Dog and Car Victory

"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly)
07/01/2016 at 08:16 • Filed to: None

Two of my favorite things

When my dog was less than three months old, he had a traumatic car experience. But he has been rehabilitated!

He was pulled out of a shelter by a rescue group around 10 weeks old. The foster family had him about 3 weeks, and in that time he apparently jumped out of a car window.

When we got him he did not like car rides at all. We always had to pick him up to put him in the car (when we got him he was only 12 pounds, but now is just over 30 pounds). Although he became more comfortable with rides (he didn’t really have a choice there) and we trained him to jump out of the car, he would never jump in.

Until yesterday, when he jumped into the backseat without command! Victory! Milestone!

He is now 14 months old. This new trick almost makes up for some of his other areas where he is beginning to slack off in obedience. Training continues.

And I am still very, very happy with my purchase of the GTI . . . I just can’t accelerate hard, brake hard, or throw it into corners with the dog in it.

DISCUSSION (10)

TheRealBicycleBuck > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
07/01/2016 at 08:34

“And I am still very, very happy with my purchase of the GTI . . . I just can’t accelerate hard, brake hard, or throw it into corners with the dog in it.”

Kinja'd!!!

Sure you can! It’s also a great way to teach the dog to lie down in the car.

Personally, I hate having a dog in the car. Granted, I do have two long-haired dogs, but I spent a couple of hours cleaning short-hair dog mess out of my mom’s car a few weeks ago.

The proper place for a dog is in the back of a truck!

Kinja'd!!!

(She just loaded up in this pic, so the tailgate is down and she hasn’t been secured.)

BTW - Good job getting your dog over his fear.

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2016 at 08:39

That’s what doggie seat covers are for!

Kinja'd!!!

They also make a kind that is fitted to your seats.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2016 at 08:48

My dog rides in a harness that is attached to the seatbelt, so he is not a potential projectile, but I’m still of the mindset of making car rides comfortable for him so that he wants to do them. Thus, I avoid creating high G-forces while driving with him as a passenger. Even in fairly gentle corners he sits back up to stay stable.

I am okay with the dog hair. I better be. It floats all over the car. I had a dog hair on the speedo the other day!

TheRealBicycleBuck > Textured Soy Protein
07/01/2016 at 08:48

Mom’s car is an Outback with a full cargo liner. Everywhere there is a gap, there was dog hair.

Kinja'd!!!

I’ve been forced to carry both our big dog and our small dog (not at the same time) in my WRX. There’s something about the car that makes them go into full shed mode. When I clean up, I find dog hair everywhere, even on the dashboard.

TheRealBicycleBuck > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
07/01/2016 at 08:53

That’s probably a good mindset. My dogs love to go for rides, even if I’m a little rough with them. The best way to catch the big dog when she escapes the yard is to drop the tailgate on the truck and tell her to load up.

I’m glad you aren’t a dog hair denier. That stuff does float everywhere. With the window open for the dog, it’s like a hairnado inside the car. Yuck.

mazda616 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
07/01/2016 at 08:57

Congrats! My doggy is in love with car rides, thankfully. She was a rescue pup as well so we got lucky.

Kinja'd!!!

Textured Soy Protein > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/01/2016 at 09:39

We have a similar liner in the back of my fiancee’s Impreza hatch. Even though we have that liner, she makes me put down an old sheet on top of it when we flip down the seats to take a bunch of cardboard to the dump (which happened too much lately with several relatively large items we bought recently). Not that it matters for us with our pets since our cats only go in the car to go to the vet, in their carrier.

My parents have a custom-fit cover for the back seat like this.

Kinja'd!!!