we take our dog, a border collie out with us quite a lot, every time we get into the car she starts barking and doesn't stop until the car stops. This has become unbearable , any suggestions?

I have a collie too - she barks when she sees something unusual - today it was a man carrying a ladder, or it may be a dog that catches her eye.  Where do you keep your dog when she is in the car.  Mine is in the back so she can see out all the time.  It may be the movement around her - it may be pure excitement - collies can get so wound up.  I am no expert but it would help if you could tell us where you keep her.  I have seen someone with a collie cross that barks in agility with a spray deterrent - Not sure that is enough on it's own though and could even serve to make her nervous of being in the car completely.  ---- Try in search for 'barking car' and look for Harley's post.

I keep her in the back, its an estate car, she lies on top of my toolboxes. In my other car she is in the back seat, same problem

You have my sympathy as our young terrier barks in the car and it is soooooooooo distracting. I have now bought a crate for him which has at least solved the problem of him jumping up and down like a jack in the box with each bark Our GR is an angel in the car so Cooper's vocal accompaniment to every journey came as quite a shock.

I have tried lots of different things one of which may work for you  -
I tried covering the crate but that didn't make any difference at all.
I tried praising the odd quiet nano second but there wasn't enough time to get the word out before he started off again.
I had a bit of success with singing loudly to myself so he could hear me even though he couldn't see me but after a couple of miles he started to howl   :D 
I tried putting the crate on the back seat so he could see me but he just wanted to get in the back of the car with our other dog.
I tried a seatbelt harness but again he just wanted to get in the cargo area.
I taught him to be quiet indoors on command - works well indoors but not in the car.
I gave him a rawhide bone in his crate - he is quiet for a fair while and barks intermittently - most successful thing to date :)
I take him out in the car but don't walk him.

His problem is pure excitement - I take the dogs in the car mainly to walk them in the woods so he knows he is going for a walk and just cant' contain himself. When I park at the woods I don't let him out of the car until he has stopped barking which used to be a wait of around 15 minutes but is now down to 3 minutes :) He also barks for the first 30 yards of the walk which takes forever as each time he barks I stop and don't move forward until he is quiet.

On the way home he is as quiet as a mouse and I don't hear a peep out of him which is why I am convinced it is pure excitement that makes him bark. I am hoping that he will get better as he gets older.

I clicker trained the quiet command that he responds to indoors and he got that really quickly but I am not sure whether to use that method in the car as, although I can click a quiet moment I can't give him a food reward because I am driving and there is only myself in the car. If any clicker users are able to help with that one I would be very grateful.

Hopefully one of the above methods will work with your dog as it is very distracting to have that constant barking and is hugely annoying.

Like Harley said a lot of it is over excitement as car = WALK, can you try putting him in car and doing boring things like:-
sitting on drive to read the paper,
going to get the paper and then home
going to get petrol and then home
going twice round the block and home
so that he gets in the car but doesn't actually go anywhere(from his point of view)
Ideally you want him to regard the car as just another room of the house,
Has worked with a couple of BCs I know.
Chris

Only training will break this or a mild aversive like soemone sitting in the back and using a water spray.

My freind has had this problem with ehr collies a fatehr and daughter, Father is now dead and daughter 12 years old.  Neither stopped doign it until she started taking me out with ehr to shows.

I sat in back and sprayed them.  worked a treat so that eventually jsut my presence was enough.  Only trouble was as soon as she dropped me off and rounded the corner from my house I coudl hear them yelling their heads off.

They taught the Elkhound she had from me to join in, yet I never had this when I took ehr to shows.

We have two cars that our dog goes in, mine the Galaxy in a cage he cant see where he is going .......no sound.....
The Focus however has a dog guard and he can see out of the car.........he is loud and really annoying.
So maybe that would be your answer, dont allow him to see out.

Karen ;-)

Tatty ead

You have a brilliant idea there.  Bc's can be barkers as can beardies.  They use their voices a lot when working.  The excitement because they know they are going out in the car and then on to walk is too much for them sometimes and they also think they can chase moving objects outside the car.  Bore the pants off them after the miring walk and you have burned off some energy along with perhaps walking them round the block a few times before getting in the car.

I travel with 4 Beardies and 3 TT's regularly and they always have at least a short walk before getting into the vehicle.

The options are either put them in a place where they  cant see out perhaps cover the cage, might work.  Bore the pants of them when in the car, but you must give them a little walk first.  The water spray also works but sometimes you need the person with presence ie Barbara to keep the control consistent.

It doesn't happen overnight - usually so hang on in there  (just and opinion you understand)

Foxy was a real pain in the car when she was a pup, the noise she made was ear splitting (huskies do not bark but she had a really, really shrill high pitched, what I can only describe, as a repeated yelp).  We cured her by driving around the block, letting her out and back in the garden and then repeating this (at least) half a dozen times.   We then took both dogs for a very long drive with frequent rest stops - did the trick and now she isn't a huge problem, although she does sometimes winge quietly. 

Hey you can hire me to sit in the car.  My friend thought a blow up doll of me might do the trick LOL :D

She goes everywhere in the car and a lot of the times when going for a walk I go direct from the house without using the car. When we turn the corner 500yds from home while in the car the barking stops everytime. Tell her she's going in the car she is at the front door waiting and straight into the car. When I sit in the drivers seat away she goes. I used a muzzel for a while and it did help but on a long journey I didn't think it was fair on her.

There is an elastic muzzle type contraption called a "husher".  It is made of foru elastic panels and the idea is that it is hard work for them to open their mouths, but they can do so enough to drink etc, but not to bark and bar.  A friend used one on one of her collies with success.