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Hyper in Car

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  steve1814 
#1 ·
Murphy is the 5th Shepherd in our lives, and the only one we can't get to settle down/control in our truck. He just turned 2 years and we have tried everything from shock training collars to a metal separation barrier (which he ate through). He is good with people (although we still have a problem with him mouthing folks) The only way we can take him anywhere in the truck is with a muzzle and short restraint lead attached to a rear seat belt. We live at the beach in Delaware and desperately want to take him places here.

This guy has the most energy of any of the shepherds we have had in the past. We walk him 4-5 times a day and work him hard in a field 4 times a week

Any thoughts would be helpful.
. :frown2:
 
#2 ·
I would suggest trying to cover the rear view windows, have someone sit with him in the backseat since he chewed through the barrier, if your drives are always or mostly to fun places, try instead for an hour or so one day, just take him along on errands and only allow him out for a quick piddle and then go home - nothing fun. A thundershirt may work to help calm him and also music. My aussie behaved badly in the car and I also had to restrain him so he wouldn't jump all over. That helped and since he barked incessently I also used an e collar, but what really helped was music - by chance while flipping through the radio stations there was an opera on - he quieted immediately and that was a turning point. After a while he didn't need the e collar, or even to be restrained and could even be calm through the car wash.
 
#4 ·
That sounds like Bruno to a "T"! I thought I was going to loose my mind with him in the car on a 10 hour drive-it is the only time I actually thought of opening the door at 60 mph and letting him out! The solution: let him sit shotgun! It was absolutely amazing! He still get anxious anytime the LD-DTV (Long Distance Dog Transport Vehicle) is below 30 Mph without the window down, we are at a stoplight or when he needs a rest stop, but otherwise he is great. On the long trips I take the Passenger seat out and put a platform where the seat was and he just stares out the front window like a human. After an hour or so of Cruise Control driving down the interstate he gets bored and just lays down and snoozes.

I'm not kidding either about the severity of his fits, he would bark, whine, foam at the mouth and generally be an unbelievable PITA non-stop. I was going crazy and was at wits end until on the way back he actually broke the pet barrier, climbed over the back seat, sat down in the passenger seat like a human. The rest of the drive was pretty painless. I still can't go through a drive-thru with him but that is OK.

He really has a thing for vehicles, I don't know why but he absolutely loves to go for rides. It is so bad that when I even get close to the PTV (Primary Dog Transport, which is a convertible Suzuki Samurai) he gets excited. If I am working on it in the garage, he insist on supervising the work from the inside and I have to just about pull him out and the end of the day. His doggie bed is the back half of another PTV body that I have as a spare.

I included a pic of him in the PTV while I had it in the garage.
 

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