he rides in the car, he barks at pedestrians, people on bycicles and if the sees someone on a motorcycle - forget it! He goes beserk! The only thing we haven't tried is his bark collar. I know that works as he no longer goes on barking marathons in the house. All we have to do is show him the collar and he quits barking. (When he bugs the cat, we lay the collar by the cat and he leaves him alone!) The "no bark" command doesn't work in the car (probably because he can't hear us over his barking). Therefore, the treats/praise method really hasn't worked for us. We may have to resort to the bark collar on short rides to see if that helps. I hate to do that but..... any other ideas? |
| Hi Josie,
While I can't offer much in ways of helping you I can offer support. Panda my rescue dog has also done this. It was very hard riding with him in my two seater sports car and the only alternative was buy a van and place him in the cargo area...sigh. One of my friends from work suggested an air horn but I'm afraid that probably isn't a good idea. Although, I have noticed that when I engage the lock button on the van he temporarily stops barking. I think slowly training them to sit in a car and rewarding good behavior is the best bet. If you come across any good ideas from others please pass them along to me as I'd also be grateful. Thanks! Marianne |
| I think this is a territorial thing. The reason I say this is that Jake had the same issue. He'd lunge at cars going in the opposite direction on side roads near our home. He'd bark urgently at people approaching near or walking by the car. When let out, he'd go to them for affection.
On the other hand, he was very "into" people. It was almost like he was barking "HEY! HEY! HEY! LET ME OUTTA HERE SO I CAN GET A COOKIE" but to the untrained ear... we never had to lock the doors on the car, but we did have to keep the windows up to prevent people from being scared out of their socks. And the nose prints on all the windows.... you'd think they'd learn that banging their nose against the window whilst barking didn't help matters. |
My current Sheepie has not yet discovered the joys of 'biting cars' but my last was an expert, especially at night when she could see the oncoming headlights, she was like a hunter staring down her prey. I think the cars wizzing by startled her and she felt compelled to bark both as a warning and in attempt to control (herd) the other vehicle. It was cute for a while, but once my son was born and riding next to her in his punkin' seat I didnt want her being so aggressive near the baby. We cured her by taking her out in the car on a well travelled two lane highway with one of us in the back. She was on the leash and when she would lunge for the oncoming car we would 'correct' her behavior with a leash tug, a settle and sit, and then a treat when she finally gave up being agitated. She 'sort of' learned to control herself. Never could train her out of going ballistic at the tollway booths though. To this day, in memory of Penelope my little boy and I 'bark' at the top of our lungs when I open the window to throw my change in the hopper. One other note- Penelope never bothered biting cars when her hair was all grown out and hanging over her eyes, she would just sit there panting, oblivious. We planned a couple of long car trips and purposely did not trim her bangs beforehand. Hope this helps. |
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