my dog HATES taking car rides. How can i stop him from crying and whining the...

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Stormy

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...whole time we go anywhere? we have a chihuahuha and he happily jumps in the car but as soon as we are on the road< he completely freaks out> my son has tried calming him down< petting< singing to him, letting the dog put his head out the window...we have put him n a confined traveling house we made for him_nothing works for a longer period of a time. i mean, he freaks out within seconds and it is very diccicult and distractinfg to me as well. What can i do?????
usually i take him if my son and i go visit my parents. he looooves being there as much our own house ( if not more). my son wants us to take him everywhere we go, but he doesn't seem to understand dogs can't go insided all the places we go to. he is a new dog to us, we rescued him and we don't know if he may have had bad experience before with that. we have never tried treat before. what is a good kind to give him? there are sooooo many.....(??)
btw, my parents house is about 9-10 mi on the fwy ( about 5-8 min)
i generally thought my son was "nutty" for sitting in a garage with our dog inside my car....but apparently he had a "6th sense" about it -hahaha!
=D
 
Don't take him for car rides simple as that or bring a favourite snack for it in the car!!!
 
Keep working with him. Some dogs just literally are terrified of the car and you just have to rehabilitate them. It doesn't really surprise me that a Chihuahua is acting this way. Its probably a very frightening experience for him. If you MUST take him in the car with you on long trips, consider getting one of those "calming collars" or even sedating him for the trip.
 
you should roll down the window, and give him some treats when we starts to cry.
 
As soon as he is in the negative behavior then your son trying to calm him is reinforcing the behavior.
You need to gradually reestablish appropriate behavior in the car.
first put in him the car and and have him behaving as you want him to behave while traveling (be in carrier or lying down in the seat or floor what ever you believe is what you want. praise and give a reinforce (treat) for the good behavior - repeat extending the time (notice - you have not yet turned the car on) Now doing it again - bet this time turn the car on - praise etc. extend time - do this so many many times.
Now do it Again only this time but the car in gear and roll it five feet.
everything still good - praise and treat. Dog freaked. Back up an do early step again. When you can move the car 5' try 20' gradually gradually increase the distance.
If at any time the dog freaks ignore the behavior do not coddle -
 
Try giving him treats. If that doesn't work is the traveling house completely dark or can he see out? My cat hates going in the car, but when we completely cover the cage so it's dark, he's calm and quiet.
 
Bring some treats along with your or something that you know will distract your dog 9 times out of 10 (toys or such). If he's calm while the car is still start playing with him or show him the treat before starting the car. Once the car starts moving it may be a little harder to keep him distracted. Try practicing with short drips -- like just down the driveway and stop, then pull back up the driveway.
 
Take your dog in the car. Tell him how good he is and go for a extremely short ride around the block. Go back home and let him out. Remind him how good he was and give him a treat. Keep doing this and your dog will understand 1) its okay and 2) he is not always going to the vet. My dog used to freak out when she was in the front seat only because when she was in the front we always were on our way to the vet - but when she was in the backseat she knew we would just travel. I got her used to the front seat and now she doesn't make a peep in the car no matter where she sits.

ALSO you could have someone sit with you in the passenger seat with the dog on your lap. As Soon As the dog whins put him on the floor of the car. Ignore him do not talk or look at him. As soon as he is Stops whining pick him up from the floor and tell him how good he was. It takes alot of work, but most training does for anything. This is called conditioning. You can condition anything with a heart in its chest.

You must must must be consistant with this. Do not give up half way through or let the dog cry just that once.

Good Luck
 
When you go for car rides, do you ALWAYS go someplace bad, like the vet? Or do you go to the park, etc? Our dog used to hate car rides. She would get carsick and vomit all over the place, even on very short trips. She finally got used to it when I started taking her to the dog park. She began to associate the car with something GOOD so she no longer gets so worked up. She still gets a little carsick, but she can make crosstown trips usually without vomiting. Before we could only go a few blocks.

Try to make the car a good place. Start out by getting him more used to the car when it is NOT moving. Give him treats for laying down calmly while you pet him in the car. Work on this a few times a week or more. When he gets better, go for extremely short trips, like around the block. As soon as he starts to freak out, you know you have gone too far. Try to come home before he freaks out, and praise him and tell him what a good boy he is. Gradually lengthen the trips. It may take a lot of work, but it could pay off in the end. If NOTHING seems to work, you may have to get some sort of sedative from the vet for him to take when travel in the car is unavoidable.
 
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