Getting Your Grey To Jump In The Car

[Guest Tim]

Hi

 

Not a major problem but I cant seem to get Bobby to jump into the car. I always have to lift him in.

 

Just once he jumped in of his own accord so I know that its not a physical problem - but I cant get him him to repeat it. That one time he did jump in I just lifted the tailgate and he leaped straight in - I couldn't believe it tbh!

 

I've tried to bribe him with treats but he just stands there looking confused at the back of the car and I have to lift him in

 

Once in the trunk (Audi A6 Avant btw - so its plenty big) he settles down well and usually dozes happily away.

 

Anyone got any ideas or tips - I can keep lifting him in but my wife cant really manage lifting a 72 pound dog into the car on her own!

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Tim

[Ragsysmum]

Have you tried throwing a really favourite tasty treat into the back of the car whilst he watches you so he has to jump in to get it?

[muddgirl]

The first couple times I wanted Batman to get in the car, I had to climb in and entice him/encourage him up (using my "Come" marker). Then after he jumped up, I gave him a treat. After the first couple times he didn't need me to encourage him any more.

[TheFullHouse]

Try putting his front feet up on the back of the vehicle first and then just lifting him with his hind legs. A lot of times once you put the front feet up they will jump in the rest of the way on their own. That being said, I have 7 males and only 3 will jump in on their own and I've had these boys for years! They are at the age now where we finally bought a ramp.

[Jenbo]

I used Myka's favorite stuffy and tossed that in -- it took her a while to get it but she did finally.

[LBass]

This is not going to be a particularly helpful reply but your question made me laugh, so I thought I'd share my experience. Momo naturally hops into the car eager to go. Piper puts his front legs up and waits for me to lift his rear. Spirit used to make me lift his front end up and then boost his rear in. He started jumping in on his own during Sandy Paws this spring when it dawned on him that he could score the favored spot in the car if he hopped right up before the others beat him to it.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

The training has begun...

 

Him training you.

 

1. What I would suggest is to have the back gate open, walk about 10-15 feet away from the rear of the vehicle, then walk briskly with your hound toward the vehicle. Once you are within 5 feet, use an inflection in voice and say "UP!" or "Kennel".

 

2. If that doesn't work, then repeat but at the same time you say "UP!" or whatever you want to say, toss a very stinky treat into the back of the vehicle.

 

3. If this still doesn't work, then have someone inside the vehicle, with a stinky treat. Walk him up to the vehicle so he knows there is a person with a stinky treat inside the vehicle (you probably want someone your boy likes inside the vehicle), walk away from the vehicle, and repeat step 1.

 

All hounds can be taught to jump into vehicles, it just takes time and the right motivation.

 

Good luck.

 

Chad

[Houndtime]

Try putting his front feet up on the back of the vehicle first and then just lifting him with his hind legs. A lot of times once you put the front feet up they will jump in the rest of the way on their own. That being said, I have 7 males and only 3 will jump in on their own and I've had these boys for years! They are at the age now where we finally bought a ramp.

 

What she said. Of the five greyhounds that we have had, my biggest boys would not jump up into the van or truck. Now I open the side door of the van, and Fuzzy will walk in. I think this is why most of the boys are in the lower tier of crates at the track, and also because they are usually heavier. I was told Paul was in an upper as he was a good jumper. Good luck with the training; it could help. We bought a ramp, too.

[Guest Nuthatch]

It took ages to get Sable into the car without a fight. I parked the car in the enclosed garden, let her mooch around and I sat in the boot for periods of time with treats. Eventually she realised that the treat machine handed out sweats for getting into the car and then at regular intervals for staying in the car. She will get in now no problem, even without a treat.

 

I can’t get her to lie down though. She tolerates car journeys as it might mean we are going out running. Stands no matter how tired.

[Guest shanesmom]

I've only had Ace a little over a month but the first few weeks he would not jump in the van on his own though he clearly could. It is just one little step and he's a tall boy. I figured out that he just did not want to ride in the van. Now that he figured out that most of the time when we get in the van we are going to my mom's fenced in yard down the street where he can run and play with his outside toys, he can't wait to jump in.

[Guest FijiHound]

I was lucky because I already had two dogs that jump in and out of the car like it's nothing So Nugget understood what she had to do. She used to be lifted and carried her whole life but it didn't take much to teach her. The first few times we put Nuggets front feet in and picked up her butt and threw her in . (She's only tiny - 51bs) Since the other dogs go crazy and run toward the car and leap in it didn't take long for her to run with them and jump in herself

[Gryffenne]

Sammi's command is, "Up, up"

 

She doesn't usually have a problem jumping in, it was getting her to wait that was the issue She gave a friend of mine a bloody nose once We were taking her on a small road trip and using his truck. We were standing there waiting for him as he thoughtfully put a blanket down on his leather backseat in the truck for her. He never asked if she could jump on her own accord "that high" (4x4 F150) so when he backed and turned, she dove up, excited to get going... as he was leaning down to lift her up. Her shoulderblade caught him square in the nose.

 

After that incident, I taught her to wait for her command to get in. It helped in the few cases where she didn't want to get into a vehicle. Command overrode her hesitation.

Edited September 21, 2011 by Gryffenne

[cleptogrey]

annie had rigamortis when it came to getting into the car for the first 9 months we had her. i just put her 2 front feet in and pushed her butt in w/ my knee. i have a 2 door honda civic. now, 1.5 years later she has even jumped into the jump seat of the 2 door pick-up truck! miracles can happen

[philospher77]

For Katie, it's all about motivation. She is not very happy yet with the idea of going out into the Big Wide World, so I have to lift her into the car. If I try and wait her out she just gets more anxious, so I just go ahead and do it. Now, if we are out in the big wide world and I open up the back of the car, she flies in with the prettiest leap you have ever seen! She'd much rather be in the car where she feels safe than outside.

 

Rebecca

[Guest Tim]

Thanks for all the replies

 

Opening the trunk first then walking about and then running to the open boot excitedly with a treat seems to work !

 

- mooching about at the rear of the car seemed to be the problem - needed more energy about the whole thing and we have success

 

Cheers all

 

 

 

Tim

[Feisty49]

Good news about Bobby jumping.

 

I'm so dense sometimes -- but then nobody told me -- that for the first few days of having Annie Bella (got her in mid-July this year) I'd open a back passenger door and have to do a paw/paw, push, back paw/back paw, push to get her into the car. She *hated* it. Now get this: I have an SUV!!! Honestly it never crossed my mind to open the cargo door and have her jump in until one day when walking by the back end, Annie stopped and looked at it expectantly. The light bulb *finally* went off in my head. (You can teach old folks new tricks. ) She was so eager to jump that a few times she hit her head on the cargo door as it went up. She's now learned to stay until I say, "Up."

 

Sometimes using kennel words work, such as saying "Kennel up" or other words they learned at the track does the trick.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Glad to hear. Welcome to the world of greyhounds...

[Guest Tabby]

the day I picked Tabby up from the track the adoption manager taught me how to get her in the car. Her command,the one they teach all the dogs at this track, was hup, hup. I open the door give the command and in she goes. this is the only easy thing we have done so far!

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

the day I picked Tabby up from the track the adoption manager taught me how to get her in the car. Her command,the one they teach all the dogs at this track, was hup, hup. I open the door give the command and in she goes. this is the only easy thing we have done so far!

 

 

Thats why for new greyhound owners I always suggest you adopt from a group so that you have a hound that was fostered as well as an instant support group. One thing about this site, it is a GREAT support group, cant be beat!

[Guest greysmitten]

Patience. It took Azi a few weeks to jump into the car (SUV) consistently. We tried running starts, climbing into the back seat, lifting ... you name it! Eventually, throwing a treat or two into the back and saying "up" worked with some patience. Now, she can barely wait until the door is open before she wants to hop in!

 

Good luck

[Guest DearCarrie]

Of all the little greyhound idiosyncrasies, I haven't experienced this one! I always thought because of their kennel lives, they found jumping easy. I think because when I first got Gracie, she always followed her brother (Hunter was a lab-mix)into the back of the car, so I don't remember an issue. Is he of the age that he might have arthritis pain? He might hesitate because of that?

Edited September 30, 2011 by DearCarrie

[greyhoundlady]

Great topic - I, too, have a non-jumper. I just rescued Sambuca this past Sunday and although he really enjoys riding in the SUV he will not jump into it! My two previous greys never hesitated to jump in or out and never needed to be taught. We are working on this one. So far, I have tried the front paws on the back and a boost up from the rear. Also tried entering in through the side door. Also a no go. He is a little over two years old, so I know he can physically do this.

 

Next time I am going to try tossing in the stinky treats. He is food driven so that might work.

 

Since we are on this topic - when you lift a greyhound, what is the best way to do so. I have been putting my forearm under his belly and my other arm across his chest. Any correct way?

 

PS - I just found a posting on this on Greytalk - Physically lifting a Greyhound. Got my answer! Looks like under the tuck with one arm and around the chest with the other will work well with my guy.

Edited October 1, 2011 by greyhoundlady

[Guest IndyHound]

Beckett wouldn't get in mine at first. So what i did was take a few treats and then i climbed into the car and held out the treat while I excitedly called his name. Then i would take him to the park or another fun place. After a few times he decided the car meant treats and going to a fun place and a few times has jumped into my Focus's trunk.

[Greydawg]

No matter what we tried, Heisman would not even attempt to get into the SUV by himself. (Why would he? He had us very well-trained to lift his 78 lb Highness all the time! Ha!) Eventually, to help me, Hubby created a homemade "ramp" out of scrap wood, accessorized it with nice indoor/outdoor carpet and comfy handles to easily manage it. He designed it to fit nicely in the SUV with the dog so I could use it to get Heisman back in when we were ready to come home.

 

Then our second Grey, Alex (Alexander the Greyt-hound) came to live with us and Alex had no problems getting in and out of the SUV. It didn't rub off on Heisman though, and he continued to wait for his Personal Assistants to get him into the vehicle. One day, something happened while Hubby lifted him up. Maybe stubbing his toe getting in? It happened so fast. He screamed bloody murder for two or three straight minutes on our driveway, until all the neighbors stumbled out of their houses to see what we had done to him. He was perfectly fine after the small concerned crowd gathered around us -- there was no blood, no bruising, no tenderness, no signs of any injury. Thank Goodness. Then like an Olympic athlete, he proceeded to jump in the back of the SUV and joined Alex without any further fuss.

 

From that day forward, he jumps in and out of the SUV, effortlessly and without any urging from us. Don't get me wrong... I am not recommending this technique to train your dog! It did convince me that his resistance was 100% mental, and all we were doing was enabling him. Ha! What a character he is!

[jetcitywoman]

Another vote for luring with stinky-delicious treats here. And tons of patience. I just finally succeeded in teaching Ajax to climb into my Prius via the side door, since he thinks he can't jump in through the hatch (despite doing so more than a few times). After lifting his highness into the car for about a year, I called a halt and started "car training". I have to admit to you guys that I started off on the absolute* wrong foot: I opened the side door, got him to put his head inside and pushed him the rest of the way and picked his back feet up for him. What I accomplished with that was to teach him a fear of the car and broke his trust in me. (This was a surprise effect to me and made me SO glad that he learned stairs by watching Capri run up and down them!)

 

So, start over. Stinky treats, no pushing, absolutely no pressure on him to go inside other than luring with food. If I so much as touched him, he would panic and back out. It took me several months because before the actual training could happen, I had to rebuild his trust and eliminate the fear of the car (the no pressure part). As of this past week, if I toss a few treats in there, he will climb in without hesitation. I still throw a party for him when he's in, just to reinforce that he did a good thing.

 

* Note to newbies: I'm not saying this is the wrong method for all dogs. This was the wrong method for Ajax. Which is why I discovered it by doing it and then having to fix my mistake. Don't you love those unintended consequences?

Edited October 5, 2011 by jetcitywoman