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Shaking before getting into the car.

1K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  Jchrest 
#1 ·
Here's a new one!

Around 3 months ago Liza and I were in the garage, I had just put a collar on her and was preparing to put her in the car when I noticed her visibly shaking. Since then, just about every time we're preparing to get in the car, she starts shaking.

I believe this is pure, uncontrolled excitement at the prospect of going to the dog park. We go to the park only a few times per week, the rest of the time playing fetch in the back yard or walking around the neighbourhood. This does not happen when she's about to get into the car on the way home from the dog park, or when loading into the car in any location other than inside the garage.

This is the shaking I'm talking about:



What we've been doing so far is putting her in a down and ignoring her until she calms down. It takes some 7-10 minutes before she is mostly calm and I let her into the car.

Has anyone else ever seen this? Could this be something other than excitement? Are there better ways of controlling/stopping this?
 
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#2 ·
I agree with you. I think she's just excited. Is there any particular reason you want her to stop doing this? Do you think it's hurting her? If it were me, I would just ignore it and keep going with what we're doing, and if that means getting in the car, load up! Does barking or whining accompany the shaking at all?
 
#3 ·
No barking or whining.

I guess I just can't see rewarding this behaviour (with getting into the car + dog park) as something that leads to anything good. She's never been an overly calm dog (largely my fault for not working on that from day one), but this is a whole new level. Whenever I finally release her and lead her up the car ramp, instead of calmly walking up the ramp, she jumps to half-way, inevitably lets a leg slip off the side, and claws & scrambles her way up (usually with me trying to catch/push-up flying dog parts). The ramp is fairly new (a month or so) and she's used to simply jumping in/out of vehicles, but I want calm, controlled ingress, and this hyper excitement (before we even get to the ramp part) is not helping.
 
#4 ·
3 things

1) I think you stole my dog.
2) That is just excitement. I don’t even have to say a word, as soon as the dogs hear a leash, they all start the shaking, and it’s normally just 1 dog that’s going somewhere, so the rest get excited for no reason. Kinda sad, but that’s what we have to deal with for the moment.
3) The ramp looks pretty narrow, with no treads to make it slip proof. That may be your problem with the half leap and crazy scrambling. She can’t get a good purchase on the ramp. They make tape that can make it slip proof for her. We have a ramp we built for my girl, and it’s wider, not such a steep incline, and has the tread tape on it so she doesn’t slip when trying to climb. I see the incline and narrowness and automatically picture a dog slipping and sliding all over trying to get up it. Which may do more damage than just letting her jump in the truck without a ramp.

Just my 2 cents.
 
#5 ·
Placing her in a down like that might build excitement even more and leading to the mad scramble. You could try changing up your routine in some way, however that may only be a temporary solution. I have an "easy" command which is essentially a loose heel with no forging and use this when loading up multiple dogs. How is she once she's inside the vehicle?
 
#6 · (Edited)
Walk her to the car on leash. Load up and go.... no build up.
I understand not wanting to reinforce this behavior, but honestly, if you’re releasing her when she’s “mostly calm”.... it defeats the purpose anyway.

If it really bugs you and I were to do anthing it’d be desensitization. Load her up and simply sit in the car..... do nothing for awhile. Read, listen to music, hang out, then unload.
 
#7 ·
I wouldn't try to change this except for shortening the wait to load up. I want my dogs to come and be happy/excited to get in the car. My advise is contrary to what you are asking: Let your dog be happy.



On top of that maybe you could drive places besides the dog park? Just someplace new to walk around perhaps. But really, she's not barking wildly, she's not knocking you and everything else/anything else over. Less hold back = less scrambling. When we want to build excitement/enthusiasm for something like a retrieve, we restrain the dog for a bit...
 
#10 ·
For some of us, weight gain is unavoidable. Lyka packed on the pounds (from a steady 55, to a ballooned out 67) when a lot of her mobility was restricted. We tried a full diet line of food for over a month, didn’t drop a pound. Went back to the Fromm with smaller portions (still in the recommended portions). Still didn’t lose any weight. Had surgery, and started adequan injections, and she is more mobile now. Her weigh in today was 60lbs! So just because you see an overweight dog in a video clip, don’t judge by that alone. I got plenty of dirty looks walking Lyka into the vet, but let them slide off my back because I knew I was doing everything possible to get her back to a healthy weight.

Good luck OP, and check back in with us and let us know how it’s going!
 
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