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Van and car
How to get your dog used to the Pup Van and car rides
The Pup Van is a stranger's vehicle with other dogs' smells in it, a lot for a dog that only rides to the vet. The fix works for any car: make the ride boring, then make it good.
What you need
A parked car, a week of five-minute sessions and one destination the dog loves
You need your own car first, because the van is the graduation, not the lesson. A crate or a harness that clips to the seatbelt keeps the dog in one place, which is safer and calmer; a dog that can climb from the back seat to your lap has too many choices and makes anxious ones. A towel, small treats and five minutes a day are the rest of the kit.
You also need one destination the dog wants. On Cape Ann that can be the fenced dog park at Stage Fort Park, 65 Hough Ave, with its separate small-dog and large-dog areas, or a legal beach day. The car has to end somewhere better than the vet more often than not, which for a while means driving to good places on purpose.
- A crate or seatbelt harness: one spot
- Small treats and a towel for the seat
- One destination the dog actually likes
- Motion sickness ruled out with your vet
The method
Engine off, engine on, the end of the street, then somewhere good
Every session ends before the dog wants it to. Day one is sitting in the parked car with the doors open and the engine off, eating treats, then getting out. When the dog jumps in on its own, the engine goes on and you sit for a minute. Then you reverse out and pull back in. Then the end of the street. Then the park.
Once the dog rides calmly to good places, do a daycare drop-off in your own car, so the building at the end of the ride is already familiar when the van arrives. Then book the van for a day your dog already comes to daycare, so the first van ride is one more ordinary thing on an ordinary day rather than the first sight of Dogtown.
- 01
Days 1 to 3: doors open, engine off, treats on the seat, out again after two minutes.
- 02
Days 4 to 5: engine running, doors closed, one minute of calm, then out.
- 03
Days 6 to 7: back the car out of the driveway and pull in again; treat, done.
- 04
Days 8 to 10: drive to the end of the street and home, then round the block.
- 05
Days 11 to 14: drive somewhere the dog loves, three or four times, and once to Dogtown for daycare.
- 06
Week three: book the Pup Van for a familiar daycare day, and tell the front desk it is the first ride.
- 07
After: one drive a week that ends somewhere good, so the car never means only the vet.
Where it goes wrong
The vet-only car, the loose dog on the seat and the full stomach
The most common problem is a car that has only ever gone to the vet. Every ride predicts something unpleasant, and no amount of treats on the seat changes that until the destinations change. The second is a loose dog, sliding on the seat, climbing into the front, and arriving wound up; a harness or a crate gives a dog one job.
The third is feeding right before a drive; a full breakfast and a winding road is how a dog learns to dread the car, so feed an hour or two earlier, or after. And if your dog drools, yawns and vomits on even a short ride, that may be motion sickness rather than fear; talk to your vet first, because you cannot condition a dog out of nausea.
- Change the destinations, not the treats
- One spot in the car: harness or crate
- No meal in the hour before a ride
- Drool and vomiting: ask your vet first
The Cape Ann version
Four towns at $10 each way, sandy dogs in winter and the Rockport line at rush hour
The Pup Van picks up and drops off for $10 each way in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea; from other towns, ask us for pricing. Add it when you book daycare, Academy or an overnight stay, or call the front desk, and ask how the van is set up inside and roughly when it reaches your street, so you can rehearse the same routine in your own car.
A dog that rides after a winter beach day brings salt and sand into any vehicle, so towel off before the ride; Gloucester's beaches take dogs October 1 to April 30, Good Harbor on even days and Wingaersheek on odd. And the car is the only option at commuter hours: the MBTA allows leashed dogs on the Rockport line only off-peak, at staff discretion, never 7 to 10 AM or 4 to 7 PM.
When to hand it to us
A handler at the door, a familiar building at the end, and a slower start for the frightened dog
When the car work is done, the van is the easy part: a Dogtown handler at your door, a short ride around the Cape and a building your dog already knows. If your dog freezes or panics at any stage of the plan above, tell the front desk at booking; a first ride can be paired with a half day of daycare ($33) so the pick-up comes soon.
Hand it over entirely if the car is a fear that will not shift rather than a training problem. Our trainers work on handling sensitivity and fear-based behavior in Brave & Balanced and Calm & Connected, from $94 a session, and the car is often part of that work. Ask through the contact form; we reply within one hour on business days.
- First van ride on a known daycare day
- Pair it with a half day at $33
- Fear that will not shift: ask our training team
At Dogtown
Where the van goes
Daycare days and overnight stays, with doorstep pick-up in four towns once your dog rides calmly.
Pick-up & drop-off
The Pup Van comes to you.
Pup Van pick-up and drop-off is available for $10 each way in the Rockport, Gloucester, Essex and Manchester-by-the-Sea area. Not in the area? Ask us for pricing.
- Rockport
- Gloucester
- Essex
- Manchester-by-the-Sea
Asked and answered
Questions people ask about this
Short, complete answers you can act on today. More in the full FAQ.
How does the Pup Van pick-up work?
My dog gets carsick. Will training fix it?
Should I ride along on the first Pup Van pick-up?
Is a crate or a harness better in the car?
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Sources
Rules and dates change. We re-check every beach, licensing and ordinance page each spring and fall; the source above is the current word.
Keep reading
Next step
Boring car, good destinations.
Book the free evaluation for a weekday morning and add the Pup Van once your dog rides calmly in your own car.
- 01Free evaluationWeekdays 6:30 – 9:30 AM
- 02Book a dayOnline, in the app or by phone
- 03Play, rest, repeatReport card at pick-up
