Help, how can I stop my dog barking in the car while I’m driving!? That’s one of the most common questions we receive, and it’s a dilemma as you can’t drive and train your dog at the same time. But you can fix it! It starts with knowing why a dog is barking in the first place. It could be fear, excitement, anticipation, or maybe the dog is triggered by what they see out the car window.
In the episode you'll hear:
- All the reasons a dog might be barking while you are driving.
- How a video can help you diagnose why your dog barks.
- About using management for dogs who bark in cars.
- The reason to narrow down what might be triggering your dog’s barking.
- How eliminating rehearsals of the undesired behaviour is vital.
- What to do if you have two or more dogs barking while you are travelling in the car.
- That sometimes limiting your dog’s view out the windows can eliminate barking.
- Why to reinforce your dog for being quiet when in the car and ways you can set that up.
- About using negative punishment when there is a history of rich reinforcement for that which is correct.
- The strategy of stopping the car when your dog is barking in anticipation.
- Why you need to counter condition and desensitize your dog first.
- What to do if your dog is triggered by something when they are in the car.
- How to help a dog who gets overexcited about car trips and going places in the car.
- All the progressions to stopping your dog barking when you are driving.
- That barking is a conditioned behaviour and not a conscious response by your dog.
Resources:
- Podcast Episode 75: Stop Motion Sickness: Helping Your Puppy or Dog Love the Car
- Podcast Episode 164: The Danger Of Car Travel For Dogs: Evaluating Your Risk
- Podcast Episode 112: Stressed Dog? How Trigger Stacking Might Be Putting Your Dog Over Threshold
- *Remote Feeder: PetSafe Treat & Train
- Podcast Episode 88: Barrier Frustration: Help for Fence Fighting, Leash Reactivity and Window Guarding
- YouTube Playlist: The Emotional State of Dogs with Susan Garrett
- Crate Games
- YouTube Video: Understanding Your Dog's Reinforcement Zone (RZ) with Susan Garrett
- Recallers
- YouTube Video: 5 Ways To Exercise Your Dog
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
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A few years ago I had good luck with my golden mix and his overexcitement barking while going to the dog park. He started barking further and further away from the park until I decided I had to act. I pulled over and stopped whenever he started barking, and waited until he was quiet for a second, and then I started driving again. It was tedious and I felt rather goofy taking 10 minutes from just down the block to actually reaching the dog park – but it worked without my having to say a thing! The first few attempts also had him barking nonstop for five minutes, but it subsided eventually and I would try to start up rather quickly as a reward (sometimes stopping again immediately, but he caught on!).
I’m here today because my young GSD barks at so many things from the car. Unfortunately, I cannot fit a large crate inside my car. Your ideas about blocking the view has me thinking about using some dog goggles I had gotten for two of my dogs, but had quit using. They are Rex Specs and come with a sunglass insert. I’m going to try that next!
Our dog barks in anticipation of reaching our destination when in the car. Its excitement based, not anxiety or reactions to things outside the car. It started with whining when reversing, the parking sensor beep specifically. But now she starts in anticipation of the journey end – some sort of jedi sense given its for new destinations as well as known. My question is where to start in fixing this? By the time we are actually parking she is already going crazy – do we focus on the reversing? Or because its escalated by then do we focus on something else? We’ve listened to the #165 podcast, but it would be great to have some pointers on what to do if the trigger is a bit ambiguous (not every time we slow down/indicate etc will she bark, I guess its our body language? Smells? Something else?! That let’s her know we are almost there). I recently joined Recallers amd had a look at the chat forum on there and the available training video resources but I couldn’t see anything that addressed this. Thanks very much in advance for any pointers on what we should focus on to start fixing this. All we seem to manage to do so far is give her opportunities to practice the unwanted behaviour.
great info and ideas!
My dog is very anxious about travelling, though he is a lot better as we’ve done a lot of work for this – he tends to lay down in his bed now (he’s seat belted in). He will bark at people when we stop, mainly people wearing hi-vis. However, because my dog is an anxious traveller, he simply won’t take any kind of treats in the van. Any advice on how I can help him overcome this? Thank you.
Hi there this is exactly what I need but a question please. So the worst of my 3 beardies that bark in the car barks at bicycles, motorbikes and dogs and pedestrians. And yes he’s excited because he know he’s going to agility training. But do I have to stop going to agility training until I’ve desensitized him? I did try putting a bandana over his eyes so he couldn’t see out. That worked a little but I felt bad about covering his eyes. Then when we leave agility training as soon as I start the car he starts barking so I cannot even talk to his trainer as I’m leaving (even when I put the bandana on. What do I do then? And he’s the worst and he’s having an impact on any of the others that are in the car at the time