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Biscuit Freaking Out in the Lookout Car Bed

3K views 26 replies 14 participants last post by  Laurief 
#1 ·
Biscuit did great in this carseat for months, but for the last month or so whines and wants to jump out of it and onto me while I am driving. Because of the slack in the attachment strap to the seatbelt, even at the shortest setting, he can do this quite easily. He now knows we are likely going either to the vets, groomers, or dogsitters~~ though of course, we also go fun places!~~~when we get in the car.

I've tried commanding him to sit/stay, down/stay, with treats, etc. but no luck . I guess I could put him in the back seat, but he will hate it & I love having him next to me.

He weighs 15 lbs and I cannot have him climbing on my lap and causing an accident. And the whining makes me nuts on the freeway and driving across the Richmond Bridge to the dogsitters. Any ideas re how to curb this obnoxious behavior would be MUCH appreciated!
 
#2 ·
Oh Amy - I feel for you. Lily does the same thing. Not only does she try to get out of the seat, but the whining and moaning whenever we drive anywhere, drives you crazy. What I found is that I put her in the back seat, behind me. Made sure that her harness is short enough that she cannot get out, or she could hang herself. And then IGNORE the noise. For some reason, the more I talk to her and try to calm her down, the worse she gets. Sometimes it is just a matter of letter her work it out. I would def. shorten that strap cause you dont want him to be able to move out of the seat at all. Good luck, we are still dealing with this along with Logan vomiting within 10 minutes from the house, it is a real circus when we get in our car!
 
#3 ·
Thanks, Laurie. I think I will just have to bite the bullet and put him in back, like you advise. You're right, the more I try to comfort him, the more upset he becomes. So I will tune him out. Then perhaps later I can try him back in the front again. Poor Logan, Biscuit used to barf, too, and I think he is still queasy, and that's part of the problem. Because he is so mellow otherwise.
 
#4 ·
I will also add, that when I put Lily in the front or on the passenger rear seat, I never paid as much attention to driving and spent too much time worrying about her. I now put her behind me to ignore her, Lexi in the back as she is an angel & just lays down, and then logan in the front so I can pull over real quick to catch is vomit!! What a joy it is in my car - haha One good reason to start grooming them on my own so it is one less car drive.
 
#5 ·
I gave my carseat to my daughter because Kodi did the same thing. And if I put him in the back, he screams, literally. It's a real high pitch bark that sounds like he is screaming. He also starts shaking to death. He wants to sit on my lap and hang his head out the window.

Shelby lays down on the back seat and goes to sleep. Sometimes she will :puke: , but she is really good in the car.
 
#6 ·
This may sound crazy:suspicious: , but I have found that the car makes Brady have to go poop. He will whine and cry if he hasn't pooped before he gets in the car. I always try to give him an extra few minutes outside to go before we do for a ride. If he gets too crazy in the car, I usually know this is why and pull over and take him for a quick walk. Sure enough, he goes every time and happily sits the rest of the tripl. Just a thought for you.
 
#7 ·
Amy, Benji tried to climb out of the Look out seat the last time we went on a ride. He had never done that before but I think it was because he was feeling a bit queasy. It was a stop and go traffic and he always feels very uncomfortable as he is prone to motion sickness. I lowered the windows even more than usual and he settled back in the seat.

You may want to check if he needs more ventilation / fresh air. Good luck!
 
#8 ·
My problem is that from the minute we got Kodi, he cried and whined in the car. I had him in the sherpa, but DH took him out and held him the whole way home (6 hrs through a snow storm).

Shelby was brought to me by the breeder and rode in the back seat of the car. The 3 hr drive home, she rode in the back of the car with DH and Kodi. Kodi whined because he wanted to sit on my lap up front.
 
#9 ·
I feel bad - I don't put Sissy in a car seat.

I bought one but she didn't like it and I caved and let her out.

We just got home from a two day trip through Texas and Oklahoma and Sissy did great in the car. We were in the car nonstop on Tuesday from 8 am. - til 7 p.m. - she was exhausted. Of course, we stopped and let her go potty and eat and get some exercise.

We just got home about 30 minutes ago and she is sooooo tired. She sat in my lap the whole time (DH driving). I put her bed in the back and she only slept in it a couple of times. Today she was so tired she spread out on her back in my lap - it was so cute.

So glad to be home - I like flying better!
 
#11 ·
Reece is my Puker

Preston is my pooper

So far Nigel is not effected, he will whine, but stops for the most part, if I turn on music.

If I'm going somewhere and ask who wants to go, Preston and Nigel will go follow me to the car, Reece hides under the bed, hoping that I won't find him

I am going to ask about the new medicine, I gave them the ace, but Reece still puked, and he had a whole tablet.
 
#12 ·
I am waiting for my lookout car seat to arrive...I think Petedge has them shipped directly from the manufacturer.

I can't wait to get it and hope it'll work out for us. So far, I've put Marley in the Sherpa bag. He doesn't like it that much, but will settle down eventually.

While it is tempting to take them out when they are whining, I am too afraid what could happen....

Two of my daughter's middle school class mates got hit by a car the other week, driven by a lady that was distracted by her unrestrained dog. She veered off the road and hit the girls hard. One girl is in a wheelchair for now and has just about every bone in her body broken with lots of rods etc. holding it together. The other girl was in a coma for a few days and will never see out of her left eye again.

Anyway...every time I'm tempted to let Marley run free in the car, I am thinking that I could be that woman that will have to live with the guilt for the rest of my life.....
 
#13 ·
Both my boys seem to do better in the back seat. I don't use a car seat. Jassy usually just sits on the back seat and looks out the window-- Jassy used to whine like crazy as soon as he realized we weren't going to the park but the groomers and then would try to get on my lap (he is 16 lbs) -- but in the back seat--it has been reduced to a few whimpers. Cash stopped puking when we put him on the floor in the back---he still likes to stay down there-- every once in a while I feel his little head on the armrest between the two front seats,
 
#15 ·
Milo did great the first few times in his lookout seat, but now the minute I get going if I glance back at him he's out of the seat and sitting quietly next to it on the car seat. It looks hysterical. I keep trying however.
 
#16 ·
I can say from personal xperience that it is really smart to strap the pups in to something whether it is a bag, a seat, a seatbelt . A few months ago we were coming home from a friends house. We had only brought Lexi with us and instead of strapping her in, cause we were tired, my son held her -or rather sat with her. Some woman was walking her black lab - but not really walking him cause he was not on a leash. He ran right in front of our car after a deer peeped out of the woods. We slammed on the brakes, tapped the dog, who was not injured & took off into the woods after the deer, but poor Lexi went flying off the seat & smacked her skull into the center hard plastic arm rest. She was dazed for quite a while!! Needless to say I was pretty pissed at the lady for not having her dog on a leash, and putting us thru thinking we hit and killed a dog!!!! I break the rules every so often but always remember that they are safer strapped in!
I just called my vet and they are going to order me the Cerena - keeping my fingers crossed!!!
 
#17 ·
I got the crates for the boys after trying a harness that you use with a seat belt, but they got right out of that...It would be scared me to death, not to have them confined..We are in a seat belt for a reason..I would say a dog wouldn't have much of a chance in a car accident, if not in some type of restraint.

I bet that was very scary Laurie..I glad to hear everyone involved is okay.
 
#19 ·
Thanks for all of the great input, everyone!! Sounds like some of you have similar issues, and riding in the car isn't pleasant.
Reece, you are so funny!!
Karen, yes car-riding makes Biscuit have to poop, too. I think it's definitely nerves.

And Alexa, thanks for telling us that tragic story. It just makes me resolve to put him in the back seat for now. He literally jumps on me, throws his 15 lb bulk on me, while I'm on the darn freeway. He wants to be in my lap, but unlike Gucci, is just too big and won't even fit there so I can steer.It is such un-Biscuit like behavior.
 
#21 ·
Amy, do you think that Biscuit has possibly gotten himself into a cycle of getting upset just because he's getting into the car? Does he have any ways of traveling, besides being in your lap when you drive, that he can tolerate? It can be controversial, but you may want to consider breaking the cycle by giving him something to calm him down and make the trips more pleasant for him. Your vet may be able to recommend or prescribe something. Some dogs respond well to Rescue Remedy, but I haven't had success with it.

Otherwise, all of Laurie's suggestions seem to be the best options. Biscuit is just going to have to deal with it and get ignored.

Poor Piaget just started getting upset in the car and then we drove straight through to Denver. He got over it! LOL Probably because he had to. Then I took him all the way through to New Mexico and back home. I hoping he is totally cured now. You could always start a cross-country trip for Biscuit. :laugh:
 
#22 ·
You could always start a cross-country trip for Biscuit. :laugh:
I hope that works for my puker Jax. We are all going to Fla. in 2 months for a 16 hour drive. I have a feeling this will be a LONGGGGGGG drive. My 8 hour trip back from when i picked him up didnt cure him! I sure hope he grows out of this, of course Laurie doesnt fill me with hope!:)
 
#25 ·
Yes, let me know Laurie. There have been times where we wanted to load up the pups & go for a drive but then we look at Jax, then we think! Needless to say we dont take them many places. Its a good thing we have a lot of property for us to walk.

We want to take our seasonal drive in the Blue Ridge mtns to see the leaves & i would love to take the pups but i just cant put Jax thru that & i wont leave him home alone.
 
#26 ·
Both of my boys stay in the Lookout. I got the oversized one when we just had Nico, and now that we have Desi I ordered a second strap and they both sit in it. In fact, a couple times my kids have taken them out of the Lookout to hold on their laps, and the dogs jump right back into the car seat! I think it might be different if there was a driver's lap there to tempt them, but I keep them in the back seat. So no advice here unless you want to take my children along in the car with you (if the thought of being held by them in the car gets Nico and Desi into their seat, why not Biscuit?). One thing I do is every time they go to the vet, I make sure to put them in the car and take them to the dog park 3 or 4 times in a row afterwards so they don't associate the car with the vet.
 
#27 ·
Shannon, I agree. As much as I want to take them to lots of places, but wont - I dont want to put Logan thru that. And it seems that not one of mine ever wants to be left alone.They always feel better and do ok when there is another pup with them.
Laurie
 
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