How to get Dog into Jeep???

marley123

Nearly broke my back getting him to the Vet today!

Our fab Retreiver will not for anything get into the back of my Jeep & this is proving to be very tough as he is 30kg & can't keep lifting him.

Is there anything I could get like as ramp that he would walk up?

jamesd

A lot of ramps online - ebay have a few of them. Our lad is 50KG so will need to get one soon as fairly heavy.

Get treat, show dog, throw into jeep? How much of a jump up is it?

marley123

If only it was as simple as throwing a treat in!! he wont budge. Have to lift his front paws up , then lift the rest of him in - Im only 9stone, cant see me being able to do this when he is 5kilos heavier:)

texasgal

Dónal wrote: »

Get treat, show dog, throw into jeep? How much of a jump up is it?

LOL .. similar to what I was going to say.

Is the dog healthy and fit? Then spend time between appts lovin' and treating him in the jeep.

Before you know it, he'll be jumping up in there for no good reason.

Zapperzy

Do you only ever bring him to the vets in the jeep? Possibly he associates the jeep with vets and hence does not want to get in. Try putting him in and bringing him for a walk somewhere he enjoys a few times. If this is the problem then a ramp will not help.

If the problem is medical (arthritis or an injury) then a ramp is your best option, I think they can also be gotten in argos and most bigger petshops.

How is he once he is in the jeep? Does he get scared? A large dog crate covered with a blanket so he cannot see out sometimes helps.

tk123

My retriever uses a ramp to get in and out of my jeep. We started with the ramp on the floor dropping treats on it, when he sniffed or showed any interested I clicked the clicker and gave him another treat and some praise and built it from there until he was running across it..then I propped it up on the couch and again took it slow until he was going up and down and then we moved it out to the car. How high is the jeep? I'm short so the back of mine would be almost waist high - him jumping in and out would be the equivalent of me jumping up and off the roof lol which would do damage and wouldn't excite me very much! Do you take him places in the jeep? My guy gets excited when he hears my keys because it might mean a trip to daycare/petshop/beach/hydro etc so he loves the car. If i'm taking him out and my dad's car is blocking the drive he runs back inside to tell him to move lol :pac:

slashygoodness

If it is a medical issue then a ramp is the best way to go!

Unfortunately we could not get a ramp to suit the doors of our suv - easy to get them for boot access, but we prefer to belt them in with the Hunter harness than have them roaming around in the boot...

So much to many people's amusement we have a foot stool that we use to help them in.

Hope to get a new suv soon that we will be able to get a ramp for....(assuming we win the LOTTO )

If it is psychological then training & treats (fun locations and food/toys) is the best way to go.
Best of luck

tk123

slashygoodness wrote: »

So much to many people's amusement we have a foot stool that we use to help them in.

Yes I'll admit I did lol when I saw that at DTI one day!! :pac::pac:

slashygoodness

tk123 wrote: »

Yes I'll admit I did lol when I saw that at DTI one day!! :pac::pac:

agh the things we do for our furry friends...and as bad as it is for me..it's even worse when people see the hubby getting the stool for them

The Sweeper

Does he hate being in the jeep, or does he just hate getting into the jeep? If you've a dog who doesn't like going anywhere in the car, it's not as simple as 'throw the treat in'.

My dog HATES the car. He'll fight me if I try and get him into it. He's perfectly physically capable of jumping in there, but due to a very poor experience when he was a pup (he was kept for a number of weeks with a car boot as his home, and was finally surrendered to rescue from that same car boot, in his own urine and faeces, ribs sticking out, riddled with fleas and covered in bald ringworm patches, not that you could see those under the dirt.)

I've had to do a job of training work around positive associations with the car, including leaving the car in the yard with all the doors and the boot open for the day, and letting the dog investigate it, exercises in getting in and out of the car with treats where we never actually go anywhere, and only getting in the car to go to SUPERCOOL and exciting places and things.

It even included: leash on, out front door, up to car, around car, back indoors, treat, leash off. This was because at one stage I couldn't even get him close enough to the car to let me open it - I'd have to go outdoors, open the car, leave it open out there, come in, put the leash on the dog, step outside with him, he freezes when he sees the car, I can't tempt and I won't drag him, I try for 10 minutes and eventually pick him up and carry the just < 30kg lump from house to car.

He still hates getting into it though, and every so often we have to do retraining on it.

marley123

The Sweeper,

He doesn't mind being in the Jeep once he is in - however was thinking about it last night & when we first got him it took him 2wks to even walk up a couple of steps - Im begining to wonder if there may be a psychological problem behind it. We rescued him when he was 17wks old & was going to be dumped at the pound - maybe something happened when he was with his past family.

I am going to try what you have suggested & leave the Jeep open for a couple of days & put lots of treats just sitting in it so hopefully he will get the courage to jump in.

We only every go fun places when we put him into the car, Beach, Park, Forest so he would have good association with what a car ride results in.

Zapperzy

Would he possibly have hip dysplacia? Chances are if he's poorly bred and of a breed or mix of breeds that are prone to it then he probably has it to some degree. It may not be bad enough to hurt him walking on flat surfaces but the jumping and climbing stairs may be hurting him hence why he's reluctant. It may just be behavioural but it's just a thought.

Jenibells

You could lower the suspension on the jeep or build some steps???:)

marley123

Hi hips are fine - he was hip scored & had him at the vet a couple of days ago who gave him a good check over.

Going to try leaving the boot open during the day & leave him free to go & out as he likes. NOT going to happen today though, he doesn't like getting his paws wet!