Car aggression/protection?

[evybear15]

I'm running into an odd situation that I cannot figure out. Baxter goes nuts when we're in a moving vehicle. Any person or dog is viewed as a threat and he barks and lunges at the window like he would attack them if he could. But then we get to the store and my fiance will get out to get whatever it is that we needed while I stay with the dog. People will walk all around and he's totally fine. Curious, but calm and relaxed about it. The second the car is back on and we're moving (regardless of speed), those same people set him off. I'm at my wits end trying to figure this out.

Unfortunately, I do not have a car that allows me to have a crate for him. That's a future purchase, but it's not possible at this time. I'm open to any suggestions!

[gsdraven]

Raven does the exact same thing. She's gotten to the point that she looks IN other cars and barks at people and forget about motorcycles. The best thing I've been able to do is keep her close to the front and catch her before she barks and tell her to leave it. I try not to ride around neighborhoods with her too much cause she drives me nuts. It's really hard to correct when you have to drive!

[Pattycakes]

Uschi does/did the same thing.

What I do is when we get to an area where I know she is going to go bonkers is ask her to lay down on the seat and stay. If she gets up, I have stopped the truck and asked her again and she will listen. I have continued to do that and now she is listening pretty good. There are times when she still goes nuts. I've also left her leash on her so if I need to correct her or hold her back, its so much easier with the leash.

She's not perfect by any means...but she is getting there.

[bianca]

Molly started doing this about 5-6 months ago. Drove me insane not too mention embarrassing we were stopped at lights and she goes berko at people in the car next to us. I managed to squeeze her small crate into my car and cover it with a sheet. That works.

I know you said you can't fit a crate , so I wonder if a calming cap would help?

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

I have a calming cap for Mario - to help with car sickness. I laugh because they look so sad with them on.

It's called barrier frustration.

I was googling it to see if I could find something easy to follow and it was near the article that they said this: "Most people tend to think of their dog's behavior in terms of what they don't want the dog to do; not jump, not pull, not run away. Instead, we should define what we WANTour dogs to do" which is really a good thing to think of with this problem. Seize The Leash - Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue 11 (the barrier stuff is on the side)

With my old dog, I had seen a thing where you hold the leash and give a correction while you are driving. So I tried that and it worked if I had the leash but it was also very distracting. Then I went with a more positive approach (because the corrections also had to be timed early enough before he went nutso and wouldn't respond to anything) and that was a lot easier. I'd toss some treats/kibble right at the beginning when he'd see something/someone and say good quiet! So we'd ride around practicing this and it worked so much better, even after eliminating the treats. He learned calm. When he got old, and started up again, I let him do it because it made him happy.

[bianca]

Jean, that is a very good point! I know one of our trainers suggested the throwing of treats for us, but I could never get my timing right! She even said she knew of someone who made a tube from pvc pipe so it was easier to deliver the treats into the back of the car!

[evybear15]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I'll have to keep doing my homework until I find the method that seems to work the best for my little monster.

I've tried treats and toys to distract him, but he becomes so very focused on everything else that things he typically can't resist become boring to him, and he has no interest in them... It makes it tough. He's the same way one we're at my parents - toys from home are suddenly boring, as are his precious antlers and cherished cow ears. He's a finicky little creature.

[Dooney's Mom]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem. At least Dooney doesn't bark at other cars- just pedestrians and, Heaven forbid, a motorcycle.

Most of the time I am alone in the car with her- I did the treat thing with her and it has helped- we still have our moments of craziness though

[evybear15]

Actually, as annoying as this problem is...it helps me to know that there are plenty of other dogs out there who have this same issue. Baxter hasn't started barking at other cars yet - just people, and goes absolutely bonkers when there's another dog. I'll just have to keep working on it...and maybe start meditating to establish my calm before stepping foot into the car with him.