Getting in and out of the car- issues

[CorgiPaws]

Ok, so... starting off, I drive a Kia Sorento. When I get my puppies, it would be impossible for them to jump in and out on their own because it's too high, so I have to lift them until they are 4 or 5 months old, at least. Then I start teaching them to load up on their own, because I don't want to end up lifting a bunch of 150lb dogs into the car forever... and since they go all kinds of places, it's a daily event.

I've never had a hard time teaching my dogs "load up" before, until Braxton. This dog does NOT want to jump in or out of the car AT ALL. He displays zero anxiety while riding in any kind of vehicle at all, so I know he's not afraid. (I think Jon can testify to that, considering even in a new car he was chill to just sleep all day. lol ) In fact, he seems to ENJOY car rides. Kola (4 months)still can't jump in all by herself, but she tries, and Timber (5.5 months)has it down. It's a tough jump, but she can and does do it every time. (I help them out of the car, always, until they are more developed to protect their developing joints!) Braxton. No way. He sill sit, or lay, or just walk away. I know he is capable because on rare occasions he has followed the other dogs in- maybe two or three times ever. When he does I praise like mad.

So, these are things we have tried:
Tossing treats in the car, hoping he will jump in to get them.
Letting the others go first, hoping he will follow. (has worked a couple times but no consistency)
We leave the back of the car open when we are weeding the front yard, in hopes that he might go in on his own and we can praise the hell out of him.
We praise him just for being in the car, hoping he will want to get in on his own next time.
I've set a sturdy box at the back, acting like a step. No go.
And, lastly, tonight is his 3rd night in a row deciding he would rather NOT eat his dinner, than jump in the car to get it. And it's his ABSOLUTE favorite... a while freaking bowl full of mackerel. When I take it out of the car, he follows me very much so wanting some, but then I wet it in the car, and he just lays down- so I know he wants it!

When I DO help him in the car, I don't just life him. I put his front paws up at which point he kinda half heartedly helps... sometimes, but not usually, and then lift his rear in. But, he's 6 months old now... and he's over 70lbs... it's not realistic to do this every single day.
He will jump into the prius just fine. He jumps up on the couch and my bed (which is just as high!) with no issue or hesitation.


Any tips are welcome. Braxton is VERY treat and attention motivated and eager to please. He generally catches onto things very quickly, and "hard headed" is not even close to how I would describe him. He has trained faster than any of my other dogs, and while of course he's only 6 months old and still learning some things I would not expect it to be HIM putting up such resistance over it- especially with how much he loves car rides.
I've never had this issue before

He was ALMOST as stubborn about getting out, and as it stands he will jump out for a treat.... but he's not doing it "just because" yet.


No, mama... I won't even do it for chickie.

[DeekenDog]

I was going to suggest feeding him in there but apparently that was a no go. The only thing I can think of is teaching him to target something lower with his paws and gradually move it up to the car. Like grab a sturdy piece of board and set it it on something. Start low and work a little each day,slowly moving it higher and slowly generalizing the command to different surfaces. I would also use some sort of really high value treat that is only for this training.

[CavePaws]

My first thought would be to make the car the most fun place ever. Help him into the car. I know it seems counter productive to your point in wanting him to lift himself, but for now start with making the car the best place ever. Can you have a Tupperware thing full of dried fish to bring with you, so that when you get in the car this is what he gets. Lots of dried fish. Lots of love. Consta-praise for quite a while right after getting in the car. Then get out and go about business for a couple minutes, things should be less exciting out of the car. Make sure when you release him from the car you act like it's no big deal...Like, "k braxton you're free" and walk off. Then, put him back in the car physically (the one paw at a time kind of thing, just like last time) and repeat the whole praise for a few minutes and release. This should be one session. Repeat many of these short sessions. Slowly begin easing up off of helping him when he seems eager to get into the car. Maybe try lifting one less paw this time or only giving him a tiny boost off the rear.

Things that feel kind of like a chore just need to be turned into something so fun and riveting the dog must absolutely want to get there to do that. I think this is mostly him being lazy and partly him maybe just associating the car with something uncomfortable - the jump itself could just be the problem. So he has a lack of motivation.

I don't know that is just my thoughts for now. You may have already tried this method and it's not really a method I just thought of it. Someone else might come along with something more official or just smarter. :)

[SerenityFL]

Try this:

Open both back doors of the car. Find something that the dog highly, highly, HIGHLY values. One person with the dog on the leash, (at first), a few yards away from the car, (with both back doors open), and one person on the other side of the car, (a few feet away), from the other open back door.

Example:

You and your dog, at first on leash, on the driver's side of the car, near the open back door on that side. Your husband on the passenger side of the car, just outside the open back door on that side. Your husband is holding something that your dog REALLY wants.

When your dog is hyped up and can barely contain himself to get that highly valued item, you let him off leash.

What is supposed to happen is that your dog will fly through the car to get to your husband on the other side and the highly valued item.

He doesn't have to stay IN the car, he's just learning to jump in there and go through it.

Do this 5,000 times.

Once this is down, have your husband sit inside the car, in the backseat, with just the driver's side back door open. The other door is now closed. Repeat the process with the high value item. By now, your dog should have no issues with leaping in to the car to get what he wants.

Do this 5,000 times.

If done right, your dog should now be eager to jump right on in that back seat.

[CorgiPaws]

Cavepaws: My first thought was "well, I could step it up a notch" but then... I'm not sure HOW to! lol.
That's pretty much what we are already doing when I mentioned praising him just for being in the car. He's not selective on treats at all, but fish seems to be his cup of tea, and I keep a couple different fishy treats in the glovebox, and he gets "OMG YOU GOT IN THE CAR, THIS IS THE BEST THING EVAR!" type praise at first, and then frequent but random praise the whole drive around. Red lights, stop signs, traffic. Treats and praise! Shoot, I wish someone would give ME treats just for sitting in the car. lol.
The only way I can think of to step it up a notch more, would be 100% constant praise, but that would require a second person.... and hubby is rarely ever around, at all. Annnd... I don't know people here, so I was hoping there'd be a way I could continue to work on it solo.

[CorgiPaws]

Try this:

Open both back doors of the car. Find something that the dog highly, highly, HIGHLY values. One person with the dog on the leash, (at first), a few yards away from the car, (with both back doors open), and one person on the other side of the car, (a few feet away), from the other open back door.

Example:

You and your dog, at first on leash, on the driver's side of the car, near the open back door on that side. Your husband on the passenger side of the car, just outside the open back door on that side. Your husband is holding something that your dog REALLY wants.

When your dog is hyped up and can barely contain himself to get that highly valued item, you let him off leash.

What is supposed to happen is that your dog will fly through the car to get to your husband and the highly valued item.

Do this 5,000 times.

Once this is down, have your husband sit inside the car, in the backseat, with just the driver's side back door open. The other door is now closed. Repeat the process with the high value item. By now, your dog should have no issues with leaping in to the car to get what he wants.

Do this 5,000 times.

If done right, your dog should now be eager to jump right on in that back seat.

We can try that! Friday is the only day Jon and I are home for more then 30 minutes together, so looks like I know what we're doing then!
I hope it works... he's not the most excitable creature. I'm hoping it's more effective than what we are currently doing which is pretty much "Braxton, do you want the fish? Your most favorite thing in the whole world? Mmm, fish. Oh, you do want the fish? You REALLLY want the fish? OK, get it! *sets fish in car*"


Braxton sits and stares at it, then walks away and/or lays down.

[SerenityFL]

Make sure that when you start this, you are not right next to the car. You want to be a few yards AWAY from the open back door. You want a direct line but a few yards away. Your husband needs to be a few feet away from the other side so that your dog doesn't think he's going to be forced IN to the car. He just has to go THROUGH it to get what he wants. If you both stand a bit away from it, it will hopefully lessen the hesitation.

If he tries to go around, no treats. It's only when he's actually ran up to the car, barreled through it and out the other side does he get the treat.

[luvMyBRT]

I had this same problem with Duncan. He just didn't feel like it. LOL. I'd tell him "let's go!" and he'd just stand there and look at me with a blank stare.

What I ended up doing was to take several steps back and get a running start towards the car (I drive a blazer and Duncan rides in the back). I would get his momentum going and as he got closer to the car I would say "up! Up! Up!" real excited like. When he would jump in I would give him treats like crazy....jackpot!! It seemed that getting the momentum going really helped.....

I imagine I looked like a total idiot to anyone watching....lol.....but I guess that can happen if your a devoted FURMOMMY who will only use positive reinforcement with your dog.

[CavePaws]

:( well, do you think it matters if you don't even drive?

What if you get him in the car, drive down the street, park, and praise a lot. Then drive back to the drive way, get out, and repeat. Just drive in different directions to different areas and park.

The main thing I think you need is repetition of the action itself: getting in and out of the car. I don't necessarily think he thinks the car is a bad place, because he gets in your smaller car fine. Which means the ride itself isn't what he dislikes. So, I think, you can do these short sessions getting in and out of the car whenever you can think to do it and still see progress even if you're not driving around and praising at the same time. :p Definitely dangerous having a puppy that needs praising while driving.

I think if this is what you're doing then you will see progress soon. Just up the amount of repetitions but split them up into different times of the day. And definitely feed him his dinner in there! Even if it requires the pick up for now!

[CorgiPaws]

Why didn't I think of that?! After all, it's not the freaking driving around part he has a problem with. LOL

OK, I'm going to kind of combine all these suggestions, try them out, and see what we come up with. Thank you for them! Hopefully I can get him loading up on his own BEFORE he hits the 100 lb mark.....


ETA: I suppose if I have to deal with ONE quirk in training, it might as well be this. I'm glad it's not something worse or dangerous like jumping on people, door charging, poor recall, potty training, etc. that he's being difficult about!