I can't figure out what's up with Lady when she is in the back of the car. There's clearly something upsetting her when it's time to get out of the car - getting in is fine. I think it must be a fear related reaction. If she knows where she is and is about to go for an exciting/interesting walk there's no problem and out she hops, although I prefer to lift her out to stop her shocking her elbows with the jump. If we are in a new location eg an hotel car park and she needs to get out to go to our room, it's a different matter. She will display tense and threatening body posture from her lying down position in the back of the car and if I approach with my hand she growls rather alarmingly sometimes. She's clearly very distressed about the perceived situation - poor lamb, and will relax by massage stroking and calm words, but it would be good to get some help with how to reassure her and develop either a strategy to deal with the situation or how to figure out what's spooking her and deal with that. As far as I can tell, it's either related to her ED and she doesn't want to jump out of the boot unless there's a very rewarding reason to do it because it hurts her elbows, or it could be just fear of the unknown. Either way, how on earth do I approach the problem of a dog out of reach, that won't get out of a car, and snarls alarmingly if approached or touched? I had some success at a hotel we stayed at last night by enticing her to the back of the boot with a high value treat ( a dental stick ) and when she'd taken it and was still standing I was able to lift her out of the boot. On the way back this morning I repeated the process with a low value treat when we got her out to give her a leg stretch - again all ok. Back at home we were in a very growling mood again and unwilling to shift. Actually writing this maybe I've partially answered my own question as she was in a familiar place but not wanting to get out so maybe it's the jumping she doesn't want to do. So how to go about teaching her that I'm there to help, and to get her to let me lift her out? Maybe just continue with the high value bribery to lift her out until she comes more willingly then phase the treats out? It's a difficult one because the way she growls I definitely wouldn't want to risk pushing things as I can see that it could easily go up a level. The only other times I've heard her growl like that was when a Boxer put his nose in the boot of the car when she was in it and she left no doubt what would happen if the Boxer got an inch closer, or when a Patterdale terrier stuck his nose in her food bowl and that growl came complete with a snap to round it off.
How about getting a boot ramp? I think I've seen some on amazon purpose designed for doggy use, and were telescopic or fold away. I kept them in my mind as we may all need one, one day, for the elderly less able dog or recovering from surgery etc. It might not solve anything, but at least it will give you some very valuable information to narrow down what the problem is.
Poor Lady, would a car ramp help David? You could proof by taking her to her normal walks and then different locations. Just a thought if it is her elbows that are bothering her which would be enough to make her growl getting out of the boot. xxx
Poor girl, if she has ED she should not be jumping in or out of boots. Juno has ED and had surgery earlier this year and uses a ramp for getting in and out of the car, although I had trained her to use a ramp from around 4.5 months. If her elbows are bothering her it may be why she is growling about coming out, as the impact is quite severe on jumping down. I bought my ramp from Amazon and trained Juno to use it very easily with some treats.
Hmmm....this does sound like: it hurts if I jump so have learned to not like getting out of the car; but that is sometimes displaced by learning that: getting out here is a great thing to do. I used to have trouble getting Charlie out of cars. This is what we did: With Charlie, the problem started because I have never allowed him to jump out of a car and we would reach into the car to get him - I used to have him in a tiny car. A person looming over a small puppy in a very small space was scary. So that was that - didn't want to get out of the car. I think that was about day 3.... As time went on, and he became an adult, he didn't much like being picked up (this is not at all unusual, most adult dogs do not). So that didn't help matters at all. In the end, I just tried to park the car where he could jump onto grass or soft surfaces, and said "out then" and allowed him to get out on his own. That solved it. But then, cruciate injury. No more jumping anywhere. Back to the problem of getting Charlie out of the car. We bought the volvo with his proper travel crate at this point. We started with a straight bench outside the car at the same height as his crate, non slip pad over the bumper, and tempted him to walk out onto the bench. The first time this took forever - just forever - and a pile of sardines, sea biscuits, sea wraps...you name it. He came out inthe end because he got really hungry! Once he was on the bench, we could pick him up without looming over him, and in the most comfortable way for an adult dog to be lifted - with both arms equally spaced between front and back legs. Once we'd got him used to this, we faded the bench by moving it to be out of line with his crate - until he would step out onto the bumper with his front paws, move to his left towards the bench, then I could move to lift him in the "forklift truck lift" from his right hand side before he reached the bench. After that, I faded the bench completely, replacing it with a treat in my right hand, then faded the treat, replacing it with a hand touch so he stepped out onto the bumper to touch my right hand, and he'd get his treat once I'd lifted him down. I still do this today. It was a right old faff.
Just using a ramp, by the way, was no solution for Charlie - first, he hated ramps. But more importantly, the ramp on its own did nothing to remove the negative association he had learned about getting out of the car. The bench was just marginally better than the ramp....but didn't help just on its own. Plus, I just want to lift him out of the car, and not faff around with a ramp for the next decade.
Yes the ramp idea is good in principle, but like Charlie, Lady hates them. Thanks for the detailed response, Julie. I'd prefer to go along your route rather than a ramp. I think I'll try getting Lady used to standing sideways and being picked up. Theoretically I should have a head start on that because I've got her used to standing sideways for being picked up and put over fences and stiles. I bet it is the ED raising its head again and that's putting her off. If the excitement drive is strong enough there's no hesitation. She's not supposed to get out of the car without an invite, but by way of example, we had stopped en route to Cornwall for picnic lunch and walk at Haytor. I was sitting on the boot lid putting my walking boots on when a Small Black Dog's paws used my shoulder as a jumping support and she came out over the top of me! I already lift her into the car most of the time and she stands for me to pick her up. It's just a question of getting her to know she's going to be lifted down.
Yes, that's it - the key with Charlie was to get him to move sideways - as you say - so human picks up from the side in a comfortable lift, and there is no looming human over the top of the dog.
Lifting Lady seems like the best solution David , I don't think Sam would like a ramp either . Bless her , her elbow might just be the trigger, hope she is ok
Ah, poor Lady. Getting her checked out might put your mind at rest. Hopefully she is just a Lady in her prime voicing her opinion about being lifted in what she considers an undignified manner....
Is it possible that it hurts when you lift her as well? She may also be anticipating that and trying to avoid it. Poor little girl, I hope you can find a way to avoid this problem. Best wishes.
