We have a 2 year old (spayed) female vizsla/lab mix that we adopted about 9 months ago. We've been having trouble with her getting overexcited in the car -- whining, panting, running back and forth, trying to get in the front seat to see the action. I'm pretty sure it's not anxiety about the motion or anything like that, because she's always eager to get in the car and has never been carsick. We've tried ignoring her (makes her whining spells shorter, at least), spraying her with a squirt bottle of water when she whines (only makes her bark at me and more tense), only giving her attention when she's laying down (especially if she's actually calm), making her lay down (she just paws at us to request to be pet, then stands up when we don't, even when this is repeated many times), bringing her favorite chew toys and bones (she ignores them), and taking her on boring drives without letting her out anywhere. When we first got her, she would just lie down and sleep in the car, but now that she's been driven to the dog park and hiking trips many times, she expects something great at the end of every drive. Driving with her in the car is very annoying due to all the whining, panting, and running around. Any suggestions?? We're going crazy. As a general note, she is pretty well-trained and seems to know that my boyfriend and I are the "top dogs" of the family.
PS: Sorry if someone else already has a similar thread. The forum wouldn't let me search for the word "car" so it was difficult to check.
