Dog Behavior Blog

How Dogs View A Ride In A Truck Or Car

Note from Con Slobodchikoff: This is a guest post by Judy Holderman, who writes about restraining dogs who are riding in trucks or cars. Judy lives in Wisconsin with her husband and writes for her personal blog as well as her company's. She works for Truck Champ, who sells an array of truck accessories. An animal lover at heart, Judy has made it a mission to spread the word about safe pet transport for those who love to have their dogs while in transit.

Very few things will excite your dog more than getting to go for a ride in the truck (or car) with you. Just try it – ask : "Rover wanna go for a ride?" Stand back so you don't get knocked down, or bear the whips from a fast wagging tail as Rover responds in his special way.

It might be just the chance to do something different and get out of the house, or it may be the gentle sound of the truck's engine, but something about going for a ride delights all dogs. The sights, the smells, the feel of wind blowing through fur or flapping the ears back – those are the things your pet relishes.

Be guaranteed though, that safety is not what is on your dog's mind. And that's where you come in, caring and loving pet owner. As the responsible adult in your relationship with Rover, you have to ensure your dog's safety and happiness during your journey.

It may surprise you to know that over 29 million people travel with their pets, yet only about 20% use some sort of restraint. Your dog isn't thinking restraint, especially when he spies a squirrel out the truck window. He's thinking, "SQUIRREL!!" Be proactive – use a crate for your pet's safety in the car or truck bed. Or you may prefer a dog seat belt, a harness that attaches to the vehicle's seat belt and offers a little more flexibility so Rover can at least look out the car window.

Surprisingly enough, there are dogs who don't want the wind in their face, and are content to lie down in the back seat or on the floor bed. Don't be misled by the appearance of safety. If your truck is involved in an accident, your dog may become a flying projectile. According to Bark Buckle UP, a pet advocacy group, an unrestrained 60 lb. dog in a crash at a speed of 25 miles an hour, exerts 2,700 pounds of pressure. Don't take that risk!

Training your dog, especially since the puppy days, is your best assurance that your dog will be compliant and agreeable to your safety measures. Having your dog wear the doggie seat belt around the house is extremely affective. This will prepare Rover to wear the device in the truck/car.

Another training tip is to reward your pet for good behavior. My friend Susan has a Great Dane, Abby, and Abby gets a cookie for each correct behavior. And trust me, Abby knows how to make cookies happen. When they get into the vehicle, Susan tells Abby to "get down" in the backseat – Abby turns three circles, lies down, and gets her cookie. Everyone's happy.

You may need to temper the easily excitable dog with similar methods, in order to control behavior in the truck bed (or car). Start by having your pet sit in the truck while parked. Do this for a short time then increase the time, still with the truck not moving. Once you're ready to take to the road, start with short trips and slowly increase the length of the trip so your pet gets used to longer trips and is behaving as a good dog should.

The last thing your pet will not enjoy is being left in the truck (or car) alone. Do not do this. In just three minutes the heat in a car can increase by 13 degrees or more. If you absolutely must leave the dog in the vehicle for a short time, make sure you have the window open for ventilation.

And finally, your pet's view of a ride in a truck is vastly improved when your pet is happy and has all needs met. Make sure for long trips in the vehicle you have the dog's favorite toys, portable food and water dishes, a leash for stops, and don't forget the doggie waste bags.

Happy traveling!

Ethology Nobel Laureate Konrad Lorenz

As this year’s Nobel Prizes were announced, I faced my annual wish for anyone interested in dog training and behavior to know that three scientists in the field of Ethology have been awarded this prize. In 1973, Niko Tinbergen (The Netherlands), Karl von Frisch (Austria), and Konrad Lorenz (Austria) were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine “for their discoveries concerning organization and elicitation of individual and social behaviour patterns.” They are regarded as being among the founders of the field of Ethology, which is the study of animals in their natural habitat.

While they are best known for their work with birds, insects, and fish, all of them studied a variety of species. Konrad Lorenz was quite interested in dogs, and wrote a wonderful book called Man Meets Dog. One of the great contributions of this book to the study of animals concerns Lorenz’ interdisciplinary approach to understanding dogs. As Donald McCaig states in the introduction to a recent edition, “He made it respectable to bring the practical observations of animals trainers and handlers into the academy. It was a great first step, and although the gulf between academic study and practical applications remains with us today, Lorenz did much to merge what is known from different areas into a cohesive body of knowledge in order to further our understanding of animals.

(photo: Konrad Lorenz, Eurobas, wikipedia.org)

Some of my favorite aspects of this book are personal stories. For example, Lorenz describes the close relationship between his future brother-in-law, Peter, and a Newfoundland named Lord who joined the family when the dog was 1½ years old. Peter was the smallest of four brothers, and the youngest in a gang of boys who participated in their fair share of mischief. The dog protected him to such a degree that even his schoolmaster dared not raise his voice to Peter, lest he growl and leap up with his massive size on the shoulders. Naturally, this dog kept the other boys from teasing or bullying him as well.

Lorenz discusses his great sadness at losing dogs to old age. When he was 17, his dog Bully died of a stroke and he describes his sadness that the dog had left no offspring. For a long time after Bully’s death, Lorenz says he heard the pattering of Bully’s peculiar gait following after him as he had done for so many years in life. He writes, “If I listened consciously, the trotting and snuffling ceased at once, but as soon as my thoughts began to wander again I seemed to hear them once more.” Only when his new puppy Tito began to run behind him and follow him everywhere did the “ghost” of Bully cease to follow him in his mind.

Years later when Tito died, Lorenz felt a great guilt knowing that another dog would take the place of Tito just as Tito had replaced Bully in his heart. He says he felt ashamed of his own unfaithfulness and decided that for the rest of his life, only descendents of Tito would be his companions.

--Karen London