Retraining Is Hard!

[jetcitywoman]

When we first got Ajax he would jump into the back of my Prius if we helped him get a running start. Sometimes it would take two attempts, but he could do it. And then one day DH was either feeling lazy or in a hurry, and he picked Ajax up. Since then... he refuses to jump even after a running start so we always have to pick him up. I've been meaning to get high value treats and fix this before my back gives out, and today I finally got around to it.

 

We had two sessions today, and I can tell this is going to take a while. I'm patient, so that's not a problem. But I do worry that I'm not doing it right because he's slightly skittish, slow to learn, easily frustrated, and just doesn't try to guess what I want like Smarty-Pants Capri. If I hold a cookie out of her reach, she will lunge for it. He won't. On one hand that's good, he's a very polite boy. On the other hand, it makes it hard to lure him.

 

I also got the sense that he's afraid of doing the wrong thing. Even though he's been in the car a million times, when I finally got him to jump his front half and put his front legs on the deck to reach some cheese, when I praised him, he startled and dropped down.

 

I know standing behind the car with his front legs on the car deck is probably difficult and uncomfortable, but I can't think of a better way to shape him into a full jump. I had slices of cheese, some smelly treats, AND a bully stick sitting on the deck where he'd have to jump to get them, and he didn't go for it. He seems to think now that he can't jump.

 

Is there anything better I can do to help him learn? He's a young, healthy boy, so I don't want to build ramps or other "crutches". Are there exercises I can make him to to strengthen his legs? Or is patience the only rx?

 

Just to add, I love my boy. Not enough to break my back over him, though.

[jetcitywoman]

I bought some hot dogs to try, hope that helps and that he figures out that jumping is what I want. I KNOW he can do it. This morning he leaped all three porch steps to land gracefully on our porch. That's about the same height as my Prius. And that was walking casually up to the porch, too, not a running start.

[Guest eaglflyt]

We have a Prius too and our 4 hounds, plus fosters. We are physically incapable of lifting them into the car on any routine basis. We always have them enter through the back side door on the driver's side. We leave that back (driver's seat) up with a towel in it. We put the other seat down (passenger side back seat) so it is flat, along with the back, flat hatchback section. The dogs step up into the floorboard or back driver's side seat, then onto the folded down passenger's side back seat, then into the back, flat hatchback area. No lifting, no straining of dogs legs or joints. Once they are all in the car, we fold down the driver's side back seat so that the whole back of the area is just a big, flat doggy area. We always have that area covered with a big and freshly laundered comforter. The dogs all exit in the same manner, just reversed ... no straining and no stress for them or us.

 

Even if your dog can jump into the hatchback now, as he/she ages, that will probably not work. Even in young dogs, joint stress is cumulative and injuries can occur with jumping. Training them to easily enter from the rear, driver's side door has been very easy and is physically safe for everyone involved.

 

Good luck!

 

ETA ... we don't take all the dogs in the Prius at once and they are always muzzled when in the car and sharing close quarters. We can easily fit 4 greys in the back section of our car, and on occasion 5. However, usually if we have over 4 to transport, we also take our second vehicle to avoid overcrowding or stressing the dogs.

Edited July 2, 2011 by eaglflyt

[cleptogrey]

it took annie, who has been a tad skittish at times, a full year to learn how to get into our car or truck. i tried throwing the high valued treat in first, having our male go in first(he jumps into ANY open car door), on lead, lifting head up and in and luring w/ treat...NADA! so i resorted to the knee behind the butt and a gentle push. after many, many months of kneeing her in, she finally did it on her own. i am usually surgically inserting the two into a 2 door civic or a 2 door tacoma pickup(they get the jump seat). she often forgets how to get into the tacoma, which is a jump up and in, but i just put her 2 front feet on the floorboard and push up w/ my knee. some days she will fly in,some days she still freezes and has the look of a deer looking into headlights, but it's praise no matter what once she is in.

[Batmom]

Might not be the height but the "something overhead." That was the issue for one of my pups. A ramp/steps is a bit of a pain at times, but nobody balks at getting in/out and don't have to worry about injuries that prevent jumping up or make jumping down dangerous.