How to Teach a Dog to Get In and Out of the Car on Command

Teach it as two separate cues, one to load and one to unload, and put a wait in front of the exit. Most people teach a dog to jump in and then spend the next ten years catching a dog who launches out of the tailgate the second it opens, usually into a parking lot. Two weeks of short sessions with the engine off will give you a dog who loads on a word, holds position while you unclip a seatbelt or shift a bag, and comes out only when released. This is one of the highest value ten minute skills there is, because the failure mode is a dog loose in traffic.

Fix the physical problem first

Before you train anything, check whether your dog is refusing or simply cannot do it comfortably. A lot of loading problems are joint problems wearing a training costume.

• Measure the jump. Anything over about the dog's shoulder height is a real effort. An SUV tailgate is roughly 28 to 32 inches, which is a lot for a short legged or heavy dog.
• Check the surface. Bare plastic or a slick liner is frightening to land on. A rubber backed mat or a bath mat fixes more refusals than any training does.
• Watch the landing, not the takeoff. A dog who lands and immediately shifts weight off a front leg is telling you something.
• Use a ramp for anything over seven years old, any dog with a long back, and any dog over about 60 pounds. It is not coddling. Repeated high impact landings are how you get an arthritic eight year old.

If the dog is under a year old, use a ramp or lift them in. Repeated jumping down from height on open growth plates is a bad trade for convenience.

The two week progression

Ten minutes a day, engine off, in your driveway. Use a distinct word for each direction. I use "load up" for in and "out" for out, but any two words that do not sound alike will do.

1. Days one to three, the platform. Doors open, no cue yet. Mark and feed the dog for any interaction with the car: looking at it, front feet up, standing on the sill. Twenty reps. Feed inside the car so the inside becomes the good place.
2. Days four to six, add the word. Say "load up" one time as the dog is already committing to getting in. Mark on landing, feed in the car, then lure out silently. Fifteen reps a session. Do not repeat the cue if the dog hesitates. Wait five seconds, then help.
3. Days seven to nine, the wait. Dog is in. Close the door, open it, and block with your body if the dog moves. Mark and feed the dog for staying put. Build from one second to ten. Nothing here should feel like a wrestling match. If the dog is beating you to the door every time, you are opening it too far too soon.
4. Days ten to twelve, the release. Add "out" as the only permission to exit. Open the door, count to three, say "out", mark on landing. If the dog moves before the word, close the door calmly and reset. Fifteen reps.
5. Days thirteen and fourteen, proof it. Practise with the leash off, with a bag in your hand, with someone walking past, with the engine running, and at a different location. Add one distraction at a time.

What it looks like when it is working

By day six the dog should load on the word from about six feet away, without a lure and without a hand on the collar. By day ten the dog should hold position for five seconds with the door fully open. By day fourteen you should be able to open the tailgate, walk away, come back, and find the dog still sitting there.

The best single tell is what happens when you open the door and say nothing. A dog who has learned this looks at you. A dog who has not is already gone.

The common mistakes

• Using the same word for both directions. "Come on" for in and out gives you a dog who exits on a cue you meant as praise.
• Opening the door all the way during the wait phase. Open it four inches. Build up. You cannot reward a stay you are not able to prevent breaking.
• Practising only when you are going somewhere. The dog learns that loading predicts a two hour drive, and half your reps are contaminated by whether the destination is the vet or the beach.
• Rewarding at the door. Feed deep inside the vehicle. Where you feed is where the dog wants to be.
• Letting the dog rehearse the launch even once a week. One successful bolt out of the tailgate is worth about five careful reps in the other direction.

The refusal case

If the dog will not get in at all, do not lift them in repeatedly. That is a rehearsal of being handled, not of loading. Instead, sit in the open car and read something for ten minutes a day with the dog loose outside on a long line, throwing a piece of food in every minute or two. Most reluctant dogs get in on their own inside four or five sessions, and a dog who chose to get in is far more solid than one who was placed there.

If the reluctance came on suddenly in a dog who used to load fine, see a vet before you train. Sudden refusal is a pain signal more often than it is a behavior problem.

For the daily ten minute structure this fits into, plus the marker word and the wait it depends on, the free blueprint is. Download the 10 Minute Foundation blueprint.

Ready to train your dog?

Every drill in this article comes from the WorldWide K9 Academy course library. If you want the full step by step system, start with the $5 intro course.