This was Flike last Tuesday as we drove to our first puppy training class. He hates the car. I don't know why since he's had so little experience with it, but I suspect it has to do with the world moving when he isn't.
What you see him doing is pressing himself against the back of the seat, apparently trying to merge with it. He wouldn't lie down or even look at us. Fortunately, the ride to the training class is only a couple of minutes long.
When he went with us to the woods last Sunday -- a considerably longer ride -- he did finally lie on the seat and whimper. But then we opened the door and there was a whole forest for him to explore, and boy did he think that was a wonderful idea. By the end of our day in the woods he was so pooped that he gladly jumped back in the car (with a little assist) and slept most of the way home.
So tonight is our second puppy class. I'm eager to see if he might associate car riding with pleasant things now and not be so fretful about it.
Missouri calendar:
- Watch for mourning cloak and comma butterflies on warm days.
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January 19th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
We had an Airedale who did the same thing in cars. We drove home to NY from SD once with her in the car. She stood up just like that from Rapid City to Sioux City, Iowa before finally giving up. Spent the whole rest of the trip on the floor in the back seat. I guess it’s better than a backseat of bickering children, we’ve done that too.
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January 21st, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Does he get motion sickness? We had a dog Hagrid who got motion sickness to the point of throwing up the first couple of times he rode in a car. Then he didn’t for a few months. Next time he was fine as he was there after. He came to love riding in the car. Unfortunately he grow to pony size (120 lbs at under a year and still growing fast) such that his but was sitting on the back seat and his nose was up on the dash board. This became problematic. I hope that your pup will get over it in time. Our other dogs love getting their turn to ride shotgun. I figure nobody’s going to car-jack when theirs a big dog in the car…
January 21st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Caroline and Walter – Flike is much better now. We took him to Roundrock in the backseat of the truck, and after a day of running around there, he’s decided that the car isn’t so bad after all. I think he was just afraid at first.