When Anton is in the car he always wants to have a poo, this is not much fun when you are driving and he then does it on the shelf so that the people driving behind you have to watch him too. He'll of been out for quite a while beforehand and done his business, any ideas on how I can stop him. Also tried him in a cage and he ends up having a bath in it!!!

I've never had this problem before, he doesn't seem nervous in the car he dives straight in and seems happy in there. ANY IDEAS PLEASE!!!

Hmmm

Never come across this one before I can only suggest that it is a learned behaviour probably from the first journey when you picked the pup up.

When you put the dog in a crate did you cover the whole bottom of the crate with Vetbed or bedding, dogs dislike messing their sleeping quarters, however you must make sure there are no areas that are not covered by bedding.

Best of luck

doglistener

Do you use the cage in the house as his bed?? if not you could try it and see if associating it with his bed might make him want to keep it clean :) of course if you already use the cage for his bed then this obviously hasn't worked.

It sounds to me as if either he isn't as happy as you think in the car or he's over-excited, does he settle in the car? it may help to get him a car harness to keep him safe in the back seat ( or the front seat may work better if he's well behaved) I have found that even with dogs who appear relaxed in the car once they are restrained they seem even more relaxed.

I do feel for you, its awful to have to travel with the smell and not always convenient to stop

hope this helps

Dill

Hi,

Interesting problem! Not to be indelicate, but dogs are not the only animals whose bowels may go into overdrive when they are excited. Anton is either not as happy about being in the car as he seems or incredibly happy - in either case he is unable to restrain himself.

Suggest you do the same as you might do for dogs that get car sick. Put Anton in the car, but do not go anywhere. If he knows the down command, as soon as he is in the car put him in the down. If he knows stay, down and stay is even better. If he is is not great at following commands or too excited when in the car, no worries. Stay near him and when he is calm give him a bit of a treat or praise - and then take him out of the car. Do not keep him in the car long enough for him to poo. When he is comfortable and clean doing this for longer and longer periods of time you can take him on a very short trip (like up and down the block), starting out with the car not moving for a time and then make your short journey. Gradually increase until you can take him on a longer journey. If up and down the block proves too long to begin with try just turning the engine on and get Anton used to it.

Best of luck,

Stacey

Thanks for your replies, but since the day after putting this post on Anton has been a good little boy and hasn't done it since!!!! TYPICAL.

No useful information forthcoming from me I'm afraid.

Just thought I'd say that my old cat does it too. As soon as you take her anywhere in the travelling box she poos, and if you immediately empty it out, she'll do it again.

She's such a cantankerous old bag I think its just her way of showing her displeasure at being moved as she has always been perfectly clean otherwise.

And cat poo stinks in the car.

I used to have a cat like that, Julia! She lived to be 18. Never got any better. I loved her dearly!
:)

my old border collie would poo infront of mirrors wierd. Especially when the mirror in my room was infront of the bed and yes he stood on the bed
to do it because he couldn't see himself, nasty.
emma

Just a question. Are his poos normally solid ?

Min my eldest Lab who had colitis sometimes could not hold on in the car . It was horrible. It happened once on the way back from my mums. We were on a very lonely country road, no street lights, in the middle of winter at about 7.00pm. We were about an hour from home. We couldn't do anything and had to drive home the rest of the way with the sunroof and all the windows down. I had my head stuck out the window all the way home ! :)

Just thinking if Anton does get a bit stressed out it could be that his bowels just loosen up and he can't control himself ?

Lucy