Car rides ... can't figure out if my dog loves them or not!!

So, my Corgi Loki (1.5 years now) has always had this weird love/hate relationship with car rides.

He's definitely not afraid of going on a trip, he jumps into the car eagerly and starts hopping around super excitedly, spins around in the backseat, waits for me to put his seatbelt harness on and lets out some little happy barks. This makes me think that he enjoys car rides.

But ....

Once the car starts moving, he keeps whining and barking and doesn't stop! He tries to get out of his harness, and jumps and flops around. He actually ripped a plastic piece of my seat belt clean off! Crating him is even worse, he bites at the crate and anything within reach and will let out that horrible screeching bark.

We've tried covers (worse), toys (nada), even his absolute favorite chew treat (completely ignored). I've even tried taking him on little trips with me around town to try to get him to calm down, but nothing! The only thing that works is a really long, hard day of playing/hiking ... then he's too busy sleeping to give a crap that he's in the car. Once he's gotten a good snooze in, it's game over.

Does anybody else have this problem with their corgi? I'm completely open to suggestions! It really sucks because we'd love to take him to more places, but that constant barking ... UGH!

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 30, 2014 at 11:04am

Could he be feeling car sick? I would keep on working on this even if it's around the block a couple times every day.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on April 30, 2014 at 4:47pm

This behavior is extreme. When did you start taking him in the car? I don't think it's car sickness. I would start by simply getting in the car, sitting in the car with him for 5 minutes or so, giving one or two treats (don't overdo the food) and getting out. Do not allow barking, encourage calmness. If this goes well, step 2, if not, you stay at that level until he's absolutely fine with that. ( Repeat as often as you can, at least two or three times a day, the more often the better) Step 2 is turning on the motor and just idling in the stationary vehicle. Step 3 will be to move the car a short distance ( like backing out of a driveway them pulling back up to the original spot, then remain in the car that is idling for the allotted time. Next will be the drive around the block, going slow. Your aim is to desensitize him to whatever is setting him off and demand good behavior at Step 1 (which is the easiest) and let that good behavior really consolidate, before going to step 2 and so forth. Try to give little attention to him except at step 1, as later, when you drive, you need to concentrate on the road, not the dog and he needs to learn to be quiet and not demanding. If you go too fast, you'll lose ground.... build slowly on solidly good, calm behavior.