How I Taught My Dog to Ride in a Car

When eight-month-old Lewis joined my household, he was afraid of riding in the car. He also disliked being in a crate. So I put on my best trainer hat, did an assessment, made a plan, and performed a series of careful exposures paired with good food and fun destinations.

Below, with some commentary, are the steps I took. This is not a general protocol; there is no generic method that will work for every dog. This is a plan I designed for Lewis. I hope seeing how I went about this will help others consider their own dog’s situation and how to help.

For instance, Lewis wasn’t afraid of crates; he had just been over-confined previously. The training plan would look very different for a more fearful dog. He also didn’t get nauseous in the car. Again, that would require a different approach. It would involve a trip to the vet for diagnosis and possibly a prescription for anti-nausea meds.

Lewis’ main issue was the fear of the sounds and motion of the car. So I first got him used to short periods in the crate with the car not running, then gradually added turning on the engine, and finally, driving.

Steps to Riding Happily in the Car

I started with the highest value food treat that was practical: a Toppl with (unfrozen) peanut butter. I used a Toppl rather than a Kong because they are easier to get the food out of. Same reason for not freezing. I wanted him to access that yummy goodness immediately; then we could build a little duration while he licked.

• I placed a peanut butter filled Toppl in the back of the crate and left the crate door open. I lifted Lewis into the car and put him down in front of the crate. There is enough room for him to walk around a little in that area. He sniffed around and quickly figured out where the food toy was. He went partway into the crate, enough to reach the Toppl. I left him that way and left the car door open and stood there while he ate. If Lewis had been scared of crates, I wouldn’t have done it that way. My read on his situation was that he had just spent way too much time in one. So I gambled that luring him into the crate would work out, as long as I didn’t rush to close the door. Using shaping would have been difficult in this enclosed space. You can see in the photo that he is not much bothered by the setup. He didn’t leave his back legs across the county line.
• We did this a few more times. He started jumping up into the car on his own and heading straight into the crate.
• I switched to letting him enter the crate first before providing the food toy.
• This wasn’t a part of the training, but I noticed he started checking out the car when we walked by it to start our walks. He sniffed “his” door thoroughly every time we went by it. I was pleased that “the peanut butter car” already had a magnetic effect.

• The next step was to close the crate door. I was careful to open it again before he finished the food toy because of his confinement issues.
• After he was comfortable eating for three to five minutes in the crate with the door closed, I sat in the driver’s seat rather than standing at the backseat door while he did so.
• I repeated the same step but added turning on and running the car engine. I observed him and the engine didn’t seem to bother him. We did this a couple more times. This is what the short video shows.
• It was time to try a drive. (Narrator: No, it wasn’t.) I can drive an easy half-mile loop in my neighborhood. After Lewis settled in the crate with his peanut butter toy, I got in the driver’s seat. I turned on the engine, pulled out of the driveway and drove my short route, taking bumps and corners carefully. Oops! Worried whining from Lewis. That was too long a drive.
• We backed up a couple of steps. I started the car a few more times but didn’t move it.
• The next time I moved the car just out to the driveway, and he was fine. This is what I should have done for our first car movement. We did a couple of short back-and-forths on the driveway, then stayed there with the engine running. After a couple of driveway practices, in a few days, we tried the short drive around the neighborhood again. Score! Quiet licking.
• I live a mile from another house where we can go play in the backyard. I loaded Clara into her own crate, loaded Lewis, and drove the two of them to the other house, a.k.a. Disneyland. This is where he turned a major corner. Not only did he get a favorite, high-value food in the car, but he got to Go Someplace New and Fun. We did that a couple more times, and riding in a car became the golden ticket.
• A month later, I needed to day board him for a couple of hours a few times. It turns out he was more than happy to go into the vet’s office where he had recently lived in a cage for two months. He was excited to see his friends again. I was pleased to find out that these trips also operated to make riding in the car a happy activity.

You’ll notice that some of this training wasn’t “correctly timed” desensitization and counterconditioning. Sometimes, for example, when I turned the engine on, Lewis was already getting food before the novel noise and vibration happened. For some dogs, I might have had to enlist a helper to give the food after some events in this progression. But the above plan worked for Lewis. Even though the food sometimes preceded some events, in all cases, he got food after getting in the car. I believe that set the major association.

Tweaks to the Final Routine

Gradually, I switched from the food toy to tossing a handful of loose treats into the crate after he got in. But at that point, the destination had become the major reinforcer.

There was one more possible reinforcer in play. He loved to sniff around the back seat before getting into the crate. He is a curious and “nosey” fellow. I thought, why not? I made it part of our routine. Sniffing around reinforces getting in the car itself and walking onto the seat, not into the crate. But it’s fun for him. I make sure there is nothing dangerous for dogs back there.

This process took place over one month, in March 2022, with about seven sessions.

Setback: Driving by Fireworks

About six months after Lewis became happy riding in the car, I needed to take him with me on a long drive at night to pick up my partner as she got discharged from the hospital. This was the first time he had been in the car at night, and I think the oncoming headlights worried him. (I know from experience that he can see out the front windshield.) He vocalized for a while, but settled down quickly. He seemed fairly relaxed even after he finished his food toy.

Then, one of those awful coincidences happened. It was early December. I live in a state capital city. There was something much worse than headlights: we had to drive right by a city-sized fireworks display. I didn’t know it then, but it was the Christmas lighting ceremony at the state Capitol. I knew he could see the fireworks, then when we got close, he could also hear them. They were being set off directly below the elevated street we were on.

He started scratching at the door of the crate. He panted and whined the rest of the way. It was a tricky drive, and I couldn’t stop. We were both stressed out.

We had to wait when we got to the hospital. I was wary of taking him out of the car because I feared he might panic and try to slip his harness. But I felt I had to get him out in case he needed to eliminate in stress. It worked out. We walked around a bit, and he calmed down. He didn’t even have to poop.

Then we both got back in the car, and I left him loose with me, so as not to extend crate time.

My partner got discharged, and this cheered him up. The ride home wasn’t as awful for him as the ride to the hospital. But the food toy I had saved for him was a Kong and still frozen, so he couldn’t access it all during the trip. He tuned up a few times to whine, but quieted down when we talked soothingly to him.

I’m thankful for Lewis’ resilience. The fireworks trip could have been an enormous setback. But Lewis wasn’t reluctant to ride in the car the next time. Whew!

Frustration Screaming

I have a new complication. Since we often drive to fun places with fun people, Lewis now gets agitated when we get to a destination. He shrieks and batters the crate door.

I haven’t worked out a plan for that yet, but I’ll keep you posted. There is always a new challenge!

Copyright 2024 Eileen Anderson

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These posts all include training plans with graduated exposures/changes.