Behaviour
Barking at every oncoming car, or only in the last two kilometres before the park. Barking in the car always has a reason, and it takes your mind off the road.
Worth knowing. Drooling, yawning, swallowing a lot or vomiting in the car can mean motion sickness. Heavy panting can mean he is overheating. Talk to your own vet before you start the training plan.
You have barely pulled out of the car park and the first bark comes from the boot. Then one for every oncoming car, for a cyclist, for the dog on the pavement, for the people on the zebra crossing. Some dogs never bark at all but whine the whole way, spinning, panting, hopping from one side of the back seat to the other. And then there is the dog who lies still for half an hour and erupts with joy in the last two kilometres before the park. Whichever version you have, it wears you down and it is dangerous, because it pulls your attention away just when you need it on the road. In almost every dog, barking in the car can be brought down in small steps, starting with your next drive.
For a few drives in a row, note when the barking starts: getting in, setting off, on the move, when you stop, or close to where you are going. Note what he is looking at and what his body is doing. The pattern tells you what you are dealing with.
For a lot of dogs the car means the park, the woods, training, a walk with friends. They know the route and start up when they recognise the last few bends. The body is bouncy, tail high, the bark sharp and getting louder the closer you get. At training we often hear dogs from the moment their car turns into the car park: they know exactly what is coming.
Cars, cyclists, runners, dogs, pigeons. For a dog who already tracks everything that moves, the window is a television with too many channels. He barks, lunges at the glass, sometimes growls. It is the same frustration as the dog who barks on lead: he sees it, wants it and cannot get to it.
Some dogs simply do not feel safe in a car. The noise bothers them, and so do the motion, the braking and the cramped space. They whine, pant, shake, drool and look for a way out. Their barking is that of a dog who would like to get out.
A dog who feels sick can bark and whine without looking ill. Watch for yawning, lip-licking, a lot of drool, frequent swallowing, a lowered head, sometimes vomiting. It is most common in puppies and young dogs.
At traffic lights or in a car park, when someone walks past, some dogs bark exactly as they would at the garden fence. To them, the car is their patch.
Left in the car for a few minutes, a dog often barks the way he would if left alone at home. Heat in parked cars is covered in the medical section below, and there is no room for compromise on it.
Shouting at him from the driver's seat is everyone's first reaction. To the dog, you are barking too. He gets more wound up, and your eyes are on the mirror instead of the road.
A dog loose on the back seat with the window down sees everything, can reach every window and can land on you or in the front when you brake. He barks more, and the chance of an accident rises with the barking. Unrestrained, he becomes a missile in an emergency stop.
If the car only ever takes him to his favourite places, every trip confirms that the car means a party. Excited barking grows from one drive to the next.
A treat handed over to quieten him while he is still barking works in the moment. What he learns is that barking produces treats.
Anti-bark collars add discomfort to a situation that is already tense, especially for fearful dogs or dogs who feel sick. We do not recommend them.
Long drives so that he "gets used to it" do not help either. Two hours of barking means two hours of practising barking.
The dog travels restrained. Either in a travel crate secured in the boot, or in a harness with a dog seat belt clipped into the seat-belt anchor point on the back seat. Never by the collar. A crate also helps with the barking, because you can cover it.
It is much easier with a second person in the car. The passenger sits next to the dog or turns towards him and, every few seconds of quiet, gives a tasty bit or a soft word of praise. Barking gets nothing: the passenger looks away and waits for the first pause. After a few drives, the pauses get longer.
When you arrive, the door opens only when the dog is quiet. If he barks as you switch the engine off, you wait. At the first second of silence you open up, clip the lead on and out he comes. If he starts again, the door closes. For the excited barker, this is the lesson that lands fastest.
A fearful dog starts in the parked car with something good to chew. Then the engine running, then ten metres, then a hundred. If he gets car sick, drive on an empty stomach, with the last meal two or three hours before, a window slightly open for fresh air and breaks along the way. We have a separate page on car sickness.
| Day | What you do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Crate fixed and covered, or harness and seat belt. Note when the barking starts. |
| 2–3 | Three ten-minute sessions in the parked car with a chew toy. |
| 3–5 | Five-minute drives that end back at home. The passenger praises quiet. |
| 5–7 | First drive to somewhere he loves. Out of the car only when quiet. |
| 7 | Compare the diary: how many minutes of barking at the start, how many now. |
A trainer can come along on a drive to see exactly where the barking starts and what sets him off, then adjust the plan for you. If fear or wider reactivity is behind it, from the car to the street, start with a behaviour assessment session.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer.
Constant whining usually comes from unease, fear or nausea: the dog pants, shakes, drools and looks for a way out. Sometimes it is just impatience, because he knows he is off to the park. Note when it starts and what his body is doing. If you see drool and yawning, ask your vet about motion sickness.
In a travel crate secured in the boot, or in a harness with a dog seat belt clipped into the seat-belt anchor point on the back seat. Never by the collar and never loose on the seat or in the front. A crate covered on three sides helps with barking too, because he can no longer see out of the windows.
Mix up your drives: some to the park, others to the shop or nowhere, so the car stops meaning a party every time. Cover the crate for the last few kilometres. On arrival, open the door only after a few seconds of quiet. Within a few weeks he learns that silence is what gets him out of the car.
Not in warm weather, not with the window cracked, not even for two minutes. In a car parked in the sun the temperature climbs within minutes to levels that can kill a dog. In winter, only with care and very briefly. Dogs left alone in the car often bark from loneliness, just as they do at home.
A behaviour that appears suddenly or changes for no apparent reason can have a medical cause. For full details, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
Drooling in the car park, sick at the third bend, refusing to get in. Car sickness lives partly in the inner ear and partly in the head, and you work on both.
At the window, at the doorbell, at the neighbours, when he's left alone. A dog always barks for a reason, and the plan starts with finding it.
He sees a dog 50 metres away and explodes: barking, lunging, deaf to you. Off lead in the park he's a different dog. Reactivity is worked on from a distance, over weeks.
He presses against the wall at every bus, turns for home after two steps or sits down on the pavement. Fear of traffic improves with work, from a distance, at his pace.
An assessment session tells you where you stand and which plan makes sense for your dog. The behaviour programme then works step by step, reward-based only.