Hello All

My pup is nearly 7 months old now. From day 1 she has been great about travelling in the car but over the last week or so she has been increasingly reluctant to get in and tonight we actually missed training class because she point blank refused to get in. We spent 45 minutes trying to coax and cajole but she wouldn't even get in for a chicken wing. That's when we knew we were beat! She would put her front paws up on the bumper (with the car ramp up against it) but would not go any further.

We know that the car has become a bit cramped of late for two big dogs so we are just in the process of buying a new one. If all goes to plan, we should be able to pick it up next week. We think the lack of space may be putting her off getting in but we're not sure.

In the meantime, I'm hoping some of you might be able to offer advice as to how to coax her back in to the car. Or should we just leave it and concentrate on introducing her to the new one when it arrives? The current one is a hatchback and the new one is a van-type MPV with a huge boot. There is a lack of interesting places to walk near to us and we really need to be able to drive the dogs further afield, not to mention getting to training/vet etc.

Please, any suggestions at all would be great!

Cheers

Hi
The one thing you may not have thought of, but which struck me at once when you said she puts her front paws on the bumper -are you sure she isn't in pain? My dog with HD used to love travelling in the car, came with us wherever we went always, then one day he refused in the same way. It wasn't because he didn't want to get in, it was because he wasn't able to anymore, even though to look at him you'd see no difference. What happens if you try to get her in through one of the doors so she doesn't have to jump, does she still refuse or does she get in? That might tell you whether it is fear of the car or being unable to jump in.

I was going to say HD as the cause as well :(

Dudley will jump pre walk, post walk we have to help her into the boot of the car , she knows her limitations :)

Lucy
xx

Just a thought, has she had her first season.  My girl started being funny about jumping in the car about that time.  She got over it though with firm handling.  Then she decided she wasnt getting in because the boy was on her side.  Now we have to make sure she has her own side but there are times when she still hesitate about getting in.

If it continues you might be wise to vet check her.

Sorry, should have made it clearer...she uses a ramp to get in and out as I don't want her jumping up and down. The ramp was in place and she would get as far as the top, where it was resting on the bumper and then refuse to get on into the boot. She would put her head in to get to the treats I was tossing in as a lure but wouldn't go for the ones thrown to the back of the boot as that would have meant she would have to get right in. She also refused to get into the back seat via the doors.

I don't think she is about to come into season but I could be wrong. I believe 7 months would be very early for her breed to come into season. She seems perfectly normal in herself otherwise.

I do worry about her hips simply because of her breed but as we are currently having a problem with her bouncing up and down like a kangaroo and trying to lick people's faces while they are standing up, I don't think her his are giving her any bother. I presume if she was in any pain, she wouldn't bounce so enthusiastically?

Anyway, it seems I may have posted a little prematurely. We tried her again this morning. I opened the boot, set up her ramp and threw in some dried liver. She hesitated for a second and then trotted up the ramp and into the car. I allowed her to get back out in her own time (once she'd hoovered up all the treats) and left it at that. I'll continue to do this without actually closing the boot or going anywhere for a few days to see if we can overcome whatever it is that made her so reluctant last night. Newfs can be a stubborn breed...perhaps this is the onset of adolescence (heaven help us :D )

Thank you all for your replies.

That all sounds like good news. :) Hopefully it was just one of these ideas dogs get into their heads sometimes for whatever reason. :)