It sounds like you have a dog with an obssession. What you need to do is to desensitized him to that noise. You don't say how much you are on the road, but assuming you have a home base - collect some pebbles and start throwing them around!

Put a collar and leash on him so you have control. Then watching him carefully, throw the pebble against a window - which makes a nice sharp sound and be prepared to INSTANTLY interrupt any reaction he has. Don't use your voice at all, but give him a sharp "pop" with the leash, turn him away from where the noise happened and don't let him leave until he is completely calm and relaxed - not just still.

You might have to work with lower sounds just to help reduce his reaction and work up to louder and sharper sounds. You can also do this just before meal time, so that he learns that the sound means food is coming...but he can't have the food until he is calm and relaxed.

In the truck, have tiny pieces of tasty treats handy, keep him on a leash at all times and repeat the pebble throwing routine. You can do this, at first while the truck is sitting still, then as his reponse improves you can start while you are moving.

BTW - I'm making the assumption that both you and your husband are in the truck together, so whoever is not driving will have to take the responsibility for working with the dog.

Another thing you can try is using a crate for him when you travel. That will restrict his ability to get crazy at the sound and give you a chance to let him learn to calm down on his own. Plus you can let the "crate demon" (hitting the crate sharply) teach him that going nuts only gets a startling response back.

Whatever you do, DO NOT try to "soothe" him or "calm him" by talking sweet to him and stroking him. If you do that you're only teaching him that going crazy is OK. He needs to be corrected out of the habit, you aren't going to be able to calm him down.

Hey Lynda,
Let’s say you could hypnotize a doggie. How are you going to explain to it what you want? Acupuncture will mellow out a high strung dog but then again so will an intense trot on the treadmill before you put him in the truck!!! Tired dogs are good ones so take the energy edge off of him first because part of this is plain ole cabin fever.

I’m guessing it goes like this: Pebble goes “plink”, dog goes spastic, you guys goes OMG! OMG! OMG! Followed by either lots of frantic yelling at the dog or trying to give it all kinds of loving to soothe the savage beast. Doesn’t work cause it can’t.

Your excitement (if that’s the case) escalates and feeds the dog’s excitement. He was upset and when you joined in he was made certain that he had a good reason to be upset because your are too. That’s PACK (mob) MENTALITY!

Loving, pity, coddling and soothing (if that’s the case) works like this; It rewards the dogs fears/bad behaviors with various forms of affection and attention. It actually trains them to keep doing it. Can’t cure a dog with love and pity blah blah blah doesn’t work and can’t.

Cesar says be calm and assertive for good reason. It affects what he calls your ENERGY. You’re at a party and you know who the wallflowers and the gregarious and confident folks are before you even meet them. That’s what your dog does to you. He reads you, your energy and he’s better at it too. Calm/assertive people have a commanding, confident and assertive presence about them and so should you so your dog gets the right message about who is in charge. NOT HIM!

You lead dogs by example, are strong for your dogs by example and you are a commanding presence called a pack leader. Ta-dah!

The hard part will be taking turns plinking the truck (with tennis balls or something) while the other is making CALM yet ASSERTIVE corrections to the dog inside. Hoping that this works while the truck is stopped that is. Have the leash on so you can control him. Give him a firm enough poke to distract him and give him a solid and sharp STOP, NO or ATTT sound. It can’t be a yell but it does need to be commanding! If it works before including a verbal command then count your blessings and leave it at that because that adds to the calming effect.

Like most rehab methods you gotta keep doing it and you must win every battle (dog must obey). If the dog wins then he learns to ignore you and does what he wants. In other words, the dog trains you. You both need to be consistent in your method, tone and assertive style etc.

If he throws a fit on the leash simply hold him in place until he tires himself out and all the while the tennis balls keep coming. Be relentless until he just gives up, tires out and don’t react to the fit!!!

Have fun but don’t crack the windshield. You can also slap your hand against the truck to trigger the dog to react. Keep on truckin!

OK so I wrote this early am but got interrupted before I could post it and DG slipped in with his. Even though it’s quite similar to DG’s I already wrote it so here it is anyway. You should get some reassurance from the fact that it is so similar. It means we’re on the right track.

I really like Doggones response, not as much with Dog Pro, but he is right also.

Husband wife team, we loved that when I would for a household good mover. I have taken long tips with my dogs, not in a truck, and the one thing my dad got on me about is the length of time I drove and how long the dogs were cooped up. Actually he got a bit ticked at me, only 1,400 miles from TX to CA, no big deal. For the dogs, maybe it was.

From my rememberance of tuckers, better eccomomic conditions at the time, but you get to point A to point B as quick as possible and with two drivers, your logs are probably good with changes on drivers.

What my dad told me is when driving long distances it is best to get out of the vibration of the vehicle and let the dog do a rest stop about every 2 hours at the most. Stops can be good for the human and the dog, and it only takes maybe 5 minutes or such at a rest stop. If you are not stopping much, then stoppins some might help the dog some. If you gotta go, then vibration and such might make noises a bit harder to take than when comfortable.

BTW, were do your dog lay when driivng with you, in the sleeper, or in a lap? Most of the divers we had, had big dogs as company.
Dogs might feel better on the drive when they can see out, when not sleeping. On the rock hitting or such, I would pet and calm the dog if all I have mentioned you already do. If you are pack leader, a calm on it from the pack leader might help also.

For 7 of my 9 dogs I have had, the 7 would think they went to heaven if on the road all the time. All dogs are different though, and the two put up with it, but not happy. There are people that get sick in cars, dogs are better at keeping stuff in, but that might get the dog a bit worried about a loud noise also. Age can also be a factor on a dog worried about noises.

Good luck on your dogs and sorry that deregulation ever happened for trucking.

Personally I think that Doggon's and Dawg Pro's posts are better if used together then either is all by itself. They both fill in little gaps for each other to make a more comprehensive rehab plan! I especially thought that DP's idea to take the edge off the dog before even starting a road trip was a real plus. I know I certainly couldn't have given any better advice than they did together!

I don't know about DG's slap on the crate idea but you never know unless you try. I would wonder if that might just trigger the dog into a fearful aggression. Again... you'll only know by trying it.

Be Well and Train Well.

"I don't know about DG's slap on the crate idea but you never know unless you try. I would wonder if that might just trigger the dog into a fearful aggression. Again... you'll only know by trying it"

It never has when I used it...but like all tools and techniques, you do have to be sure to time it correctly and not over-use it. If you over-use it, it will lose it's effectiveness as the dog will just learn to ignore it.

The biggest problem with dealing with a problem like this is that there is nothing in the dog's behavior to give you a clue that he is about to explode, because the trigger is all outside the dog's control. He's just reacting, and the trick is to break that reaction...so everything that you can do to get the situation under "control" so you DO know when he is going to explode will make it easier to correct.

I would like to thank everyone for their suggestions, and to summarize this, I need to stay calm, do not not soothe, reward, coddle or comfort, and I need to try the slap the crate? I am not sure what this is. Can someone tell me where to get this information or what it is? We are on the road 10 weeks at a time. Due to the recession I had to get my CDL and drive with my husband team. I could not find an accounting job in our rural community we moved to. I do not want to get rid of my ShiTzu. I love hime to pieces. My husband told me he feeds off me when I get nervous about hitting the rumble strips, and winter driving. He senses it. I think he is right. Today I ignored him the first time the pebble hit the truck he tried to jump on my lap, I put my hand in front of him and said no. He laid back down and did fine. So I know that many of these techniques are going to work, and I would ike to say thank you all so much. I will keeo you posted over the next few weeks.

Lynda - sound like you're making progress already!

A "crate" is essentially a cage, but it's designed for shipping dogs - so it's sturdy and comfortable. It's actually a good idea to crate train a dog that travels a lot, because it keeps them safer than if they are loose in the vehicle. Think of it as a completely contained seat belt for dogs!

If you get a good crate, not too small and not too big, and strap it down well, IF (heaven forbid!) there is an accident of some kind the dog will be confined to the crate and not thrown through the vehicle, or worse through a window.

A lot depends on how much room you have available for a crate, but for a Shih Tzu you aren't going to need a big one anyway. You can put a nice, comfortable bed or blanket in it, maybe even a chew toy or bone to keep him occupied.

Once the dog gets used to it, they come to enjoy it very much and associate being in the crate with traveling. I know my dogs LOVE their crates and start screaming with excitement when they see them go in the van.

You can also feed him in the crate and that will help him adjust to being in one. If you go to eBay and search for "petmate pet porter" you'll see quite a selection of what I consider the best kind of plastic crate. The plastic ones are safer and harder to break than the wire ones.

Look around at them, check the sizes carefully. You want one that is at least a few inches longer than your dog, and plenty tall enough so that he can stand up easily. Don't spend a lot of money...if you're not in a big hurry you should be able to get a good used one for around $35 plus shipping. I have REALLY big ones for my dogs and I never paid more than $60, but of course the shipping was a lot more!