# Refuses to leave the car!



## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Set a new rule... not to take her places for now.

Will she get out at the destinations?

At home, without leaving, if htey have her get in, will she get right out?

How enthusiastic is she about food?

What kinds of things scare her? What things does she like? How long has this been going on?


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Set a new rule... not to take her places for now.
*Thanks, I'll tell my parents that. *

Will she get out at the destinations?
*She'll get out at parks and new places, but she did refuse to get out of the car at the groomer's/doggie daycare place that I have taken her to for a year.*

At home, without leaving, if htey have her get in, will she get right out?
*I don't think they've tried this, but my guess would be no.*

How enthusiastic is she about food?
*She is a food HOUND, which is why I was shocked to hear that she's no longer getting out of the car for treats. Initially she would leave the car for a bribe.*

What kinds of things scare her? 
*She's a little spooked by plastic bags, she does not like other dogs... for the most part she's really not easily scared.*

What things does she like? 
*Food and new people. Squirrels, hah. Toys wouldn't be enough to coax her out.*

How long has this been going on?
*When she was here with me, she NEVER gave me this problem. This has only started since she's been at home in Illinois with my parents, starting around April 10th.*


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I would practice with her in the driveway at home. Let her get in the car, then lure her out with a favorite treat. (skip her meal if you need her to be really hungry). If she gets out, praise her, give her the treat, then let it go for that day. When she will do it happily once, try doing it twice. 
When she'll do it twice, I'd put her in the car, then lure her out with a treat. Then put her back in the car, drive around the block, come home, and lure her out with a treat again.
She needs to learn that being home doesn't mean the fun is over. It sounds like that's what her problem is!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

It sounds like she might think scary things will happen if she comes out?

Do your parents have a garage?

The secondary potential cause could be about perception/feeling of safety. Is their car different than yours? Harder for her to get in or out? or to perceive the ground?


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

I honestly think Hotel4dogs' suggestion that she thinks the fun is over once she gets home is probably hitting the nail on the head.

My parents don't do nearly as much with Flora as I do - and it's not their fault. I do a lot of off leash stuff with Flora because I'm comfortable taking her off leash, so when I bring her back home she's generally pretty tuckered out and ready to just nap. My parents only leash walk her, and Flora is very weird about leash walking too. Sometimes she'll only walk half a block before she decides she's done.

So what I'm getting at is sometimes my parents put her in the car, take her somewhere, and then end up only walking her for 5 minutes before she decides she doesn't want to walk anymore. So when they take her home, she doesn't want to get out of the car. 

Hotel4dogs - I will make this suggestion to my parents. Unfortunately, and I say this with respect for them (they ARE taking care of my baby after all!) they are generally not very interested in training Flora, so I'm not sure if they'll actually do the work. I'm coming home briefly in May for a few days so I will see how she responds to me when I take her in the car somewhere and bring her back home. Should be interesting!

Thanks for the help so far you two.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

She has hip issues, doesn't she? I wonder if that's contributing to her refusal to get out. It may be that her hips are really bothering her by the time they get her home. Especially after a leash walk. I know my Jasmine has some arthritis near the base of her tail and about halfway through our leash walks, her tail really starts sagging because she's starting to ache. Off-leash, she doesn't have that problem.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

fostermom said:


> She has hip issues, doesn't she? I wonder if that's contributing to her refusal to get out. It may be that her hips are really bothering her by the time they get her home. Especially after a leash walk. I know my Jasmine has some arthritis near the base of her tail and about halfway through our leash walks, her tail really starts sagging because she's starting to ache. Off-leash, she doesn't have that problem.


I thought about that, and I suggested it to my mom and she wasn't really sure that was the case. She says once Flora gets out of the car she has absolutely no problem running around, jumping, etc.

And as I said before, Flora really doesn't walk that much. She's SO WEIRD about leash walking - sometimes my parents can't even get her past our front yard before she digs in her heels and decides she's done. She has done this since she was a baby - about 4 months, when I first started leash walking her. So either her hips have bothered her since she was a puppy, which makes me sad, or she could simply just be a stubborn/neurotic dog.

I'm going to have her hips x-rayed when I come home in July to get an idea of what we're looking at. I suppose if they come back looking absolutely horrible then I'll have a better idea as to why Flora is so weird with walks and now getting out of the car.

But really... I'm much more inclined to think that she's just a little special in the head. :uhoh:


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

Do they have an SUV or something that is much higher than your car? Maybe she fears the big leap. Or maybe it is what she can see or not see of the ground she is suppose to be going to.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

No... I really don't think it's fear. I drive a little Corolla but Flora has been in a big F250 and jumped in and out of it with no problem. She's been in SUVs before with me, no problem. This behavior started ONLY when my parents took her home with them. She has never, ever given me trouble before getting in and out of any car when I am with her. I truly think this is a behavioral issue more than a physical issue, and I think it has more to do with stubbornness or an unwillingness to leave the "fun" aspect of the car than it being a fear-based issue. 

Flora has always been a goofy dog - and by goofy I mean just plain weird. I love her to death, but she definitely doesn't *think* like a normal dog.

I'm going to tell my parents to try getting her in and out of the car at home without taking her anywhere - that way maybe she'll get used to the idea that being in the car doesn't necessarily mean she's going to go do something fun, and maybe she'll be less likely to want to hang out in there. :


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Or better yet... if they have the time...at home, have her get in, then when they do get her out...ask her to get in and THEN take her somewhere fun.

The challenge will be to get them to not poke or heavily persuade her to initially get out (and same when they arrive home). If they can set up a longline and a lawn chair....and wait...until she gets out...and immediately ask her to get back in, they would get best results. Definitely is appropriate to try calling her out a bit, but if she's really stuck....we just want to wait.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Kdmarsh*

When your parents take Flora places, where do they take her?
Sounds like she will get out anywhere but their house.
Do you think each time her parents take her somewhere, Flora thinks they are taking her back home to you?


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

They take her places that I mapped out for them - most often a nearby marsh area with some nice walking paths. I used to take Flora there all the time when she was younger and let her walk off leash there.

I have been wondering if this is some sort of abandonment issue - like she thinks that if she leaves the car they're going to just leave her at home and go somewhere, so she figures she'll stay IN the car... but do dogs really reason things out like that? I don't think so. I feel like it has to be something much simpler. Maybe it IS pain or maybe it's the fact that the car means fun to her and why leave fun?

I'm going home in about 2 weeks, when I'm home I'm going to tell my parents what Reddogs and Hotel4dogs have suggested and see if that helps at all.

My silly girl.


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