URGENT! RE: INCESSANT CAR BARKING!!
at my seatbelt harness simultaneously barking into my left ear. We have not yelled at him in the car and stay very calm. We have tried playing classical music on the radio. We also have tried to give him his favorite treats or chew bones but nothing is working!!My husband and I are ready to start wearing ear plugs because the bell bark is deafening. I am a Speech and Language Therapist and rely on my ears for my occupation so can't afford a hearing loss - LOL - but seriously, it is getting intolerable. What confuses us the most is that he gets extremely excited when we say "Do you want to go Bye-Byes?" and then he hops right in the SUV/car with absolutely no prompting! I don't feel the bark is an anxious or fearful bark. I did speak to the animal behaviourist at my Vet and she suggested taking him for very short trips (around the block, to the post office, etc) to take the excitement element (doggie park) out of the picture. We have done 2 of these trips in the last 3 days but behavior has not changed. My 14 yr old and I are going to try very very short trips around the block with ground meat hoping this might work. Just thought I'd see if there are any other ideas out there. Thanks in advance for your feedback and HAPPY 2011 to all of you! Jackie |
|
|
Oh boy...  You can attempt to train not to bark. (Has ANYONE ever been successful doing THAT?) You could try a crate covered with a sheet in the way back. You can try ear plugs. You can try frozen kong treats. Or ear plugs. Flents makes a good foam type, about 30db attenuation. |
| From what you've described it sounds like he is barking with excited impatience, especially as so much of his travelling has been to the dog park. So he's kind of yelling at you to go faster and "are we there yet" but he might also be movement reactive and barking at other moving traffic. It's hard to tell unless you're there. Either way there are two options that I'm aware off. The first is to put him in a covered crate in the car so he can't see. Works a treat for some dogs. The second is the desensitisation which you've already alluded to, the disadvantage of this method is it can take quite a while and he should have NO car trips while you are working at it. Also drop the "do you want to go bye-byes as that is probably a cue to get excited. Instead of trips round the block, I would ask him to walk calmly to the car first, if he gets too excited or especially barks, no reprimand just an abrupt about face and straight back in the house. Do this a few times a day, depending on Kolby this might be a process that takes a day or quite a few days. When he's got calm to the car down pat, then ask him to sit calmly while you open the door, again if he gets up or gets excited shut the door. Two tries and if he doesn't get it back inside. Any barking immediately back inside. When you can open the car door with him in a calm sit teach him a command like "in" or "up" and ask him to jump in and sit nicely while you harness him. If he's wriggley stop putting the harness on and ask for a sit, 2 tries and if he doesn't back inside, any barking back inside. When he can do this then you get in the car, no barking just calm or straight inside. Then start the car, no barking. I would stay at this point for a couple of days he has to be really quiet and calm in the car or you turn it off and go inside. Then you can try driving up and down your drive way same back inside rule. Then up to the corner and back. If he barks stop the car. At this point if you can have an assistant they take him out of the car and walk straight home while you drive on. Then round the block, then boring trips to the supermarket. If he starts barking when you're on your own or too far from home pull over and ignore him till he's quiet. You can see why its important to spend long enough in your own drive way and street, otherwise you'll spend a lot of time sitting in your car with a barking dog and going no where.  Only when he's sitting calm and quiet in the car on other trips do you go to the park and then don't make every trip to the park. Make some boring to the supermarket and not out of the car. Every time you have a major episode of barking in the car you have to go back a few steps in the process so it's better to go slow and steady and not have to go back to square one. This is why lots of people either stop taking their dog in the car or try the crate as its a time consuming method but it does work; if you're patient and persistent; and the younger your dog and the less time he's been barking the faster it works. Then of course there are the ear plugs.  Good luck which ever method you chose.  |
| jackie, my nico only rode nice his 1st trip home as a pup and his last trip to crossover. he loved to go, jump right in, but it has to do with motion. he was a menace with bike tires, even strollers. the trips to the vet and grooming were headache inducing.upon my oldest turning 16 and getting a jeep, i let her know it was her turn to take the dogs to grooming.  i was never able to do anything about it, but i will ask a great trainer friend if there is anything she can suggest.  ah, i see that mim has offered some ideas. it would be wonderful if the covered crate would work.  |
| Hi Jackie, My Howie (9 months old) does the exact same thing as you just described! We are at our wits end with traveling in a car with him. If we are parked, he sits quietly waiting for us to return. It is the moving cars that cause the ear aches. BTW, I am a sign language interpreter, I 'hear' what you mean about your ears! Good for you for remaining calm while the barking is happening, I have barked back on occasion We have not found an solution to the problem either. I was really hoping it is an age issue. I also noticed that in the past few weeks he started barking while playing with dogs in the park. Howie is going in to be neutered in 3 weeks, will this help lessen the craziness a bit? Any advice from folks would be very welcome! peg |
| If its movement reactivity then you may need to go with the covered crate option. I do remember seeing a bit of an episode of Victoria Stilwell with two OES who barked in the car. She did intensive obedience training with them then drove them around in the car with cloth covering all the windows and a cloth screen between them and the front window then she started to let them see just a little gap. If they barked she closed the gap until eventually they stopped barking. They don't tell you on the show how long it takes though and I've no idea how the black fabric was attached to the car. It looked like it was velcro but not sure. You might be able to download the episode from here. I didn't try as I don't have time right now, but it says free download. http://sharetv.org/shows/its_me_or_the_dog/episodes/254449 |
| Sorry my bad. I think that link is a tricksie one and only lets you download a search engine not the episode. Thought it was a bit too good to be true.  |
| Mine were great in the car then a dog down the road when loose would chase the car. Now they are freaks anything and everything they bark at doesn't matter. So I gave up and bought those soft crates that are covered. NOT A PEEP NOW. I miss the smiles I would get driving them around but the crazy barking was too much. |
| As a Speech-Language Pathologist I know what you mean by your ears when in a closed environment. Guinness started barking when she was 10 months old but stopped. The way that worked for us was to calm her when before getting in the car. She gets her harness on 5 minutes before I leave (usually she gets ready first and then I get ready). When going to the car, I don't tell her anything but walk her to the car and tell her up when she needs to get in the car. We then would take Guinness on rides around town for the weekend picking up and dropping things off at places (going to walmart etc). When she barks we told her no and then ignoring her for the entire ride. When she was calm and stopped barking we would then stop the car and get to go for a short walk and then do it again. Now she only acts up if the traffic light is to long but she barks only once Daina |
| Thanks everyone for your words of wisdom! It helps so much to know that we are not the only ones dealing with this issue. We have decided to purchase a soft covered crate online and will try that as soon as it arrives. Sure hoping it works. Since Kolby is our first "herding" dog, we're not always sure of the "best way" to handle "ibehaviors". We have learned that the biting/mouthing for attention decreases drastically as long as we stick to the following exercise schedule: walk him before work (7:30 a.m.), have the puppy sitter exercise him for half an hour at noon, our 14 yr old duaghter "runs" him a bit in the back yard at 3, I walk him for half an hour and do half an hour off leash play time in our 1 1/4 acre yard when I get home from work around 4:30 and Dad gives him one last outdoor play time at 9:30 p.m. I have learned to become an outdoor person in the snow (lots of layers) and sure am happy that I love to exercise as well. Maybe I'll start taking Kolby to Zumba with me!  We are planning on getting another large puppy in the Summer since I am retiring in June after 34 wonderful years as a Speech and Language Therapist with elementary school aged children. We have always been a 2 dog family and feel a sibling for Kolby will be a wonderful addition to the family! Again, thanks for taking the time to respond to my post! If you're getting the snow we're getting here in Pittsburgh, stay warm and safe! Sheepie hugs, Jackie |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|