Would you like to know how to make this happen? It’s probably easier than you think. While my dogs are not perfect, more often than not, when we go for a drive whether 5 minutes away or a 45 minute road trip, you wouldn’t even know I had 2 dogs in the car. It’s pretty nice to know that they can remain calm, in a down, with the windows open and not in my face or trying to get in my lap while I’m trying to drive.
So, how do you get your dog to do this? Down-stay duration work. What’s that? Practice at home with minimal distractions and asking your dog for a down and work on the stay command. As your dog does well working on this part, start adding distance with one step away, then 2 and so on. Once they can handle the distance, start adding duration from 1-2 seconds, to 10, to 30 and so on. Take this command outside where there’s more distractions and again build up the distance and the duration. Once they’ve got this down, put them in the car and do it again. It sounds like a lot of work, it is, but if you have a good working relationship with your dog and have found something they find worth working for (real cooked chicken maybe?), you’ll find this easier than you thought. Anything worth having won’t come easy or without effort. Having a dog who can ride calmly and safely in the car is definitely something worth putting in the effort.
Lady & The Leash K9 Training 