Hi!
My 2year old GSP female makes an horrific whining noise on our outward journeys to her walks. She always sits still in the boot of our car & I've tried everthing to calm her~even Bach Rescue remedy drops!.She does try to suppress her noise by Yawning & seems to know that her  noise is unacceptable~but she just can't stop! When the car stops & the boot door clicks open she sits quietly until I tell to get out~ then she runs & runs like a wild thing! After her walk    she just jumps into the boot and quietly rides all the way home without a Squeak! Does anyone have this problem And if so how do you cope?!  

Yawning is a sign of stress - maybe she is feeling your stress, or even feeling stressed herself - does she drool or moult excessively when in the car?  As she stops when you are on your way home I'd guess it's stress/excitement about the act of *going* for a walk.  To cure this I'd take lots of drives that go nowhere - just drive out and then come straight back home - these going nowhere drives should out number the going for a walk drives by 10 to one.  It's not easy I know, but it's the best way I know of to show a dog that not all journeys in a car lead to exciting wallks.

PS - make sure you praise and reward her for those brief moments when she IS quiet, and ignore the rest of it as by talking to her you may well be rewarding her.

how about a few special toys in the boot that get left there just for the car journeys? might distract her slightly?

just a thought,

nails :0)

Thanks for your advice Digger! I shall try putting her in the car even though there isn't a WALK at the end of it! Maybe I'll take her on my next Supermarket shopping trip!~pity the dogs can't do a bit of weary shopping sometimes~ 'cos that's enough to make anything squeal!! Watch this space!!!   

Hi, I don't have a solution I'm afraid but my 10 month GSP girl does the same - just as you described it ie trying to stifle the whine but not quite being able to do so.  She does drool sometimes too.  She is quiet after I drop my first daughter outside her school and she starts after I drop my second daughter at nursery its like she recognises the routine and knows that once the kids have gone its her turn next!!!!!! so the stress/overexcitement theory definitely fits.  Luckily for me it is only a short journey to the walk so I just put up with it - it would get to me if she did it on longer journeys though.

Never thought of asking on here but may be someone has an idea that will work. 2 of my dogs, both show dogs do different but irritating things in the car. The first will start to bark every time I use the indicator thinking we have arrived but stop once he realises we are still under way, and the other thinks we are in the car park every time I stop in a queue of traffic, and starts getting very excited and ready to get out. Any thoughts.

I would imagine it would be just pure excitment! the thought of going for a walk!

have you tried someone sitting in the back with them, or squirting with a bottle if they squeak?

my collie is very pushy & vocal when doing her obedience work, i tryed R.remedy & chicory to no effect, but to some effect i tried the remedy "impatiens" like the name suggests for impatience & it did work! you may need to give quite abit though!

I've a 6 month old Shiba Inu that has got to have the largest vocal range when in the car - he can sound like a monkey, a cat in heat abd a swiss yoddler rolled into one. He never "barks" as such but he's LOUD!! Have tried a number of things - harness (with me sitting with him)...he jumped all over the place and tried to strangle himself so gave up. Crate in the boot with toys and treats - better for my eardrums (not as close) but still sounds like we're killing him!! He doesn't yawn much (though even that produces a noise unlike any other dog I've ever known!) so don't think it's stress. Have tried covering the crate - thought it might be the moving vehicles close by but this makes him even worse. As he's a small "foxlike" dog, am waiting for PC Plod to pull me over one day and demand I release "that wild animal in the back of your car!"
:)

I found the only way to stop mine was to stop the car almost as soon as I set off and let the dogs out for a pee. I'm lucky that I have a lay-by just 150-200 yards away from the end of the street :D . The dogs thought they'd been somewhere and I could continue the juorney (sometimes for hours) without another sound. ;)