# I just need to know this is fixable, please reassure me!



## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Ok so continuing with getting Winnie used to the car I took her on a short trip at the weekend. Not too far about 20 minutes one way. I had to take my daughter with me as she needed dropping off, so I thought it was a good opportunity to take Winnie. She whined as usual. My daughter sat in the back with her and praised her when she was quiet and turned away when she whined. Not sure if that was the best approach or to just totally ignore her but anyway we went and then I took her for a walk at our destination until my daughter was ready to come home after her errand. Winnie behaved quiet well on the walk even though it was a busy area with lots of people. She was a little bit hyper but then managed to stay under the table while I went for a coffee and sat nicely while taking treats. I brought a chew for her and she ate it under the table. Progress made there. On the way home she was quiet for a few minutes and I thought it was down to being tired but then the whining started again. Ok, we went with it and carried on going home with these little squeaks going on as before. When I dropped my daughter off at her house Winnie went beserk and started screaming at the top of her voice and got herself in a tangle in her harness. I had to stop the car and set her straight. She screamed at the top of her voice all the way to my house, which thankfully is only 1 minute drive away. I came out of the car as stressed as she was. Please reassure me that things will get better as I am thinking the worst right now.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It sounds like fear. I would go back to the absolute beginning - just sit in the car for a few minutes, or beside it if being inside takes her over threshold, building up very gradually to driving just a few yards, then a few yards more, never pushing further than she is comfortable with. Is she crate trained? A car crate might be safer and more comfortable for her than a harness.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

fjm said:


> It sounds like fear. I would go back to the absolute beginning - just sit in the car for a few minutes, or beside it if being inside takes her over threshold, building up very gradually to driving just a few yards, then a few yards more, never pushing further than she is comfortable with. Is she crate trained? A car crate might be safer and more comfortable for her than a harness.


i don't have an option to get a crate in my car. There is no space and my boot is small. She has no problem getting in the car and in fact when she gets her car harness on she runs to the car door and immediately wants to get in trying to jump up on to the seat. I will go back to the beginning and just not move anywhere. That's how I feel, like I'm getting nowhere.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

It took me several weeks before Sophy could be in the car without drooling, and travel half a mile without being sick. If it is not fear of the car is it her getting worked up about possibly exciting destinations? Poppy went through a phase of shrieking every time I used an indicator, just in case it meant we were stopping for a walk. I spent a lot of time finding places with no cars or people around, so that I could indicate randomly and manoeuvre without signalling! If you think Winnie's problem is over excitement lots of very short trips to nowhere in particular may help - either a few minutes drive and home again, or where she stays in the car while you post a letter, etc.


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## TheBoldBear (Oct 18, 2021)

fjm said:


> It took me several weeks before Sophy could be in the car without drooling, and travel half a mile without being sick. If it is not fear of the car is it her getting worked up about possibly exciting destinations? Poppy went through a phase of shrieking every time I used an indicator, just in case it meant we were stopping for a walk. I spent a lot of time finding places with no cars or people around, so that I could indicate randomly and manoeuvre without signalling! If you think Winnie's problem is over excitement lots of very short trips to nowhere in particular may help - either a few minutes drive and home again, or where she stays in the car while you post a letter, etc.


We have a similar issue with Lexie (9months), who not only barks constantly but destroys seatbelts and chews the car interior plastic. She's ruined the back of my car. Weirdly though, she doesn't really do it in my wife's car. Instead of a crate, we tried having her harnessed in the boot with the parcel shelf down (basically just like a crate). That seemed to help a little bit, but really we're just persevering with doing lots of little boring trips to try to reduce the excitement of car journeys.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

You can fix this but it will take time. For starters a 20 minute ride was about 18 minutes too long. I would go back to the most basic of basics and just get her in the car with the motor running and go up and down the driveway a couple of times until that is smooth. Then drive a house or two down the block until that is good, etc. increasing time and distance by short increments. Have a helper who will work with your pup so you can make sure the driving is safe.


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## Rian (Sep 17, 2021)

fjm said:


> Poppy went through a phase of shrieking every time I used an indicator, just in case it meant we were stopping for a walk.


I was reading this and it's very similar to a recurring issue that's developed with Margot. Her issue doesn't happen in the car, though. She gets a little whiny in the car but I think it's just cause she's excited to be going to puppy class. She's the only reason I leave the house anymore 

Anyway: I live in a condo with an enclosed courtyard and every time I bring her in from a walk or the car she SHRIEKS. And I mean SHRIEKS. She waits until the moment she hears the door's security buzzer go and then screams and shrieks until I pick her up or distract her with a toy or something. Then it happens again once we're up the stairs and into the actual courtyard area. She waits right until I open the door and then starts the shrieking and howl-barking. This only happens when we're coming home, though. If I let her run out the front door into the courtyard (I try to discourage this, though) she'll bark and go nuts but that makes sense to me. I'm not really sure how to train her out of this, but I'd really like to because her screams echo incredibly loud and it's piercing. I'm sure the neighbors just love it.

My theory is that she's nervous out there because strangers often appear in the courtyard out the elevator, sometimes with dogs? Another theory, she got tangled under my feet playing once at about 13/14 weeks and hurt her leg, I thought maybe she'd created some terrible association with the courtyard after that event?


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

Rian said:


> I was reading this and it's very similar to a recurring issue that's developed with Margot. Her issue doesn't happen in the car, though. She gets a little whiny in the car but I think it's just cause she's excited to be going to puppy class. She's the only reason I leave the house anymore
> 
> Anyway: I live in a condo with an enclosed courtyard and every time I bring her in from a walk or the car she SHRIEKS. And I mean SHRIEKS. She waits until the moment she hears the door's security buzzer go and then screams and shrieks until I pick her up or distract her with a toy or something. Then it happens again once we're up the stairs and into the actual courtyard area. She waits right until I open the door and then starts the shrieking and howl-barking. This only happens when we're coming home, though. If I let her run out the front door into the courtyard (I try to discourage this, though) she'll bark and go nuts but that makes sense to me. I'm not really sure how to train her out of this, but I'd really like to because her screams echo incredibly loud and it's piercing. I'm sure the neighbors just love it.
> 
> My theory is that she's nervous out there because strangers often appear in the courtyard out the elevator, sometimes with dogs? Another theory, she got tangled under my feet playing once at about 13/14 weeks and hurt her leg, I thought maybe she'd created some terrible association with the courtyard after that event?


Peggy used to bark when she went out onto the porch. I simply gave her a treat each time we stepped out the door. Now if she starts to let out a porch woof, she stops herself and turns back and looks at me instead.

It sounds like you’re on the right track when you distract with a toy. But you need to be consistent. Honestly, with Peggy it took about a year of consistent reinforcement. Part of that, I’m sure, was she needed to mature enough to control her impulses.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

@Rian 
Maybe teaching her to "auto-sit" at doors for entry/exits would help. Go to the door, and wait for her to sit. If there buzzer is required, use the buzzer, then wait for the sit. You will need to be patient, especially if she whining while you wait. Eventually she will sit. When she does, reward by opening the door and tell her something like "OK, go out/go in!". Eventually she'll sit for you at all doorways and will (hopefully) be focused on you and she won't be barking anymore. 
I've been working on this (auto-sit, not barking) for almost a week, and already Elroy is getting very good at it. He hasn't figured out I want him to do it at *ALL* doors yet, but we'll get there.


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## Rian (Sep 17, 2021)

94Magna_Tom said:


> @Rian
> Maybe teaching her to "auto-sit" at doors for entry/exits would help. Go to the door, and wait for her to sit. If there buzzer is required, use the buzzer, then wait for the sit. You will need to be patient, especially if she whining while you wait. Eventually she will sit. When she does, reward by opening the door and tell her something like "OK, go out/go in!". Eventually she'll sit for you at all doorways and will (hopefully) be focused on you and she won't be barking anymore.
> I've been working on this (auto-sit, not barking) for almost a week, and already Elroy is getting very good at it. He hasn't figured out I want him to do it at *ALL* doors yet, but we'll get there.


This is a great idea, I'm glad you're seeing results! I'll start getting more disciplined with that sort of thing and give it a try. I usually carry her (still screams, but it helps a little), but I don't want to turn her into a coddled "little dog". Thank you!!


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Glad to help. Doors/gates/entries/etc. are all *very exciting* for dogs. Something wonderful always awaits on the other side. After he Auto-sits, I then command "stay". I'd rather he did this automatically too, but he needs some help with this one at this point. I'll then open the door. If he gets up and tries to dart out, I close the door in his face. If he remains seated, I'll give the "OK go out!" command. It's important that he waits for your command to go through the door.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

My first poodle was ten months old when we got her and she was a bit quirky. She was fine in the van, except when the kids got out of the van to go to school. She would viciously attack the window of the van door. I remember I had to explain to neighbor boy that rode with us, what was going to happen.. and he thought it was very cool because I told him the dog was angry at the door for allowing her children to leave. He liked being included as one of her children. I finally wrapped her leash around the arm rest of my seat so I could give her a sharp tug while "acking" her. It took a few weeks to extinguish her behavior, and every now and then, I would hear her doing a very low growl when the van door was closed. She did not get car sick, but we had another poodle who drooled copiously in the car for about eight months. I don't think anything we did really helped except the passing of time.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Update: We have been working on our little jaunts around the block extending the time by a couple of minutes when the time is right. Today we went to the garden centre with Winnie and it's about 20 minutes in the car. She was quiet the whole time. She did whine a teeny tiny bit when we arrived in the car park but I think that was just eargerness as she knew she was getting out. After the garden centre we took her across the road to the park where she saw lots of doggies, horses, ducks and geese and as a treat for being nice in the cafe I gave her a bit of crust off my egg sandwich. She was quiet the whole way home too. I feel we made great progress today.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Winnie that is awesome progress! Also Tom your quiet by the door will extend to other doors and also can be added to with stay until released mode too, just go baby steps so you don't end up going backwards. For those with more than one dog here is another layer for that wait at the door thing. Lily go out, Javelin wait inside and all the combinations thereof.


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