Not having a good weekend here. 1) Car troubles are escalating. Simba travels in the van, in the back. We have a barrier up, which we put in place after we got home from holidays, as when we tried it without it, he soon realized that he could get over the back seat into the van. He is NOT happy back there. Yapping distress-type barks, trying to squeeze through the small space at the bottom between the seat and the side of the van - he can get his head through .... The worst? He's now chewed through both seat belts at the back and one of the little straps attached to the back that you pull to get the seat to lay flat. Hubs not impressed. We covered the back with a piece of plywood so he couldn't chew the OTHER one...he chewed the strap on his harness, breaking it. We are only in the car for about 5-10 minutes....going to the dog park or to some nice walking trails. I don't believe he had ever travelled in a car with previous owners? I think the problem is the confinement, of which he had plenty with previous owners?? The weird thing is that he will hop in there eagerly, excited to go. On the way home, we have to lift him in : but he's quiet, with none of the other behaviour. We are going away today to celebrate Thanksgiving with family, and have to take him to the kennel....about a 20 minute drive or so....I have a frozen kong prepared....we'll see how it goes. Mark is seriously thinking about getting a muzzle for him in the car....the seatbelt repairs are probably $500.... Ack. There must be some training I can do to address this...any tips? 2) he bit Mark when he tried to take a purloined item away....not enough to draw blood or anything, but the usual snap. To be fair, this has decreased a LOT since we got him which is why Mark thought he could do it...apparently not. More work needed, obviously but you do begin to wonder if this will always be a problem. What will happen if we have little kids come over?? He's really gentle with kids that we see on walks, etc, but I can't trust him in the situation where he takes one of their toys? We don't have a lot of little kids over at this stage but it's not to say we never will, for sure. 3) He ate my knitting. Again. Spent all last night untangling and rewinding the ball.....at least this time it's salvageable.
Re: We are not amused Oh Lisa you sound really fed up . I watched a dog training program a while ago about dogs barking in the back of cars. The trainer Victoria Stillwell fitted a curtain or piece of cloth over the dog guard, when the dog barked she closed/dropped the fabric/curtain when the dog was quiet she lifted it and so on until the dog finally got it. Maybe you could look it up on YouTube. Of course you will need someone to sit in the back to operate the curtain : I am not sure if a muzzle would help or not. With regards to the snapping I really don't have any ideas but you bet someone will help. Not the knitting again You have overcome so many issues you will get there with this one I have no doubt. Helen x
Re: We are not amused Loads of sympathy Lisa, Simba is lovely but must test your patience at times (don't they all!). Charlie will chew anything in the car - my solution is a massive canvas hammock thing for the back seat that covers the seats, seat belts, doors, catches - everything. For long journeys, he starts off with no less than six kongs and goodie bones which is enough for him to chew himself to sleep. I tried him in the open boot, behind a dog guard, and he found a way through. Here he is, getting through from the boot, luckily only into his canvas protected area. He really managed to squeeze through that gap! never get through there by JulieTandCharlie, on Flickr With a chewer, I honestly think you've just got to separate dog and chewable items! I'm training and training leave it, off etc. but there has to be a way through in the meantime. I guess a muzzle might be the short term solution if your van doesn't lend itself to anything else. You can't have $500 worth of damage everytime you take the dog for a walk!
Re: We are not amused Julie, Charlie is a cheeky chap that's for sure ;D. That is quite a large gap at the side Julie, my dog guard reaches all the way across my car. No chewers in the car here which I am grateful for. Large family and 2 chewers in the car would definitely send me over the edge Helen x
Re: We are not amused Oh Lisa I'm sorry,that's an expensive walk if it's a van,could his crate fit in the back and then he's secure and dog,car and humans are all safe...some of the items you come up with Julie I've never even heard of...that hammock is a great idea... Dexter wasn't keen on the car at first,it wasn't yapping but he would whine,we tried short journeys just to expose him to the car,me sitting in the back c&t when he stopped his grumbling ,in the end I realised that if we ignored him,he was quiet....he'd gaze quite contentedly out of the window...it still took a long time for him to actually sit down,he used to stand swaying to the movement of the car....the daftie ! ;D
Re: We are not amused [quote author=charlie link=topic=2872.msg29830#msg29830 date=1381688178] That is quite a large gap at the side Julie, my dog guard reaches all the way across my car. [/quote] I know, it was my inexperience, it looked ok to me at first. I can buy a dog guard that goes all the way across, but then I can't put the back seats down ever as it's a permanent installation. To be honest, I think a crate in the boot is the way to go, but we didn't do well with crates in the car with Charlie. So the canvas hammock is the middle way for now. Car crate training on the list though...
Re: We are not amused I see, our guard comes up out of the back seats so it can be undone and it rolls back down and then we can drop our back seats, but then no dogs allowed. Can't win really. Helen x :
Re: We are not amused I think the guards that come up from the seats are primarily to stop luggage travelling through the passenger compartment. I know we used ours when we first had Riley but he squeezed through the gap so full on dog guard it was! Luckily the one from Toyota is removable if needs be. I'm looking into getting a crate though as I think he'd be safer then and also it allows us to pack round the rate on long journeys. Hope you manage to desensitise Simba and stop him trashing your van! I know the trip is short and you may have worked on this already but have you tried just popping him in and out. Then starting the van and stopping, reversing off the drive then getting him out. Gradually building and building? Also if you decide to muzzle him you might want to pop his muzzle on and off in lots of situations so he doesn't associate it with going in the van. Just some thoughts as we've been lucky (and we know it!) and apart from some squeaking when he was little which just naturally faded out Riley has been very good in the car.
Re: We are not amused Sounds like you and JennyAnn are in the same boat this evening Lisa. She is missing a few floorboards courtesy of Miss Rosie if you haven't read her post yet. Do you think he is anxious in the van Lisa? If so, do you think a ThunderShirt might be worth considering??
Re: We are not amused I sympathise my two are terrible in the car. Murphy used to be so good. He just got in the boot lay down and slept. Scott and Scout make a din!!! I used to have their crate in the back of the freelander but that meant I had to have the back seat down all the time. They are also now a bit big to both fit in the crate. I got it when they were pups. A couple of weeks ago ,just in time for scotts vet trip (coincidence ) I got a dog guard that fits onto the head rest back or front seats. I attached it to the front seat head rests so I can have the back seats down for dogs or up for passengers. Although the passengers may feel like they are riding in a police van. ;D It's very convenient though, fits well, no rattle and was Scott proof. Would recommend it. Jen
Re: We are not amused I think the guard is to stop luggage but works brilliantly as a dog guard, thankfully no problems with my two, apart from getting Charlie into the car but that's getting better :. I wouldn't be able to fit a cage(s) in my car it's too low and I would need a massive cage so not possible. I have seen metal guards the undo and fold up onto the ceiling/roof. I think it's far more unsafe to travel with dogs on seats and in the footwell, that would worry me far more Helen x
Re: We are not amused Ah estate car and small Labrador definitely helping the crate plan! Riley goes in the footwell of the classic car very occasionally and it always worries me
Re: We are not amused Yes. I have a German, crash tested, seatbelt harness for Charlie....will he wear it? No. No way. The reason he is fat is because of the amount of roast chicken he has had for expensive, crash tested, German, seat belt harness training....sigh...he's not as stupid as he looks, I think. :
Re: We are not amused [quote author=charlie link=topic=2872.msg29890#msg29890 date=1381699249] Charlie is not fat his legs just haven't grown yet Helen x [/quote] ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D He says that he has ALWAYS loved you.....
Re: We are not amused Sssshhh don't tell my Charlie, but I have always loved you too, you are super cute and clever too, what more can a girl ask for ;D ;D ;D Helen xx
Re: We are not amused Choc Charlie is just big-furred Since we don't own a back seat Obi travels in the footwell and I agree that it's not the best. Not to mention uncomfortable for the human passenger. We hire a proper car for trips over a few hours. Hubby drove the other day with Obi in the passenger seat (attached with harness) and the roof down. I was slightly disturbed by that as I do not trust Obi not to contemplate a 'Dukes of Hazzard' style exit. Used to drive like that all the time with our old dog but he was sensible.
Re: We are not amused [quote author=Oberon link=topic=2872.msg29906#msg29906 date=1381709365] Choc Charlie is just big-furred [/quote] ;D ;D ;D Poor boy, he's had meals for three days now (as some training treats phased out) and is getting as round as a fat piglet again. So that's him back on the programme...
Re: We are not amused My poor boy racer husband is very depressed at recently (as in Friday) selling his BMW M3 and buying a estate car. We had Amy in my i10 Hyundai. But that meant no room for anything else. Hopefully the small create will fit in the new car. ???
