My dog guard arrived yesterday for my new car. The final piece if equipment for Harley for the new car Unfortunately it was late when my hubby fitted it and I had to work today as it was International Women's Day and we ran an event (which went really well ) Anyway, got home and took Harley to some fields about 10 mins away in the car. I had a few small whines, but nothing major like I expected on the way home she was panting a bit in the back, but only one small whine. Sooooo happy as I thought she wouldn't like it as she has been on the seats in my old car, and that took a while for her to be ok in it
Re: First trip in car boot Might be an idea to do some good old classical conditioning and feed Harley her meals in the boot for a week. Give her treats in the boot too. Kind of as if the boot is a crate and you're training her to enjoy the crate (but don't leave her shut in it). Ideally you don't want her panting as that means she was becoming anxious (as you would know), assuming she wasn't hot. Do you anchor her to anything in the boot, with a harness? It can give them a bit of stability in the corners.
Re: First trip in car boot Thanks Rachel . We have sat her in the boot a few times whilst on the drive and given her treats and a kong whilst she was in there. I will carry on doing this through the week. She was probably a bit hot as she had been running in the fields retrieving/playing with other dogs and generally having a hooley for the previous 30 mins. I will bear in mind the panting if she does this again. We have got a rubber boot liner in there and I put her large blanket in there too. I will look at harnessing her tomorrow and see how that goes
Re: First trip in car boot Ternaya, Charlie had a real issue with getting into the boot which we think stemmed from his rescue days of always being transported :'( He would pant and drool like crazy so I did it really gradually and just left the boot open and he eventually got in with some treats waiting for him, then I just started turning the ignition on but not going anywhere and then just short trips to pick the boys up from school and now he is absolutely fine and he associates car jouneys with something good Just a question, how do you harness Harley in the boot? I don't I just put our dogs in, but we have a dog guard of course
Re: First trip in car boot Helen, I harnessed her today but had to stop and take it off after a few mins as she was getting distressed :'(. After this, she was great . The dog guard we have is great and she seems to be ok with it. Harley spent most of her time staring out the rear window at all the traffic we went to a field yesterday and let's at home today, and had a rice bone on the way home to get her to associate good things to being in the boot I can understand why Charlie might not of liked the boot, but well done to you for helping him overcome this x
Re: First trip in car boot Once your dog can jump in under its own steam you will need to protect the paintwork and boot area. For £10 I highly recommend one of these Roger PS My first successful hyperlink!!
Re: First trip in car boot Ooh these are such a good idea, I have been looking at these but couldn't find one as cheap as that. Thank you Roger How do you do a hyperlink?? ???
Re: First trip in car boot [quote author=charlie link=topic=4797.msg61312#msg61312 date=1394995149] How do you do a hyperlink?? ??? [/quote] Have a look at the correspondence in the Technical help section. Roger
Re: First trip in car boot Thanks Roger I currently have a rubber boot liner, but was looking for something to cover my bumper as I'm currently putting a towel over it atm :
Re: First trip in car boot I actually bought one of these boot liners from Amazon and although the flap probably wasn't quite wide enough to cover the bumper adequately, I was very impressed by the quality of the liner - much better than I was expecting. I also bought a couple of these rubber backed mats although at half the price of these ones from a local shop - partly to help keep the liner firmly in place (actually not necessary) but also to help wick water away from my soggy doggy. Works a treat. I would recommend it for those without the right bank balance or type of car for a permanent cage/crate device.
Re: First trip in car boot Covering your bumper is a good idea for your car but also to stop the dogs catching their claws in the boot catch fitting. Our lovely new dog crate has a bumper protector which is fab but before that I was a boot liner and towel person too
Re: First trip in car boot I bought a thin rubber doormat from homebase for £2.50, stuck one end under the crate, and punched holes in the other end and attached a bit of elastic. Fold down over the bumper to get in and out, and hook to the crate when not in use. Perfect.
