Why do Dogs Sometimes Get Crazy at People in the Car

My dog is the greatest dog in the world until he goes for a car ride.  He just starts barking like crazy!  He barks at everyone as I drive down the street.  He doesn’t do this with people in the house, what’s happening?

I have seen this with so many clients of ours.  Let’s just say here is a picture of your dog in the back seat.  You are doing the right thing by constraining him so that he doesn’t fly out of control if you have to slam on the breaks.  So far you are doing great.  But still, he is constantly barking and is driving you crazy.  That is bad.  What is the problem and how can you fix it?

...The answer is simpler than you think and the explanation is just as simple.

Dogs are always very aware of dominance; who is the boss, who is the leader.  Who is the dominant one?  Who is in charge?  Look at this picture of your dog.  He is in his car seat that is elevated above the normal seating area which puts him in a raised position.  In the canine world, height is dominance.  Guess what?  You are sitting lower in your drivers seat while your dog is sitting high and mighty in his "dominance seat".  On top of that, you have given him an excellent view of everyone around the car.  He is dominant and he sees all these "other animals" (people) moving around the car.  Some of these "other animals" might even be walking towards the car which gives them an aggressive posture.

Don’t forget that you put your dog in the dominant role and he sees possible aggression towards his pack.  Barking, jumping, growling are all natural actions he could take to try and protect the rest of the "pack".  You put him out in front.  You told him that he was the one who had to protect you and the rest of the people in the car.  You did this by giving him height and dominance.  You elected him the "boss of you".

Now, what do you do?  The answer is simple.  Lower his height.  Find a doggie carrier that you can put on the seat or floor of your car.  Find a car seat that sits on the seat of your car.    All you are doing is lowering the height of your dog and lowering his requirement to be the "boss".  Also, make sure that you dont put him in the front passenger seat, unless you can turn off the air bag release.

This is a quick fix that seems to work over and over again.  Take away your dogs requirement for dominance in the car and your rides will be a whole lot nicer!  Please contact us immediately if you have any questions.  Please feel free to contact us regarding dog training questions at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Potty Training Away a Long Time

Sometimes my work requires long days and I have to leave Wolfie alone in the house for ten or twelve hours.  He is still a puppy and I am still working on Potty Training.  Thats a long time to keep him inside!  What do I do?

We all know that "life happens" and we cant get home to let our little puppy out to go potty.  There is a rule of thumb that the number of hours a puppy can "hold it" is their age in months.  (After 8 months, that is where it stops...)  So what do I do with my four month old puppy when I am working twelve hours that day?

First of all, you dont want to leave him in his crate.  Part of crate training and potty training is enforcing your puppy not to potty in his crate.  As long as we stay within the limits of your puppy physical abilities, this is a pretty easy process.  If we surpass his physical limits to hold it, of course he will go in his crate.  This will undermine this part of the potty training process.

What you must do is to find an area that you can allow your puppy to potty.  It must be enclosed and away from your puppys normal "roam of the house".  The best areas would be a bath room or washer/dryer room.  Pick up any rug and remove anything that your puppy "could get into" (toilet paper, boxes on the ground, etc.).  You might even put down a wee-wee pad just to see if he would use it.  I would also suggest that you get a doggie gate to enclose the area so it wont appear so confining.

When you have to be away from the house for extended periods of time longer than your puppys "ability to hold it", you put him in that area.  If he potties, you have a small area to clean and you havent damaged your crate training process.  

Be sure to clean the area well with an enzyme cleaner like Natures Miracle and then a normal cleaner like Lavender Fabuloso.  Also, as I alluded to earlier, keep the door closed to this area to keep him out.  You only want him in here when you are away for a long time.  For more information, please contact us at The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

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Things People Say to Service Dog Handlers

I pulled this great video off of You Tube, which I think is great! It just basically quotes the things that people to say to service dog handlers.

Since I have had my service dog, I have had many, many people come up to me and say the strangest things. Most of these things are quoted here in this video, but there are others, such as, "Youre not blind, what do YOU need a dog for?!" Yes, people never cease to amaze me.  Because I was educated about service dogs, even before I had one, I assumed that other people were educated about what a service dog is as well. BOY was I WRONG!!! That has a big part in me starting this blog in the first place.

I try to always take the opportunity to educate people when they come up and ask me questions, if I have time, but some of these comments are just downright RUDE and ANNOYING!  Besides making strange, and sometimes very rude comments, Ive had grown adults just come right up and start petting my service dog, talking to her, and hugging her! Then Ive had little children, 4 years old, come up and ask me if they can pet my dog, which I can respect.  I try to always talk to the children about what a service dog is and how it should be handled.  The adults, well....I think they should know. Some of them know and dont care....for example, I had a woman come up to me at the grocery store and say (in a little baby voice), "Youre such a pretty doggie! I know Im not supposed to be talking to you, but youre just so cute! Yes, you are!"  What the hell!? How does one respond to such ignorance?

There are a lot of rude people out there, then there are people that genuinely just dont know. Those are the ones I try to talk with and educate about service dogs.

Watch this video, whether you do or do not have a service dog. If you do have a service dog, can you relate to this video?  If you dont, are you one of these people?? If so, stop it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSn9WO1FCb0

Feel free to share your stories about this issue in the comments section of my blog.  Thanks.

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Jades Day In Court

Early this morning, I had a court hearing for personal reasons, and as always, my trusty co-pilot, Jade, accompanied me, and boy am I glad she did! It was one of the toughest days Ive had so far, since Ive become too disabled to work.  Jade was, as she always is, there for me.

I was about as nervous as I could be getting up and getting ready this morning to head off to court, which I have to admit, isnt an easy task in itself when youre disabled. Thankfully I have help...I have my boyfriend, who is the best man Ive ever known, and my loyal 4-legged friend; both of them help me immensely.

After I got my first set of pills in me, and a little something to go down with them, I move about a bit easier, and strapped Jade into her service dog vest and collar, which lets her know its time to get ready to work.  My nerves started to settle some just looking at her loving face looking at me, while I strapped her into her seatbelt in the back seat of the truck and slowly climbed into the passenger seat.  I thought about how court would go on the ride, and when I started to feel very nervous again, Id look into the backseat, and see that face again.....deep breath...we can do this.

We got through it, and although Id wished we would never have had to, we did, and today I realized that Jade helps me in so many other ways than just doing the physical things she does to help me.  Yes, she picks up everything I drop, she opens doors, she puts clothes in the dryer and pulls them out, she pulls the laundry basket into the laundry room,  she holds things for me, she carries bags into the house for me after shopping, she lets the cat in and out so I dont have to get up, she helps set the table for dinner, and she fetches the phone for me, but today I realized how much she helps me emotionally.

Sometimes, its just about her being there with me, through the hard things, through the physical pain, and the emotional pain.  Just her being there, laying next to me, or looking at me with that silly smile, and wagging tail, with those pretty eyes of hers, that seem to say, "Smile, Im here for you!" seems to keep me going from day to day.  But then theres that look of hers that I get every evening after dinner, that says, "Well, are we going to the park now or what?" and I know, I have to get out.  I have to get out, see the sun, see the park, see other people, and think about other things...or not think at all; its unbelievable how much just getting out of the house, and going to the park helps with depression and stress. She makes me do that.

Today was difficult.  I sat in the courtroom, nervous, and wondering what would happen, but I could look down at my feet, under the table, and theres that face again, looking up at me, smiling, and making me feel like "yes, I can do it....and everything is going to be okay."  After it was over, and I was crying so much I couldnt stop, we left the courtroom, and I stopped right there in the hallway, squatted down slowly, and hugged Jade. She sat with me, just letting me, because she knew I needed to, then we shared a cup of water and regrouped.  I often wonder what Id do without her, but today I realized its for so many more reasons.

When I wake up in the morning, I find her right there, on the bed, laying next to me, after my boyfriend has left for work (or is sometimes getting ready for work).  I wake up and I pet her, and she rolls over for the belly rub.  She happily fetches my slippers and my cane, as if to say, "Cmon, lets get moving," and I do.



So, what I realized is that my service dog, is so much more than just my physical helper, and my partner.  She also helps me so much emotionally.  Shes my therapy, and my friend.

Thank you, Jade, for always being there.

 Dogs just have a way of making it better.

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Why Fluffy Goes Nuts at People in the Car

My dog, Fluffy, is the greatest dog in the world until she gets in the car.  Bark, Bark, Bark,Bark,Bark!  She barks at everyone as I drive down the street.  What gives?

I have seen this time and time again.  Here is Fluffy in her car seat.  The owner is doing the right thing by constraining her so that she wont go flying around if they had to put on the breaks.  So far so good.  So Fluffy constantly barks and drives you crazy.  That is bad.  What is the problem and how can you fix it?

...The answer is simpler than you think and the explanation is just as simple.

Dogs are always very aware of dominance and their role in the pack.  Who is the dominant one?  Who is in charge?  Look at this picture of Fluffy.  She is in her car seat that is raised off the normal seating which puts her in a raised position.  In the canine world, height is dominance.  Guess what?  We are sitting lower in your drivers seat while Fluffy is sitting high and mighty in her "dominance seat".  On top of that, we have given her a very clear view of everyone around the car.  She is dominant and she sees all these "other animals" (people) moving around the car.  Some of these "other animals" might even be walking towards the car which is a naturally aggressive move.  

We put Fluffy in the dominant role and she sees issues.  Barking, jumping, growling are all natural actions she could take to try and protect the rest of the "pack".  We put Fluffy out in front.  We told her that she was the one who had to protect us.  We did this by giving her height and dominance.  We elected her the "boss of us".

Now, what do we do?  The answer is simple.  Lower her height.  Find a car seat that sits on the seat of your car.  Find a doggie carrier that you can put on the seat or floor of your car.  All you are doing is lowering the height of Fluffy and lowering her requirement to be the "boss".  Also, make sure that you dont put her in the front passenger seat, unless you can turn off the air bag release.

This is a quick fix that seems to work over and over again.  Take away your dogs requirement for dominance in the car and your rides will be a whole lot nicer!  For more information, please contact The Best Dog Trainers in South Florida.

Read More..