Hi there! Max is 16 weeks now - a whopping 32lbs! - and doesn't like riding in the car. I have a small 4 door sedan and I've tried a few things: having kids hold him the back, travel harness and soft side crate. I have recently begun to bring some of his food to feed as we drive when going to vet to keep him calm - giving a few kibble every couple minutes. This helps to a point but isn't sustainable. When I tried the harness he got his leg tangled in the seat belt and it worried me because it was wrapped so tight. He chewed through the soft crate. I thought of a hard plastic crate but I can't fit one in the back that he can lay in comfortably. Any suggestions? I'd like to train him to get in willingly and be calm but not sure where to start. Also, we are going to visit another puppy from his training class in a couple days for a play date. I've never done this so I am a little nervous of how he'll behave. The puppy is an older (6 month?) Golden Retriever girl. Is there puppy play date etiquette? Anything that I should be aware of or not let him do? I planned it in the afternoon so he will be done with his regular BM - I don't think it would be nice to bring him over just to relieve himself . Thank you!!
Anything that helps to make the first initial steps is good. Try to space out the kibble and sometimes give him a better treat(cheese/sausage) randomly. You can also try using a clicker when he isn't really calm. Just wait for a second of calmness and then click&treat. Once he's nailed being calm for a second try 2-4s, then 6-8s, etc... Again slowly increasing the calm timespan. It's all about capturing the right behaviour and encouraging it Edit: click for quiet is the technique, you can just use it in your car: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/click-for-quiet/
Another thing you could try, is making sure all well behaved car-rides end with something fun. Drive him before going for a walk/dog park. Figure out things that your dog enjoys and make it seem like they happen after driving. Once he realizes that nice stuff happens after driving, he'll be happy with the boring period in the car.
Watson (12 weeks old) would literally howl -I had no idea labs could do that for the first couple car trips we had! I bought him the best long lasting treat I could find, and then had him chew that only when in the car for ages. I also made a huge point of giving him a kibble for just getting in the car ( I wear a treat pouch ). He now does not love getting in but he knows he gets a kibble -he no longer needs the long lasting chew -he just goes right to sleep. I also 100% ignored him if he was upset and would pet him a tiny bit if safe for me if he was calm. Not sure if that helped or not -but it saved my sanity.
