how to stop your dog from going berserk in the car



Hurricane, one lucky pup
 owned by Jen Hoffman



Steeler



If you don’t stop now, I’ll  pull this car OVER!

How many times did you hear that as a kid? Did it work? Well, if your dad said it, maybe it worked for a short time!

The problem:

Ah, those wonderful car rides that send your dog into a tizzy jumping back and forth barking like a lunatic when you are passing another car, motorcycle, person, or animal! What’s a human to do?

Sometimes taking the dog along for a ride can be a real delight especially if the dog is social and enjoys meeting people. But what if your Fido gets set off by other cars, bikes, animals, etc. thereby making the drive unpleasant, the end result seemingly not worth it, and possibly causing a bit of danger? Then you may want to rethink taking him.

(By the way do you know why Fido is used so often when people refer to a dog? The answer is at the bottom of the blog. )

This type of behavior might be seen more in herding breeds which have the desire to herd anything that moves, however any neurotic dog can be bothered by things while riding in a car. I once had a person tell me that his dog goes berserk if the blinker or the wipers are turned on. Keep in mind that the noise from your blinker or wipers may become a trigger/cue for the dog if they were in use while the dog was already in this excited state of mental craziness.

These series of events may begin small, a few barks here and there or some subtle body movement that you may or may not notice, but over time with the noise or movement of the passing traffic you’ll start to notice the dog getting more and more aggressive as vehicles pass and then continue to get worse over time until you are screaming at the top of your lungs for the dog to… …SSSTOOOPPP ITTT!

Why does this happen?

Believe it or not the dog is being rewarded in some way and that can come from your words, a touch on the dog’s body, or a treat while the dog is acting out. The most likely scenario though is that he believes  his crazy actions at that very moment are making that car (or other object) go away. He does not know that car is going to pass you anyway (or that the wipers will stop if you turn them off), what he does know is that by behaving the way he did, he got that damn car to move away from you! Remember dogs always do what works for them.

What’s a dog to do? Who knew that riding in a car could be so exhausting?

Can you imagine the stress that the dog must be feeling to think that only his actions will move these undesirable objects away from you?

Wow, a City dog must get really stressed going for a two block ride with its owner!

Once this whole whacky wonder ride begins and you continuously take him for a ride in the car, you are putting him in the throws of something that you know will stimulate him to that crazy point. This is something I would stop doing immediately while driving because this is dangerous to you and others around you, (specifically me!) should the actions of the dog make you lose control of the car.

How do you fix it?

If you have a dog struggling with this behavior, until you can get it under control it is best to use a crate or a doggie seat belt rather than allow him to be loose in the car. You may also want to invest in some ear plugs for yourself as well because you may be in for a long haul!

There are a few commands that every dog should know and listen to very well for a car ride if they are of the crazy excitable type. These commands are, ‘Leave it, sit ~stay or down~ stay, speak & quiet’ as any of these should have your dog remain in a calmer mode. If the dog already has these commands down 100% then use them in the car.

People often tell me “I took my dog to puppy class and the dog is trained and listens to every command I give to him inside the house.”

Sorry, news flash! If he does not listen in the car then he is not fully trained but is trained only when it suits him and that means you have more work ahead of you.’

Why train Speak and Quiet?

In order for the dog to know what quiet means you must first teach him speak, then teach him quiet. When he knows what the quiet command means you can use it at the first sound of anxiousness. The ‘leave it’ command should mean to the dog, “leave everything and anything alone that you want and put your attention back on me!” This means stop looking at the car, stop barking and getting excited and give all of your attention back to the owner. It’s kind of like helping a child focus on something else rather than that toy at the counter that they really want!

Start training the above commands in the house, and gradually take the dog to more distracting places. Go to the yard and teach the commands there, then take him to the driveway and teach them there, then take the dog into a parked car without the engine turned on and work on the commands there.

Gradually take the dog inside the car to sit but do not turn the car on right away, just sit and reward good behavior. Then start the car and wait a bit until you know he is calm then start the wipers, turn them on and off manually so you have control. Praise the dog for sitting nicely then do the same with the blinkers if these are stimuli that bother the dog.

Keep these sessions very brief to start, and gradually increase the time the dog stays in the car. Praise and reward all good behavior. By doing this you are showing the dog how you expect him to act when in the car.

When the above things no longer drive him nuts then you want to take the car to the end of the driveway and park it there letting other cars pass by. Again this should be brief to start and gradually built up over time. Give your command ‘leave it’ as your dog sees a car coming up the street.

If you live in a rural area where cars only pass when a herd of cows come through, well then you’ll need to enlist the help of a friend for a day to drive back and forth in front of you. Obviously a friend who will do this for you would be very deserving of a nice dinner afterward!

If you practice the exercise with a friend you will have more control as to when a car passes which may give you the time you need to settle the dog before the next passing. You can also have the friend stop their car right in front of your car and wait for you to give a signal for them to move. I would not give a move signal until the dog is calm because you want him to think that your actions made the car move, not his crazy behavior.

Have a signal for your friend to stop immediately as needed because sure as I’m sittin’ here typing this, you can count on poor behavior for the first couple of tries once the other car starts moving! You’ll use a stop signal if the dog starts acting up so the dog does not think its actions caused the other car to leave. The more you can do this throughout the day the faster the dog will learn.

Keep in mind that dogs do not always carry over what they have learned from one place to another, this is why it is important to always work on commands anywhere you go.

At the time you start training this new behavior you may want to use a seat belt made for dogs so the dog learns that this new apparatus brings with it new rules. If he is left loose to roam the car then old behaviors may creep back in.

Some people have unfortunately resorted to shock collars to try and curb this behavior but shock collars are not going to retrain the dog and the dog will always know when that collar is not on. As well, what the dog perceives when he gets a shock for barking at a passing car is that the car is hurting him in some way so he may get much worse over the long run which of course makes it harder to train later.

So if your life looks like the video below, it cant be a peaceful ride for you. Start your training now! Heck even the owner that is filming from outside the car can’t stand the noise of the dog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcNaeFdzzlQ

And how safe do you think this would be while driving? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eThId_-IjxI&NR=1

By the way, the answer to the Fido question above: ( I bet you forgot about it didn’t you?) Fido was the name of President Lincoln’s beloved dog and it became a popular name as names go. Fido is Latin meaning ‘I am faithful’ and so it goes that a dog is faithful to its owner.

__________________________________________________

Handling the sudden death of a large breed dog

It’s 11:45 on a cold January night. The frigid air is sucked into to the bedroom by the fan that sits in front of the open window as the hum of the air conditioner also sings its nightly tune. This is the way you live when you have many Newfoundland’s as you do not want to be awakened through the night because it is too hot for them. The winter’s chill in my heated home assures me a full night’s slumber. I am snuggled atop a heated mattress pad with blankets pulled up to my ears to keep me warm in this blustery room my husband describes as “a blizzard without the snow.” My eyes peer over the blanket’s top to watch a repeat of the Atlanta Housewives, but I am really awaiting the rerun of Andy’s New Year’s Eve club house gala that is to follow. Aside from the chatter of the TV and the hum of the air conditioner, the house is quiet and still. The holidays have left me with happy memories and my boys have gone back to their prospective homes toting their Christmas gifts with them. Darkness and calm have overtaken my room except for glow of the TV screen opposite my bed and the clock that shines its time on the ceiling.



Suddenly I realize it seems too quiet, especially since my TV is still playing which would normally stir up at least one of the four male dogs that sleep around my bed, even if it’s just to switch places or roll over. I peek over my bed's edge to take a quick look.



“Bentley has not moved. Nor is the grunt like snoring I hear from the others emanating from his snout.”




Bentley who is the father to Chance, Emma, and Steeler, and who is usually the most active through the night has not repositioned his curled up body over the last couple of hours. Horrid thoughts clamor in my mind as my heart beats a little faster.



He could not have bloated again could he? No, he had already gone through bloat and his intestines were sewn in place. Can a dog bloat once the intestines are sewn in place? Who do I call to ask at this time of night?


The questions just came faster and faster! And with those thoughts, a slight panic started making its way up my spine.


Bentley, at the age of 10 years has not shown any signs of illness aside from the regular aches and pains a giant breed would show at that age. He is not deterred easily and he still has much bounce to his step when something is on his mind. ‘Crazy eyed, one track mind Benny’!  That's what we call him because when he sets his mind on something he is relentless at figuring out how to achieve it. You can see his mind working a mile a minute gathering all pertinent information.

I’ve seen him walk across the frozen cover that keeps my pool free from debris because there was something on the other side he wanted. I have seen him problem solve in many ways over the years.



Again my thoughts clamor, my heart beats a bit faster, and the sound of the Atlanta Housewives arguing in the background now seem distant to my thoughts.


Could he have died right there in that curled up position? If he did, would he be stiff? If the van doesn’t start how would I put him in Peter’s car? How would I move him? Where would I take him?
OMG! My mind shouted, STOP THINKING! JUMP UP AND CHECK ON HIM!



So I did, and he was fine. Turns out he was just very sleepy from being left outside during the day a little longer than he was used to. The day’s temperature had been wrapped in the warmth of the sun and had reached close to 55 degrees on this first week of January, so I kept all of the dogs out longer than normal to soak up the beautiful weather. But this nighttime event got me thinking and thinking seriously.



What would I have done had Bentley died at that moment and was stiffened in that position?
Does anyone really think about such things when they get a dog? And a dog of Newfoundland size no less?



In all my experiences with dogs, all but one was euthanized in the setting of a vet office and the one that was not, was a large shepherd mix who died of bloat in his dog house while I was at work and very much stiff as a board when I got home hours later. This stiffness had made it very hard to get him out of the wooden dog house opening! Thankfully my hubby and my brother were there to take care of it. Years later the memory of them trying to stuff this large dog into the back seat of a Toyota Corolla sticks in my mind. After all, they could not straighten him out without breaking bones which they knew would send me right over the edge!



But I digress, back to my Bentley. It’s the middle of winter here in PA and the ground is frozen so digging a hole is out! And the questions? Well they just keep a comin’!


What do people do in the middle of the night if there is no vet to call, or during holidays, or if the ground is frozen, or if the season was a muggy summer’s night? STOP! I told myself. Just email Dr.Jean in the morning!



So the next morning these questions found me sending out many emails to friends.  Apparently this is not an unusual occurrence. One  friend  told me that years ago when her Golden Retriever passed during the night hours, her vet office told her to put the dog in the freezer. This she told me was a bit difficult as the refrigerator was a side by side and could not accommodate a dog of Golden Retriever size!



So, this is definitely a question you’ll want  answered  while your dog is still alive and healthy, not at a time when you are in a panicked or upset state of mind! Although I would rather be prepared for such an event, it certainly would not diminish that lost feeling one gets when their pet passes.

Is burial legal?

In some areas it is illegal to bury your animal in your yard so you would have to know the ordinances of your city/town, although I suspect people still bury a small pet now and then, but digging a hole for a 175 lb. dog is like digging a hole for a human and something like that might be noticed!

The down and the dirty of pet death

What I am told is that most emergency vet offices have freezers to hold your dog if something should happen in the night, weekend, or a holiday. That’s assuming you have an emergency vet in your area which not all people do.



Obviously with the temperature being near freezing in the winter months you may be able to safely store the body outside until your vet opens. I did this once and the memory will never leave me.



Picture it: 1986, my son who was 5 years old at the time had a goldfish named Goldie (of course), his very own first pet ever. Well Goldie passed during a semi cold winter’s eve, but digging a hole for a goldfish is a lot different than digging one for a dog, so I wrapped her up in saran wrap, put her in a brown lunch bag and laid her out on the gas grill so we could have services for her the next day. I put my son to bed telling him I was very sorry about Goldie's passing but that we’ll give her a nice send off in the morning, and of course we can all say something that we loved about his beloved Goldie. Thirty minutes later I slid open the back door to the patio, and there’s my dog Maxie chomping away on a very frozen Goldie! It was at that time I realized that giving Goldie a Sea (aka toilet) funeral might have been easier for a 5 year old to handle! After all, going back to the sea from once you came, is better than going into a Chow/labs belly for a treat!


So, if you have a big enough freezer in the home you could store the body in there, however for me, I think if I did that I’d soon be selling the freezer because every piece of meat I took out of it would make me think I was cooking up my Newfoundland! But hey, that’s just me; others may be able to handle it just fine.

What about hot weather?

Of course I had to ask this also assuming you are not allowed to bury your pet on your property or you don’t want to be digging a hole during the middle of the night lest the neighbors think you are cuckoo!



“What if it happens in the middle of summer when the night’s temperature remains in the upper 80’s?” That would get smelly real fast!




Answer: Cold but true



Slide the dog into a large Bag (lawn /leaf /construction) in case of fluid leakage overnight, then place the dog in a wheelbarrow (or maybe your kid’s little red wagon), go to the market and get bags of ice and place them around the dog, then cover the ice and dog with a tarp or large blanket to keep the cold around the dog until you can transport or bury the dog.



Um, yeah, there go those happy thoughts of pulling my sons in their little red Radio Flyer! Hmm, shopping for ice may never be the same again either!



I do not know if it is the same world wide, but in Canada it is fairly similar right down to if you are allowed to bury your pet on your property.



Well, that’s that! Death sucks, there’s no other way to put it!

But if you know your options beforehand you won’t be sitting at the computer trying  to find answers on Google or finding yourself in a panic! I'm not saying there won't be crying goin' on, but you'll be prepared. 

Actually I don’t even know how to Google this one! I tried Google and all I came up with  was a girl that was psychic and was seeing the spirit of someone’s dog walking around her house!