In this video, Janice shares useful tips for getting your dog used to loading and unloading into the car and how to teach your dog to check in with you as they get out of the car.

The process of making your dog safely load and unload is a system of building consistent behaviours and setting up a pattern for your dog to follow. Use the same words each time.  Janice uses the work kennel for her dogs but you could use “load up” or whatever seems appropriate.

Janice demo’s her step-by-step processes of first luring the dog to put his feet up and marking and reinforcing that behaviour to gradually having the dog enter and stay in the kennel. By marking and rewarding as the dog enters the kennel this, not only, tells the dog he is doing the correct behaviour but stops him from bolting back out of the kennel.

If anything teaching your dog to redirect his focus to you as he gets out of the car is even more important. This prevents the dog from charging out of the car like the race track gates just opened at the Kentucky Derby.

Again, you will be building a pattern by asking your dog to redirect to you and then marking and reinforcing that behaviour. Basically, you will cue the dog using the dog’s name and when they turn towards you, you will then mark the behaviours with a click or a “yes” and reinforce with a treat.

As you do this consistently your dog will come to understand the pattern that as soon as your dog gets out of the car he checks in with you.