The BEST way to go about training a dog who is uneasy with the car from a bad experience is to teach them to either go up and down a ramp OR if your dog is big/athletic enough, to jump up into the car by themselves. This offers them autonomy which allows them to easily show us how they feel about the car, as by picking them up and putting them in we may be forcing them into a situation they are really worried about, which can make the fear worse!
These behaviours are initially taught away from the car – for instance, training your pup to jump up on a park bench or something similar instead first. If you are okay with your pup being on the furniture, you can also do this inside your house with different things.
If your dog is too small to comfortably jump into the car, or getting older, a ramp is a fantastic alternative. There are a range of ramps for sale online (folding or telescoping ramps are best for car storage) or if you are handy or know someone who is – make your own! Some pups may just need a small step they can jump on before getting up into the car.
How to train your dog to go up and down a ramp:
Lay the ramp flat on the ground and secure it so it is stable.
Reward your pup for any interaction with the ramp, this could initially just be sniffing it!
Reward your pup for putting a foot on the ramp, gradually ask for more feet to be placed on it together.
Once your pup is happily putting their feet on the ramp, you can switch to luring them across the length of the ramp with a treat (this is simply to help guide them to where they need to walk to use the ramp safely) and reward them as they walk along the ramp.
Make sure you are going both ways over the ramp and gradually fade the lure until you can just guide them with your hand
Add a cue to it! Such as – “ramp-up” “walk-up” or something similar. This is so they wait for us to cue them to move up or down the ramp – which is a safety thing when you start taking them out and about to new places!
Put the ramp on a slight incline at first – you can use a step for this! Make sure whatever the ramp is placed on is stable.
Gradually increase the steepness of the incline of the ramp until it is the height it will need to be for the dog to get into the car comfortably. This is usually the height of a low couch or bed, but every car is different.
Ensure your dogs is happy going up and down the ramp at each stage/incline before increasing the height.
If your pup struggles at any point, go back a step or two and ensure they are happily involved with each part of the training before moving onto the next step. T
Once your pup is going happily up and down without the car being around, you can then move it to the car.
Watch this video here of one of our trainers teaching her dog to go up and down her ramp into the car. This is what the end goal should look like!