separation anxiety / aggressive behaviour

[Sandra]

Jake, our bouv-wannabe/lab/Newfie X is just terrible when we go for car rides while Tara, the bouv, is just really happy to be with us. The problem is Jake barks aggressively at any one & anything. If one of us leaves the car, he goes absolutely bezerk - barking, scratching the sides of his area. I now know I'm driving this vehicle into the ground as he has the back so badly scratched, the resale value will be next to nothing. I have a CRV with a pet gate that isolates him in the back, which keeps him very nicely from sitting on the driver's lap.

As long as we have a good supply of cookies & two humans, Jake can be distracted & hopefully over time this will help cure the separation anxiety thing. However, it only works when two humans are present. He sounds so vicious but yet he's a really pussy-cat, we're afraid he's going to develop a bad reputation in our small community, not to mention the damage to the car. I should point out that he was a rescue from the local pound when he was 8 & 1/2 months & now at just 11 months of age now, he's a really big boy and getting bigger all the time.

We'd welcome any suggestions to help make car rides more peaceful.

[Mike]

Have you thought about putting him in a crate when you go driving? Our dogs almost always go into crates, which is one reason we now have a 1 ton extended cargo van, so we can hold 6 crates (7 if you count the one for the little pip squek miniture Daschhound's crate). Most of the time they have no problem getting into them. Sometimes when we are on long trips and they have only gotten out for potty breaks and longer leg streaching periods, they don't want to get back in after a stop. Luckily the ones that get real stuborn are light enough that I can just boost them in.

Also, you could take a water bottle with a spray nozzle on it and when he barks, have the 2nd person squirt him in the face and tell him to be quiet or some other command that you want to teach him to know when he has to stop. If you don't get their attention first (which the water will) they won't hear your command. Get his attention (get him to stop barking), give the command to stop and then praise him for being quiet.

What you are doing is not breaking a bad habit as much as teaching him a new one.

Mike

[Sandra]

Hi Mike,

If I put my back seats down, I could possibly fit a crate in the CRV, but then I'd have no room for Tara. Right now, there's a pet gate closing off the back cargo area & I have a harness on Tara which hooks into the seatbelt. I'll give the spray bottle a try.

[Mike]

That's the problem with small cars and large dogs. You either need to get a bigger van or Silkie Terriers. You can put a lot of Silkies in a 400 crate.

Don't give up if the first few times don't work with the spray bottle. Bouvs are pretty stuborn sometimes. And don't be surprised if Jake doesn't get back at you with a very cold and wet dripping beard the first chance he gets.

Mike

[Sandra]

Thankfully, I'm no longer working outside the house, so last minute quick changes to a new outfit due to drippy beards isn't problem. We will work with the spray bottle. Let's hope the car interior won't be dripping as well. I'm hoping my aim is true.

[Sandra]

Well tonight was our first opportunity to get Jake & Tara in the CRV and take a tour into Perth armed with a bag of cookies and a spray bottle. Once in town, Jake started to bark at some people & I nailed him on the head with water. He was so surprised he wandered all about his area looking like he was trying to find where it came from. In all, I only had to squirt him about four times. It was a much more peaceful ride through town. He does know now that I have the bottle. He tried to hide behind the back seat head rests, but they have a hole in the centre & I was able to get him once through there. He got lots of praise all the while he was behaving well. I think a few more trips & he'll have the message that barking & carrying on are no longer tolerated.

[Mike]

That's great! And yes, pretty soon you won't even have to have water in the bottle, just lifting it will cause him to not bark. Then you won't need the bottle. Just don't be surprised if he happens to catch the bottle in a dark corner sometime and he tells it what he thinks of it water trick.

Mike

[Sandra]

That night we stopped at DQ. When I got out to put some trash in the bin, he started up, but I'd taken the bottle with me. I waved it at him & he stopped. Some bystanders were highly amused. If he lucks out & tells the bottle what he thinks, it can be replaced.