Dog training advice, Please Help

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mkipp

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I am looking for some dog training advice. We have a 3 year old goldendoodle that hates cars, being in them or around them. Every time we taker her for a ride to the park or anywhere she goes crazy and barks the entire time. Also, when ever we walk her and she sees a car she spins in circles and barks like crazy. She has been like this since we got her. She is a sweet dog, it is just this situation with the cars is driving us crazy. We have tried every collar, using treats etc., nothing has worked. Any advice???
 
Get one of the Dog Whisperer’s books.

It will have to do with making a car sound a good thing in her mind. Re-sensitizing her, for instance when she hears a car, you give her a treat.
 
kage_ar said:
Get one of the Dog Whisperer’s books.

It will have to do with making a car sound a good thing in her mind. Re-sensitizing her, for instance when she hears a car, you give her a treat.
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👍 Agreed! My mom used his books and videos to help train our dog older dog we got from a shelter! They worked really well!
 
We tried the treat thing she does not care, she just starts to spin and bark. It seems that every other dog I see loves to ride in the car or can be on a walk. I know that this is something that we as owners did, just not sure how to fix it.
 
I agree with those who recommend the Dog Whisperer.

It seems to me like you need to take some baby steps.
  1. Give the dog a good doggy cardio workout. But it shouldn’t be a fun, exciting, playful workout. It should be a somewhat dispassionate WORK out.
  2. Make up your mind not to feel bad about how your dog might be feeling. You can both feel pleased with each other when the dog finally accepts your leadership and direction.
  3. Teach the dog to sit/stand/ lie down quietly calmly when near or inside the car when it’s parked. No treats, no reassurances, and no petting while the dog is excited and/or misbehaving. (The dog will probably be anxious or excited at first.) No rewards or reassurances until you get submission.
  4. Once the dog can behave calmly near or in a parked car then you can move on to a stationary car with the motor running.
  5. When your dog masters being around cars with the motor running you can move on to moving cars.
 
Dog whisperer is ok, books are ok.

Do yourself and your dog a huge favor and consult a local canine behaviour specialist. There is NOTHING better than hands on help. You may consider some good obedience training as well as this is really REALLY good for dogs.
Call your vet for recommendations. Also if that goes nowhere, call your local dog training group and get a referral from them. Humane society should be able to help you as well.

I had a mini doxie (many years ago) who was afraid of going in the car. We started off getting in the car and getting out of the car and then just backing out of the driveway and pulling back in. She got a treat when we finished. It took us several weeks to advance to a drive around the block. Eventually she advance to the point where she LOVED to go for rides. So it is possible.

Good luck!
 
How much exercise does she get? The spinning doesn’t sound to me like a fear reaction. Barking and spinning is generally a reaction that dogs have when they’re excited. Like if they aren’t getting enough exercise.

Perhaps she associates cars with going places and getting exercise so it excites her. If she were scared of cars, in my experience she would hate getting anywhere near one and for our dog that had a fear of cars (was from the shelter) she would loose control of her bowels in the car.

I just honestly do not think this sounds like a fear case given what you’ve said. To me it sounds like over excitement.
 
Does your dog use a crate in the house? If so, place the crate in your car (if it will fit. If not, get a smaller crate) Then place the dog in the crate. Ignore it and clean the widows or sweep the floor. Then when the dog is quiet, let her out. repeat similiar until the dog will rest while in the crate in the car. Then drive to the end of the drive, and back up.

Get the idea? Baby steps, everything is done in stages. Most important is to ignore un wanted behavior. Only let the dog out, when it’s calm and quiet. Lenghten drives til it’s a normal activity for the dog. Once it will ride in the car in the crate. Try with just the pad from the crate. But make the dog lay down. Don’t let it roam around the car. if you have a glitch or relapse. Just go back to the last step where the dog was o.k.

Then take the dog in the car to a car dealer after hours. walk it around a few cars on a leash and let it sniff around. Then back in the car and home. After a few trips to the dealer. Go to a theater parking lot when the shows on. Hopefully a car or two will come by. Walk the dog on lead as before. Gradually, going to busier lots. Finally to streets with traffic. Odds are good that the dog will see that the car is o.k. pretty quickly. It will have everyones scent in it which should help. Use car rides to car lots as a bridge for the dogs understanding.

Goldendoodles and labradooles are a little on the exitable side. More excersise will help alot. Retrieving, and running beside a bike are good ideas. Mental as well as physical exercise. Are the thing. So, hiding things in the house that the dog retrieves. So, that it has to look around will pay big dividends.

Good luck.
 
Our dog did have training, but we slacked of and she did as well. She does not crate in the house, as she is fine being able to roam. My wife and I realize that we are a cause of her insanity. She gets a fair amount of exercise, about 1 hour of walks and runs at the golf course per day. We only take to fun places, that is why we cannot understand her actions. Maybe you are right, she just gets over excited. But we would love to take her with us on trips to visit family in Vermont and Maine, but now it is impossible. 🤷
 
Mickey_Finn said:
Does your dog use a crate in the house? If so, place the crate in your car (if it will fit. If not, get a smaller crate) Then place the dog in the crate. Ignore it and clean the widows or sweep the floor. Then when the dog is quiet, let her out. repeat similiar until the dog will rest while in the crate in the car. Then drive to the end of the drive, and back up.

Get the idea? Baby steps, everything is done in stages. Most important is to ignore un wanted behavior. Only let the dog out, when it’s calm and quiet. Lenghten drives til it’s a normal activity for the dog. Once it will ride in the car in the crate. Try with just the pad from the crate. But make the dog lay down. Don’t let it roam around the car. if you have a glitch or relapse. Just go back to the last step where the dog was o.k.

Then take the dog in the car to a car dealer after hours. walk it around a few cars on a leash and let it sniff around. Then back in the car and home. After a few trips to the dealer. Go to a theater parking lot when the shows on. Hopefully a car or two will come by. Walk the dog on lead as before. Gradually, going to busier lots. Finally to streets with traffic. Odds are good that the dog will see that the car is o.k. pretty quickly. It will have everyones scent in it which should help. Use car rides to car lots as a bridge for the dogs understanding.

Goldendoodles and labradooles are a little on the exitable side. More excersise will help alot. Retrieving, and running beside a bike are good ideas. Mental as well as physical exercise. Are the thing. So, hiding things in the house that the dog retrieves. So, that it has to look around will pay big dividends.

Good luck.
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Excellent advice about crates. I never go anywhere with a dog without a crate. It is too dangerous for all involved with a loose dog in the car in case of an accident, even a fender-bender. Dogs are better off in crates.
 
mkipp said:
Our dog did have training, but we slacked of and she did as well. She does not crate in the house, as she is fine being able to roam. My wife and I realize that we are a cause of her insanity. She gets a fair amount of exercise, about 1 hour of walks and runs at the golf course per day. We only take to fun places, that is why we cannot understand her actions. Maybe you are right, she just gets over excited. But we would love to take her with us on trips to visit family in Vermont and Maine, but now it is impossible. 🤷
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Too bad about the crate. It’s second only to the milkbone in useful training tools.😉 You could still try the routine I outlined with her bed pad or what ever she sleeps on.

If you don’t mind my asking. Was she the product of a Standard poodle and a Golden retreiver? Or was she breed from two golden doodles? If the later, how many generations back to the first cross?

ATB
 
Check out “It’s Me or the Dog”. Victoria Stillwell has addressed the car issue on a few recent programs. You can watch most of them here animal.discovery.com/tv/its-me-or-dog/victoria-secrets/basic-training/

Here is a thread from her forum on the topic
victoriastilwell.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=4211&sid=b4f05782d65471290c2f65c2ca787a4e

Whatever technique you decide to use, be consistent with it. If it doesn’t work immediately, don’t give up and try something else. Stay with it.

We have two rescue dogs - one is a gigantic Puggle, Feeney, who is now about 50 lbs and who used to go insane when he saw another dog (crying to play, not wanting to fight) and the other is a chihuahua terrier mix, Daisy Mae, who thinks she is a lion. Each had issues individually and the mix of the two created more issues when we brought Daisy into the house a few months ago. With a lot of work they are now both happy cohabitors.

I know some people like Cesar Milan, but personally, I’m not a pack leader. I’m a person and my dogs are dogs. I think Victoria’s methods are gentler and if a dog is fearful about something (like cars, or paper bags, or a flag blowing in the wind) I prefer to desensitize by instilling a positive feeling about the object through treating (food or toy depending on the dog) rather than immersion which might create more anxiety. But I’m not a dog trainer and the gentler path is just my preference.
 
“Our dog did have training, but we slacked of and she did as well.”

Well, this might be the start of the problem.

An animal will only retain what it is taught. If the training is stopped then the animal will revert and do as they wish.

Whoever suggested baby steps is on the track but you have to be willing to put the time in that it will take to make your dog a solid citizen. This is really up to you and the retaining has to be done on a daily basis and with consistancy. 👍
 
Sometimes muzzles are in order. I’ve had great sucess with calm behavior and “negative” correcting tools. For instance my dog, a shepard mutt, loves to tug on walks. she HATES choke collers and HATES HATE HATES the head harness. drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=875

I would apply this negative consequence to her when she would behave. When she displayed that she could walk without the head harness, I removed it. When she began to be irascible I put it back on. It didn’t take her long to figure out that it was better to go for walks without the halti. You could do the same thing with a muzzle. Any mildly smart dog will make the connection eventually. (although especally stubborn dogs, like terriers, may get the idea but won’t cooperate…EVER:rolleyes:)
 
You may also try a bark collar, the ones that shock. :eek:

I know, it sounds cruel, but you can get an idea right away if the dog figures it out or not. I have seen dogs bark a few times with it on, get the idea, and never bark again. Most people take the batteries out after that, simply having it on is enough! Goldendoodles are not dumb dogs, she should figure it out!

If she can’t bark, she might calm down some of the other behaviors as well. Its kinda like kids. If they can’t cry/moan/complain, they don’t bother as much with the physical tantrum either. Whats the fun if you can’t make a bunch of racket at the same time!
 
If you go with the collar route I’d check out the citronella spray ones BEFORE any shock correction for barking. They can be much cheaper, too. If you need to step it up, then go to the shock collar…but an otherwise obedient and happy dog should get the picture quickly.
 
Use a prong collar, not a choker, chokers can break the dog’s windpipe. And don’t use one of those halty-leaders or whatever they are called, unless you want a dog with a snapped neck.

My philosophy is this- and I’ve had numerous people compliment me on how well behaved my dog is- treat the dog like a dog, make sure he knows he is a dog and is at the bottom of the pack, but make sure he knows… this is where it gets weird but bear with me… that you’d kill him if he tried to overthrow the order you as the human have established. Be nice to him when he is good, give him what he needs, make him feel like he has a place, but the place YOU give him. It’s natural. It’s a good thing.

The MAIN PROBLEM with people and bad dogs is that they think they are people and not highly specialized pack animals with a few instincts to follow. It really makes me sick. This is bad because it creates a poorly behaved and insecure animal and also, the animal really will hate the guts of a weak owner and treat that owner with contempt. It’s also animal abuse, because the dog is actually happiest when he is subordinate and trusts you to do the best thing.

Also, take your dog to basic obedience too. It’ll help.
 
mkipp said:
She is from a Standard Poodle and Golden Retriever, good breeder.
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With all due respect, a GOOD breeder will never cross breed. You probably have a lovely dog, but there is no way to tell what kind of behavior each dog in the litter will have or what they will look like.
 
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