Training To Lay Down In The Car

[Guest DragonflyDM]

OK... Boomer just feels the need to stand in the back seat whenever we are not on the highway. While it is only a minor vison inconvenience with the rear view mirror, it is a HUGE problem in stop and go traffic. He wobbles all over the place like a landlubber on his first ship in high seas. I worry he will get hurt.

 

Do you guys use some sort of seat harness or restraint?

[TheFullHouse]

Every dog we've hauled finally gets that it's better laying down that standing. They all of course jump up the minute you stop and start the process all over again.

 

My own dogs have learned over the years and most will lay down immediately when they get in our vehicle.

[Guest dougbb]

It took Doug a long to feel comfortable lying down in the back. I would go 5mph over speedbumps and still see the poor dude in my rearview mirror, rag-dolling all over the backseat. What worked for us was (1) teaching him "lie down" at home; (2) putting his bed in the backseat; (3) rewarding him with a treat when he finally did lie down in the car; and (4) taking lots and lots of rides to fun places. I think it just took time to associate the car with good feelings. He still will stand up sometimes, either when the bad traffic starts making him anxious or when I'm merging into traffic and could really use a rearview mirror!

[Guest BrianRke]

Diamond and Frank never lie down on short trips around town. Daytona goes down as soon as he gets in the vehicle. If we are driving more than 45 minutes, they are all down.

 

I imagine of you can teach your dog the "down" command, it would also apply in the car.

[jaym1]

Diamond and Frank never lie down on short trips around town. Daytona goes down as soon as he gets in the vehicle. If we are driving more than 45 minutes, they are all down.

 

I imagine of you can teach your dog the "down" command, it would also apply in the car.

 

Mine took about 6 weeks to get consistent. At the beginning, he would stand the whole time. To get the ball rolling, I carefully watching him, and whenever he was in the act of laying down -- not before, and not after -- i would say, "lay down!" and then praise him. i drive a big old station wagon, so theres lots of room for him in the back. every once in a while while he was standing, i would nudge the brakes, which would cause him to stagger. he would usually lay down right after that, seemingly realizing that it was easier to lay down. this process worked pretty quickly.

[GeorgeofNE]

I have a large SUV with all he seats down, so it's not a problem for me. But he DOES prefer to stand up. Not sure why. When I need to see, and can't, I just tell him to lie down and he does (at least for a while).

[Guest DragonflyDM]

I take Boomer everywhere I can. Most of the time he is with me, and so he spends a LOT of time in the car. He will lay down for a bit but as soon as we are below 40mph he is back up again. That is when it is the worst time for him as he is prone to stop and go traffic and stumbling about in the back seat able to get hurt.

 

We keep treats and we do praise him when he sits. I have not yet been able to get the command "lay down" yet. That is proving a difficult one for him to understand or he is just stubborn. "Stay" "Come" "leave it" are all working fine...he just doesn't like "lay down" at all.

[Guest Sarahvegas]

We found that teaching the lay down command in the car wasn't very successful at first so we started in the home...whenever our boy gets a treat or a chew bone or his kong he must lay down first. (helps to also keep treat messes contained to where we instructed him to lay down at)...so with those incentives it took maybe two days to get the lay-down command mastered then we were able to more easily transition to the car. It also really helped that we added a dog bed and a covered plywood plateform over entire backseat/foot holes to give him a larger flat plateform and room to turn around a few times before laying down (he would never layed down before we did that). We also reinforce that he is to lay down BEFORE the car moves...sometimes resulting in waiting in the car an extra minute or two

 

Still haven't figured out how to get him to jump in the car on his own though...just stares at the seat til someone lifts him up...silly guy.

[Brandiandwe]

Brandi lies down, PK loves the car and stands up as much as possible, or rests her butt on the drivers shoulder or seat to look out the window. She lies down only if she is tired or we are travelling for more than 45 minutes. Luckily she's small and generally doesn't block the view at all.

[philospher77]

I found that Katie likes to be up close to the driver seat, so I also did the "put the back seats down and put carpet-covered plywood over the footwell topped with a dog bed" route. I do have a seat belt harness for her, which I admit that I do not use consistently, but she does seem more likely to lie down when wearing it. I'm not sure if it's because it constricts her movements somewhat, or if it's a cue that it's going to be a longer trip, since I tend not to use it on the short ones. (I know, I know, bad mama!) I use this one: http://usak9outfitters.com/CCSS.htm and attach it to the ring that the seats latch to when they are not in the folded-down position, since the Scion has few and not-very-strong cargo tie-downs. Doing that does give me the advantage that I can make the leash short enough to keep her from touching the front seats or back hatch, and yet she can still lie down comfortably on the bed.

[Shaysmom]

It really helps if they know the down command. Seamus tends to want to stand up in the car because he is anxious. We have a Honda Fit, so when he is up, it is hard to see out the rear view mirror,especially when backing up. I have gotten into the habit of not moving the car from being parked unless he is laying down, and it helps. Still, he tends to pop up if he doesn't know where we are going or thinks he needs to check on things. I started bringing a cup full of small treats that I put in the cup holder within easy reach.

 

Whenever he lays down on his own, I toss him a treat and praise him. When we are stopped at a light (he almost always wants to stand up and look around then), I toss him treats as long as he stays put laying down. He has gotten the idea to the point where if I ask him to lay down, he will usually do it--and then wait for a treat. This also helps alleviate some of his car anxiety.

 

Seamus tends to want to stand between the seats, and I do worry that if I have to stop suddenly, he will go crashing into the windshield. I have also thought about getting a barrier--not sure if they make them for cars as small as Fits.

[Guest DragonflyDM]

I found that Katie likes to be up close to the driver seat, so I also did the "put the back seats down and put carpet-covered plywood over the footwell topped with a dog bed" route. I do have a seat belt harness for her, which I admit that I do not use consistently, but she does seem more likely to lie down when wearing it. I'm not sure if it's because it constricts her movements somewhat, or if it's a cue that it's going to be a longer trip, since I tend not to use it on the short ones. (I know, I know, bad mama!) I use this one: http://usak9outfitters.com/CCSS.htm and attach it to the ring that the seats latch to when they are not in the folded-down position, since the Scion has few and not-very-strong cargo tie-downs. Doing that does give me the advantage that I can make the leash short enough to keep her from touching the front seats or back hatch, and yet she can still lie down comfortably on the bed.

‘

What size did you buy…this may be the short term answer.

 

Like tonight. I had to drive an hour to Pittsburgh. Every time I slowed down, he was up. Every time I had to do the stop and go-- he was sloshing about the back or slobbing on my daughter, etc. The belt harness might stop that till I can get “lay down” all the time. I can’t get it at all now. Sitting and laying down are not easy for him to follow.

[philospher77]

I think I went with Large, but you may want to measure your hound and see which seems to fit best based on the sizing chart. I did get it in the Moonglow Yellow, which shows up nicely at night, but also reflects in car windows, so keep that in mind when you pick a color.

[seeh2o]

Carl is a terrible passenger, he would stand and pant and drool on my shoulder, pretty dangerous on the freeway. I bought a barrier that attaches to the base of the head rests and it keeps him out of my way so I can more safely change lanes. I've also been using positive reinforcement and any time he lays down, even for a second, I praise him like crazy and give him a treat. If he stays down I continue to do that intermittently. It has really begun to pay off and he has played down for almost two hours of a four hour trip...very exciting!

[cleptogrey]

annie usually stands and pants at the window. that's her thing- and we also take her everywhere(we have had her for 2 years now). she finally learned how to get into the car after 9 months of knee up her butt pushing her in(treats thrown onto the back seat didn't work). she will eventually lie down in our civic(cloth seats) and sometimes the jump seat area of the pickup truck, that is after nearly 1/2 hr on the road. when she goes into my parents 4 door acura(leather seats w/ a blanket)...that's another story(we have 2 doors). panic, can't get in, only stands....

 

some dogs are a tad stressed in cars, some aren't. my first greyhound used to try to jump into just about any car,truck,van door she saw. i swore that she was taken home or out for joy rides. when she heard a desiel engine her tail would go ballistic....during her working life was hauled all over the country and was the BEST on road trips.

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

Slam on the breaks a few times Usually, mine learn that way (I don't do it on purpose! But it happens, and they learn, laying down is better!!!) But mine ride in crates also.

[JenniferS]

My dogs always wear a seat belt, or tether & harness. I have bought from here and here

They can stand up or lay down, and I like that when I open the door they can't jump out.

[Guest DragonflyDM]

Have any of you used those straps that have a belt buckle at one end??

[BootsyCollins]

Slam on the breaks a few times Usually, mine learn that way (I don't do it on purpose! But it happens, and they learn, laying down is better!!!) But mine ride in crates also.

 

I've hit the brakes on purpose before. Usually only takes a couple rides

[Brandiandwe]

If by 'belt buckle' you mean the leashes which plug into the seat belt buckle bit we have two. Ours must be secured by law. They have harnesses and the leashes are clipped on. The leashes stay in the car all the time. We also have a hammock thing which attaches to the front and rear seat head rests. I love them.

[Busderpuddle]

I tried a harness type seat belt for Ruby but it seemed like she would wind herself around and it looked like it was tightening, so I would have to stop and re-do it. I finally gave up and let her stand, which drove me nuts. Finally I put her in the car and drove through the 25 MPH retirement community nearby and hit my brakes about 3 times and also went over several speed bumps without slowing down. Since then, she will usually stand until the first stop sign and then lay down the rest of the way. This may not be the best way to do it (I was so freaked she would break a leg) but it worked. Good luck.