Stopping to smell the daffodils a few weeks ago
My dog, Zebedee, has been in Susan Garrett’s training program, Recallers, since he was 6 months old. Zeb is a great dog, but he’s inherited some of his sire’s quirkier behaviors. Neither dog likes car rides. On his first ride with some of his litter mates awhen they were 4 weeks old, Zeb was the puppy who was shrieking. Like many dogs, I think he is probably very sensitive to motion.
Suddenly, as an adolescent, Zeb just decided he wasn’t getting in the car anymore. Despite having been on lots adventures in the car prior to that point. It was a firm “No!” on his part. And weighing in around 85 pounds, there is no picking him up. And he isn’t amenable to being boosted in either. So, home walks it was. We have a park and conservation land nearby, so staying in the neighborhood hasn’t been a hardship. Fortunately he wasn’t due for a vet visit or vaccines for a while either.
So, time to help Zebdedee learn that a car ride can be “okay”. We’ve been working on this for about for just over a year. He’ll now get in the car most of the time which is progress. It’s still not something he loves.
Every year Recallers has a Video Contest about how the program’s training has helped your dog. Here is my 2025 entry. You can also view it here on YouTube where the stop/stop button isn’t in the middle of the screen!
Zebedee will never be the eager beaver, just can’t wait to get in the car, kind of dog. But it is important for him to get places sometimes, and for him to come along willingly. This is still a work in progress, but I am hoping he’ll get to the point where we can head out to adventures in the car.