Buster Car troubles, Please Please Please read.

[mrose_s]

Ok, Buster has done this for a long time, but I fear he might hurt one of the other two because its getting worse.

In our car, he is always the first to jump into the back, then, when the other two jump in, he attacks them.
today he pushed Daisy out and its a station wagon so she fell backwards down and she only weighs 5kg. And he pushes Sophie around two and she weighs 4 and a half times more than him.

this is not how he usually acts. the only other time he even gets near aggressive with them is rough play and that usually ends in him runing for his life from Daisy, lol

i think i can train him out of it, but there isnt a lot of time in the mornings when we are rushing off to school so, we cant reinforce the procedures all the time. plus, just to teach anytime is a 2 person job as the back door is broken and you have to hold it up.

anyone got any ideas on why he does this.

[Doberluv]

Can you use a crate for him? And put him in first so he can get use to the other dogs jumping in afterward? You can treat him when he doesn't act up. But if he does, he'll be constrained in his crate and then you can not give any attention or treat. Maybe after some time, he'll see that it doesn't do any good to raise a fuss because he's in a crate and can't do anything anyhow. Then some day, maybe he'll simmer down if you don't use a crate.

[Saarloos Wolfhound]

I agree with Doberluv about try to crate him whilst in the car if this problem persists. If your really concerned about Buster, have you though of seeking professional help from a behaviourist or asking the vet, i know that there is something new, well its not new but i've only just recently heard of it. It's called Dog Appeasing Pheromone (D.A.P) i know that they do a plug-in for the home but im not sure about something for the car.

Here's the website for information on D.A.P.: http://www.doggiesolutions.co.uk/erol.html#497x0&&http%3A%252F%252Fwww.google.co.uk%252Fsearch%3Fhl% 3Den%26safe%3Doff%26q%3DDog+Appeasing+Pheromone%26 spell%3D1

It's worth taking a look ;) :)

[CreatureTeacher]

I agree with Doberluv's suggestion, too. But I'm afraid if you want to help your dog, you have to be consistent in your training. You can wake up a half hour early if you have to, but this is not a problem that you can ignore. This is something that I would consider a behavioral emergency. You owe it to your other dogs to protect them from this sort of event.

The crate is a fine idea, except I would crate Buster outside the car, let the other two dogs get in and settle down, then put Buster in. If he remains calm, give him a treat and praise him. Then off you go. After about a week of consistent calm behavior in the crate, do everything just the same except after you reward him, let Buster out of his crate and go on your way. If he displays any nasty behavior toward the other dogs, calmly remove him and crate him again. Then put him in the car and go on your way. If he's going to be nasty, he can be nasty by himself in the crate.

It also sounds like you need to work on some resource control.
(http://www.dogsday.8k.com/custom.html Second article down on that page.)

But I can't stress consistency enough. If you're going to do it once, you have to do it every time. If you aren't consistent, Buster's problem will get worse.

Please keep us updated. It shouldn't take a lot of time to fix this, but I would get fixing ASAP.

[mrose_s]

yeah thats ok. I wont put him in a crate though, he enjoys the car ride to much. I will try takign a leash out with me, getting him to sit and wait, as he no's all of that obediance and complies most of the time. sound like a good idea?

[Renee750il]

You can get a harness that fits into the seat belt and will hold him in his seat but still allow him to sit up and enjoy his ride. They work quite well and can be a real safety feature, acting somewhat like a human seat belt and keeping your dog from flying around the car in case of an accident or even a sudden stop.

[YorkieLover]

It sounds like he is displaying "resource guarding" with the back seat of the car. We have one that display this when I get home from work and try to let the other 2 out. She jumps all over me to get me to not pay attention to them and then she'll jump all over and push around the 2 waiting to go out. This is what I've done with her... I come in, greet them all with lots of love, go to the front door and as soon as she starts her crap I pick her up and put her in the 1/2 bath until I get the other 2 out the door, then she's allowed to come out... I'm hoping in about a week or so she'll figure out to knock it off.

I would definitely make the one who is being bossy and guarding wait until the other 2 get in and do the commands you said above. Good luck.

[Doberluv]

The crate is a fine idea, except I would crate Buster outside the car, let the other two dogs get in and settle down, then put Buster in.


Yup....I thought of that and the idea that the dog is probably getting ticked off at the other dogs getting into his car. But....how heavy is Buster to lift when in a crate? I was wondering about that.

[mrose_s]

he is 20 kg, and he sits on our laps, and what renee said, well we cant use a seat belt as my mums rules are they have to be in the actual back. like the boot

[CreatureTeacher]

we cant use a seat belt as my mums rules are they have to be in the actual back. like the boot
Then I would definitely go with the crate. You can get a used one pretty cheap on e-bay if you don't have one already. I understand that he enjoys his car rides, but you need to think of it as a trade; he gives you something you want, you give him something he wants. He behaves and doesn't harass the other dogs, and he gets to have his fun, crate-less car ride. But you're going to have to start out with confining him so he understands what it is you want to trade for. That's how you're going to tell him what is and is not acceptable behavior.

Besides, think of your other dogs. Shouldn't they, who aren't being nasty, have the right to enjoy their car ride too?

[Doberluv]

I think once he's in the crate....after a few trips, anyhow, he'll settle down. He'll realize there isn't a thing he can do by raising a fuss and resign himself to calming down. That's when you reward him up one side and down the other often while he's settled.

You can even choose a word or command like "settle." Use the word WHEN he IS settled until he knows what it means. And when he's being a good boy, say, "goooooood settle." (cheery voice) I know that sounds weird, but it works pretty well for me, reiterating the command and joined with a happy voice. (They may think you're giving the command again, but then again, they may think that what they did, (settle) was good.) When my dogs were learning "enough" for barking, I'd wait till they stopped for a second and then say, "enough." Then right soon say, "gooood enough" before they started up again. It's like I caught it while they were quiet, after they stopped barking. Now that they know that "enough" is assoicated with stopping barking, I can tell them "enough" while they're barking and they'll stop. But... at first they had to learn the word. And saying it while they were barking, BEFORE they knew the word was meaningless and unenforceable so I held off on saying it while they were barking. (hope that makes some sense)

You can't give him a treat very well while you're driving, but when you stop in a good spot, you can run back and give him a goodie and the other dogs too. Make him see how fun and tasty it is to behave in the car.

[Renee750il]

You should see mine "CHILL!" Doberluv! You'd get a good giggle out of watching Shiva and Kharma try to act like they weren't being wild grrrrls two seconds before . . .

[Renee750il]

he is 20 kg, and he sits on our laps, and what renee said, well we cant use a seat belt as my mums rules are they have to be in the actual back. like the boot

The boot? As in what we call the trunk, where you put luggage and there aren't any windows? :eek:

[Doberluv]

LOL Renee. I'm trusting she means something else....like my Subaru outback station wagon type thing. (At least I hope so)

I love that "Chill." I really do. My son uses that one, only for his dog it means to sit and put both paws up on his chest. I think I'll change my "settle" for "chill." I love it that much. You painted a good visual of your girls. I can just see them going from whacky to relaxy.

Right now I'm in the process of teaching down, but a quick drop from anywhere he is and I need to teach Lyric the German....platz. LOL. So, it's "down.......platz!"

[Renee750il]

Oh, Doberluv, they are such actresses. They go from riot grrrls to sitting up very straight and demurely, blinking their eyes in the classic "Who, MOI?"

[Doberluv]

LOL! I can just visualize them batting their long eyelashes at you innocently. The hams!

[Renee750il]

That's EXACTLY what they do! Shiva will even squinch out a few tears sometimes, particularly if she knows she's been particularly rotten.

[CreatureTeacher]

Shiva is such a drama queen! :D It cracks me up thinking of them crashing around and then snapping into the Posture of the Innocent Doggy.

[bubbatd]

I thought of you all today as Chip & I took a quick trip to the store............All 5 windows wide open and Chip laying down enjoying the ride. I always lock the doors as doubt anyone would reach in , unlock and let him out. He loves to say "hi" to all who say "hi" to him.

[mrose_s]

The boot? As in what we call the trunk, where you put luggage and there aren't any windows? :eek:

sorry, i didnt mean the actual boot, it is a subaru station wagon. so there are windows and everything, room for even sophie (huge) to stand easily and buster hangs over so he can talk to my sister and i in the back seat. daisy sits up and rides the back of the seat in between the headrests like a cowboy lol

ok, update : last time, i just held onto him by the collar while the other two got in and there wasnt a problem. oh, and just quickly. he doesnt stay aggressive, uits onlyy for about two seconds while they jump in.