GOES BERSERK when I get out of the car to go to the store,post office etc..

[FlowersGSD]

Wait means you will be coming with me but wait till I say ok
no means you are not coming with me(like when i go to the garage to get something out of the freezer or whatever)
stay means you stay there until i release you with an ok.
back means get behind me until i go out the door first so we dont both get stuck in the doorjamb-or get in the back seat of the car.

now when i make him wait to get in the car he doesnt go until he gives me undivided attention and maintains eye contact. same with getting his food.
he also waits at the top of the stairs and the bottom until i get there and say ok. so these things are working.
but one thing we have a problem with is going in the car to run errands. In his defense i must say that i usually just take him in the car when we are going to the park to play chuck it. so he associates it with getting out and playing.
so how do i get him to be a good errand running buddy?
he has conniptions when i get out to go to the store. he kind of does settle down but he does get crazy when i get out of the car. any ideas would be appreciated.
thanks

[PaddyD]

Try a stay. You may have to work on it a little at a time, as in a few feet at a time.
Because you are asking him to stay and if he can do it elsewhere he can do it in the car.
My dog was just fine in the car until about a week ago (at age 2 !). I left the car (with the window down, stupid me) and went to get something and all of a sudden I hear footsteps. Yep, she jumped out the window. A couple days later the same thing (yes, I am a slow learner). Now the windows are up to a point where she can't get out but where there is plenty of air..... and of course I only leave her for a few minutes.
But enough about me.
Try working on the stay in the car and good luck.

[godiva13]

Try working on wait in the car in your driveway first and then back down to the end of the drive and try it to . Then try it in new locations and when you take him to play chuck too. He will catch on.

[doggiedad]

i taught my dog is automatically lay down
when i get out of the car. i practiced a lot
car training my dog. first i taught him not to jump
in the car without a command. then i taught him
not to jump out of the car without a command.
you teach the in and the out of the car during the same
training session. whenever my dog was in the car
and i was getting out i would say "down", "lay down"
or give the hand signal for down. at first when i said down my dog would lay down but as soon as i exited the car he would get up.
so i would get out of the car and take a few steps and turn around
and come back to the car and put him in a down. sometimes i would get out of the car and walk to the front of the car and duck down. if my dog got up i would repeat the putting him in a down. i also left the car
door open when i was teaching him to lay down in the car. so not
only was i teaching him down but i was also teaching him not
to exit the car without a command.

we trained in our driveway a lot. once my dog started laying
down and not exiting the car i added in distractions. i would have
my neighbors come out and call him while he was in a down.
my neighbors would bring their dog outside and walk her up to my dog and let them get nose to nose to try to make my dog jump out of the car.
in the begining i trained in short periods. once my dog started
staying in the car i started leaving him in the car for
longer periods. i make sure my dog was always in view so i could
correct him if he got up. his correction was merely putting him
back in the down position. there was no yelling or yanking
on the collar. i did point a finger at him when i was telling him down.

i was teaching him not to jump in the car i would bring him
outside, open the car door and tell him to stay. then i would walk
away, walk around the car, hide behind my neighbors cars, go in the
house, etc. at first he only had to stay for a few seconds. the seconds lead to minutes and the minutes kept getting longer.

[GSKnight]

This topic was why I googled for a forum like this with my new rescue dog Viktor. he likes to ride in the car and getting in is fine. But, when I open the door, he goes nuts trying to get out. I have even sat and made him listen to the radio until he is calm, then he just does it again.

Seems like some good advice here. I will work on it with him. Thanks.

[kiya]

When I take my dogs in the truck when I run errands with no fun stops, just for the sake of going for a ride. I tell them "you wait here, I'll be right back". Believe it or not they have learned that phrase.
My real problem is when all 3 dogs rush to get out of the truck. I am still working on that because thier excitement level is so high, they get into a frenzy. I started taking each one for individual walks, one dog goes outside of the gate while the other two have to wait. That seems to work I just need to transfer it to the truck.

[gsdraven]

Originally Posted by GSKnight

This topic was why I googled for a forum like this with my new rescue dog Viktor. he likes to ride in the car and getting in is fine. But, when I open the door, he goes nuts trying to get out. I have even sat and made him listen to the radio until he is calm, then he just does it again.

Seems like some good advice here. I will work on it with him. Thanks.

He's been through so much and is afraid you are going to leave him. I would work on practicing leaving him for short periods of time at home (and in the car in the driveway) and coming right back and gradually increasing the length of time.

I transported a dog like this once and ended up with bad damage to my car by leaving him in there for 5 min when I was in sight and talking to someone else. When he finally got to his foster home, he escaped crates for a few days but once he settled in to a routine, it stopped.