# Vizsla is now too scared to ride in my wife's SUV



## jedi one (Mar 2, 2014)

We just got a new SUV for my wife. Same make and model as the one my wife had before it was totaled in a wreck in early Dec. while our four year old male Vizsla was in the front seat with her.

She was rear-ended in her SUV on the freeway at fairly high speed but the air air bags didn't deploy and neither our Vizsal named Obi nor my wife were injured. I arrived about five minutes after the accident and moved Obi into my car for safety. He seemed fine but was still shaking a little and curled up down on her floorboard. When he got into my car, he lay on the back seat.

Since the accident, he has ridden in both my car and the rent car with no nervousness or any visible issues.

Yesterday, we finally got my wife a new SUV. It is the same make and model as her previous one, just six years newer and a different exterior and interior color.

This morning we were returning the rent can and my wife was taking Obi in her new car to pick me up from the agency. Obi, who is always ready to go anywhere, simply refused to get into her new SUV. She finally picked him up but he started shaking uncontrollably and panting. She started out but ended up taking him back home as he was really stressed out. 

We thought that perhaps there was some issue with an odor or something that Obi detected that we couldn't. But he just doesn't want to even come near the SUV. 

Then we started to wonder if he is fearful because he recognized the shape and odor of a similar car where he experienced the accident.

The previous SUV was white with tan interior and the new one is dark gray with black interior. Sure would think that this would be dissimilar enough for him to not associate it with the previous one and the accident.

Have any of you had or heard of a similar reaction or perhaps you can offer another clue to what is causing his stress over this new car.


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## emilycn (Jul 30, 2013)

Maybe it's because your wife was driving? (I know that sounds like a bad joke, but I mean it seriously.) 

Or maybe it's the fact that an SUV is higher off the ground? Or does the new SUV make the same lock and unlock sounds?

It is a perplexing situation... I'll ponder it some more.


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## jedi one (Mar 2, 2014)

Well, Emily, we considered the fact that she was driving him this morning but he has ridden with her in the rent car since the accident without issue and then later today, I took him in the new SUV and he suffered the same as he had with my wife in the morning. It is either the fact that he associates the new car with the old one and the accident or there is something peculiar about the new car that only he can detect. The new one is two years old so perhaps the previous owner had a dog or something else that concerns our dog. 

It has us stumped.


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

I find my Vizsla boy makes associations with situations and surroundings very quickly as well, he makes his opinions about things even quicker. You may want to try and give him other ride choices in your SUV (on the floor in the back, crate, use of his favorite blanket, etc). We have a car and a SUV as well and use both to transport our Vizsla boy. He first disliked them both (due to motion sickness early in his life), then liked one more than the other one (after a couple of scary experiences). We rotate the vehicles to ensure he gets to go to wonderful places in both (going hunting worked at the first try to convince him our new SUV was a keeper), bring his blankets and toys with him, we also got him a Ruff Tough crate. He is now the first in the garage waiting for the instructions which vehicle to jump in.


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

I think you're getting an example of just how smart they are.

Obi recognizes your SUV as a moose. A different color still makes it a moose. Very big, and with the unfortunate distinction of a very bad experience. So, he's reacting fearfully, he believes something bad will happen with this moose too.


You need to desensitize him to the moose. Without actually going anywhere, reintroduce him to it with food, treats, toys, maybe just from the outside, just play with him in as close a proximity to the moose as he can tolerate. Build up slowly to him being in it, maybe just to retrieve a cookie you've thrown in there, then to sit there with to next to him with some treats, etc. He's not ready for a ride, and it doesn't even sound as if he's ready to be too close to it.

You need to be mindful of two things: 1) His anxiety level (which right now is very high), so you can respect that and back off when he reaches his limit...do not focus on your impatience, but his fear. And 2) Do not reinforce his anxiety by rewarding him BEFORE he does something or at least shows some tolerance to the situation.

This is going to take time, if the car was totaled in the accident, it must have been pretty bad. Dogs recall this, but don't actually know what happened, they have the "Effect" without the mitigating factors of knowing the uniqueness of the "Causes", so their natural survival instinct is to zero in on as many of the factors as they can to help them recognize similarity, and thus protect themselves from it. Moose are scary! 

Try the desensitization, go slow, and let us know how it goes.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

This will probably sound a little crazy, but it is based on neuroscience, so maybe give it a try!  For short periods of time (maybe just two minutes at a time), bring Obi in view of the car and with the tips of your index fingers, tap on his muzzle or his shoulders, alternating left and right rhythmically. That's it. 

Like I said, sounds kinda crazy, but it's basically this therapy called EMDR or bilateral stimulation therapy. You introduce the stressor and then through tapping on either side of the body help the brain process through a traumatic experience, and desensitize it to the stressor. If Obi is so stressed out by the vehicle, or is just being a typically crazy V, that he won't stay still through these sessions, consider moving farther away from the vehicle or getting your wife to help restrain him. I would be very careful of pushing him too far. 

You could try creating a positive association with the vehicle through food or toys, but we've all seen food motivated dogs reject food when transfixed by something else like a squirrel or certainly when overcome by anxiety. I could be wrong, but I suspect you won't get very far doing that alone. 

One last suggestion would be to look into anxiety reducing substances like DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) sprays or diffusers, the herbal blend Rescue Remedy, or a few drops of lavender oil rubber into his chest. A product like the thundershirt could also help.


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

Gingerling said:


> Without actually going anywhere, reintroduce him to it with food, treats, toys, maybe just from the outside, just play with him in as close a proximity to the moose as he can tolerate. Build up slowly to him being in it, maybe just to retrieve a cookie you've thrown in there, then to sit there with to next to him with some treats, etc.
> .............................
> Try the desensitization, go slow, and let us know how it goes.


Agreed: take baby steps. This is what I missed in my original post.


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