When Fae first came to live with us two weeks ago, she’d only been in the car a handful of times and each of those were stressful events (vet appointments, delivery to new owner). With COVID19 going and her breeders being part of the at-risk population, they weren’t comfortable taking the puppies out on long socialization trips like they normally would have been.
As a result, she was a little insecure and unsure in the car, not knowing if the new destination would be yet another stressful event in her life. We’ve done a lot of driving with her cuddled into my lap or my roommates’ laps (depending on who’s actually driving, for safety!) and she’s now at the point where she can be transitioned back to riding in the crate and still feeling secure and happy in the car. Gone are the stress signals, shivering, and trying to hide in someone’s shirt. She’s now looking out the (closed!!!) window, wagging her tail, enjoying the ride instead.
A lot of people become discouraged when their new puppy doesn’t like the car, but many times it’s a result of situations like these where the puppy has associated the car with unpleasant things and doesn’t want to do those things and thus doesn’t want to go in the car. We’ve started making the car a source of fun adventures and sometimes delicious snacks, and after a few weeks of working on it, the issue has all but disappeared. Sometimes they just need a little help to get going.
