Q: barking in the car

Answered by Tviokh on 6/26/2004, 7:39 pm

A: Easy.

> My male Cairn is 4 years old and lost his ''big sister''
> last july, our beautiful golden retriever. Since then he is
> barking when I leave him in the car. He won't do it until I
> am away from the vehicle. I have a sonic tone device that I
> tried, but I don't think he could hear it this winter with
> the windows up. It is't working this summer either! It is
> embarassing! He also has developed an aggresive growl when
> other dogs sniff him. He is okay until they sniff. Ideas??
> Thanks!
>

The problem here is not with the dog, it's with you.
I'm not saying this to be rude, it's simply true.

You fix this by not leaving the dog alone in the car. There is no other solution, and for his own safety he should not be left alone in a car. He could be easily stolen, if the windows aren't down far enough he could quite literally die on a hot day, he's easily teased by other people, and it's highly stressful for him. It's his territory that he must 'defend' while you're gone, and he can't do a thing to protect it other than bark.
If you cannot take him where you're going, do NOT bring him along.

As for the growling, the solution is also simple: Don't let other dogs do this. You shouldn't be anyway, all it does is cause problems. In fact, the first thing they tell you in rules for obedience classes is "Do NOT let yoru dog sniff other dogs! It can cause aggression problems."
He will not 'get used to it' and one day he'll take half the face off of a dog who does this to him and YOU will be responsible for that dog's medical bills. If other people bring their dog close to yours, ask them that they not let their dog close enough to sniff as your dog does not like this.
Allowing this to continue will only make him more stressed and more aggressive and you do not want that. Remove him from the situation.
If he ever growls or lunges at another dog unprovoked he needs a swift correction and a very stern "NO!"
It's okay if he doesn't care for other dogs near him, but it's never okay to display unprovoked aggression.

There really are no other solutions to either of your problems.

Your dog is not a furry child, he is an animal. He's intelligent, social, and emotional, but he is not human and you cannot expect him to act like one. He will never learn that it's not okay to bark in the car, and if you're not there to correct him, why should he stop anyway? He will also never learn that it's not okay to not like other dogs sniffing him.
Adult dogs are social, yes, but not social in the way that adult people are social. They are social within their own pack and cannot be expected to be social or even friendly with every other dog they meet; they will not be. Your dog could live with seven others at home and may still display aggression to dogs who are not part of their pack.

It sounds like you and your dog could both benefit from some formal obedience training. This will help him with his manners and socialization, and it will also help you learn how to work as a team with him and learn how to effectively teach him.
Terriers are hard headed, fairly dominant dogs and you NEED to be the one in control. From what you've described here it sounds as though you're not all that familiar with how to train and socialize a dog, so it'd do the both of you good to go through some classes to learn. :)