car rides

[sonya]

I've had Hero for 5 years and he will be 12 in July.  He has stopped wanting to go for rides.  He used to LOVE it.  when I would ask "you wanna go for a ride" he would jump up and go to where I keep his leash.  For about the past 3 weeks he just looks at  me , like, NO I don't want to go for a ride.  He seems fine otherwise.....doing yard zoomies, eating normal.  I thought something must have happened to him in the car but I can't figure it out.  If he got hurt or something he would let out the greyhound scream of death.  Nothing.  After about 3 days I forced him to get in the car and it was awful.  He straightened his front legs and wouldn't move.  I had to pick up his back end and push him in. ( I will never do that again).  He seemed fine once in.  Tonight when I asked if he wanted to go for a ride, I THOUGHT he was OK with it BUT no go.  I pulled the car up and had the back door open, even put in a new clean cover on the back seats.  He refused to even look at me.  Just statued and stared in the other direction.  No amount of talking got him to move.  So I say, "go back inside?" and he turns around to go in.  Our life has not changed at all since this pandemic.  Our routine is the same every day.  I don't have a clue, going for walks is fine..even though at times he statues and he ain't movin until he's darn good and ready.   I've checked his feet and pushed his pads but no reaction.  Any suggestions greatly appreciated.  Maybe he's just set in his ways now that he is an old man but I love him to death!

[JohnF]

Maybe it is because the weather has warmed up?  Peggy can be less than enthusiastic about jumping in the car if it's over the mid-60's F. Try tossing a tasty treat in...

[HeyRunDog]

You say you checked his pads, did you check the rest of his joints to see if he has a bad back or arthritis etc?

[FiveRoooooers]

At close to 12 yo, often the seniors find riding in the car to be not so fun anymore. Unless they choose to lay down, they may find that standing is difficult and they’re unable to keep their balance. Reactions can be slower and they may not sense changes in direction, which can lead to falling. Hero could simply be saying Thanks but BTDT. Unless they’re absolutely necessary, I would take car rides off the ToDo list and create some other fun things to do at home. Good luck with your old fellow. Twelve is swell!

[rsieg]

It is possible Hero is getting arthritic and has a hard time hopping into the car. There might not be a "scream of death" or anything like that, greyhounds can be stoic about chronic or expected pain.

You might try making some stryofoam steps. See the pictures in this post:

https://forum.greytalk.com/topic/321880-back-seat-ramp-suggestions/?tab=comments#comment-6040590

I made some for Max, now that Logan is in his double digits he gets to use it occasionally (although he can still hop in by himself, he is sometimes hesitant so I suspect it hurts him sometimes). Great thing about the styrofoam steps is that they are ultra lightweight, the dogs don't get nervous about using them like with a ramp (where there is air underneath), even someone like me can make them, and if they don't work you are only out a few dollars for the styrofoam slabs and some adhesive.

The other thing I would check is the backseat setup. Are there belt buckles or anything that might hurt him? Can you pad it up somehow to make it more comfortable? When I had both Max and Logan, I ended up removing the backseat entirely and putting in a board, a baby mattress and piling some comforters on top. Taking the backseat out can also be helpful because it lowers the height that the dog has to jump to get in. (Of course, if you actually use the backseat for other things, like carrying people, then removing it may not be an option :-)