My 14 month old labrador bitch "Jess" howles, whines generally makes noise everytime i take her out in the car for a walk.  I realise it is because she is excited as she is nice and quiet on the way home as she is tired out although occasional whine but nothing major.  Does anyone have any suggestions how to get her to be quieter in the car?

Another question i have is how to you manage to command your dog to be quiet during a barking session.  Reason ask as Jess can see through the front door and any movement in the surrounsding area of the house she barks - i know that's what she should be doing but want to be able to control the barking in some way.  She also does this with our neighbour when Jess is in the garden and hears my neighbour go out their she barks.  I have tried training discs but they did not work.  I think Jess also remembers when she was younger that this particular neighbour threw water over the fence at her to stop her barking.  The neighbour has tried to talking to her, and ignoring her but Jess still barks at her.

Any suggestions?

Does she ever go out in the car other than when the destination is a walk? Perhaps if you frequently took her out just for a drive around and straight back home she would not automatically associate the car ride with a rewarding walk. Obviously it would take a few 'boring' trips for her to realize that a ride does not always have an exciting result.

I can usually command 'quiet' to stop barking, but if they get into a frenzy I find that rattling a tin can containing pebbles is effective in focussing their attention.

I found the best way for me to teach Quiet was with a clicker, but if you don't use one just wait until she stops barking (ie a lull in the proceedings!) and say Quiet!, good Quiet.
and reward with a very top tasty food treat. Gradually she should learn what it means and start to look to you for whether she is allowed to bark or not.I have quite a barky breed but because my dog is responsive to the Quiet command it's controllable.
If she has a problem with this particular neighbour, try her fav. thing when the neighbour appears - a game, a toy, food treats etc or her dinner. It may seem like rewarding bad behaviour but what should happen is that she will start to associate the person with really good things and again look to you for the good thing rather than bark at the neighbour. However if she is really wound up you may need to enlist the neighbour's help again, or get in a reputable trainer to help you sort the problem out.

Hth
Lindsay
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