Hello. I have a 16 month old Lab. Until about 2 months ago he happily jumped up into my car. He knows the word “up” and will jump up on anything- the couch, benches. There were a few times when he would wait for a good treat to get up into the car but it wasn’t a problem. Now he randomly refuses to get in. He will sit down before we even get close to the car and refuse to budge even for amazing treats. He is 80lbs so my options are limited. But this doesn’t happen all the time. Sometimes he will jump in perfectly happily He doesn’t appear afraid at all and this behavior was not preceded by any specific event and he is very fit. We have done a lot training together and he responds well to all the basic commands. He is very smart and learns quickly i have worked on practicing getting in the car and he will oblige. He will jump up and I reward him. We repeat a few times and all seems well. I think the issue is resolved but then it happens again for no apparent reason It feels like he doesn’t WANT to get in the car because he has decided he would rather continue to do what we are doing: walking at the park or beach or being at my partners house. I would appreciate any help
Thanks for your response He is doing it both at home and when we are out somewhere. I think we are in the process of figuring this out. After trying to get him in for a few days, sometimes successfully and watching his behaviour, I THINK that it is the hatch coming down that he is afraid of. (Volvo wagon) So I have opened up the back seat so he has more room and he is further from the hatch and have worked with slowly bringing down the hatch in small increments while tossing him good treats. It seems to be working. Now I have to go out and proof it close to home so we can walk back if we have to
