Oliver...my sweet boy!

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Ollie has come a long way from his biting and growling. He is now 14 weeks old. He almost never growls or bites anymore. He listens to instructions well and is doing really well with training.(though I know there are likely to be rebellious periods during his teen years.) He is also potty trained now and has had no accidents in the last 2/3 weeks. He tells us he needs to go by scratching at the door and a soft woof. All in all a real joy to have around and a happy and secure little guy.
The one ongoing challenge has been that he still hates car rides. I take him on short rides and don't fuss over him when he whines. I take treats with me but he gets so whiny that there is no quiet period that I can reward with a treat. He also chews on the seat belts to ease his anxiety. He loves the destinations we go to because he loves meeting people, but that doesn't seem to help with his car anxiety. He has had hour long rides several times and never gotten sick so I don't think it is travel sickness. I really hope he starts liking the car since we love family road trips. Any suggestions are welcome and would be much appreciated.
Here are some of his recent pictures :-)

All dry and fluffy after a bath...(bath=another one of his pet peeves...:-))

[Dori & Rua]

I literally seat belt my travel kennel into the passenger side of the back seat of my SUV. Rua can see me, can't chew on the seat beat and is safe. I started out taking her every place I went other than work. the day after I brought her home (she made that almost 3 hour trip with no issues). Some Saturdays I leave the house with her at 10 AM in the morning and don't return until 4PM. She goes into stores and shops with me and sleeps during longer rides. I keep her leash and collar on her until she is in the kennel, and then I take it off for safety sake. I do have to lift her up into the SUV and take her out, but as soon as I open the door when we are ready to leave, she is trying to jump in (she's such a peanut, though) but it will be while before she can jump in by herself.

For Thanksgiving, we took her with us up north to Minnesota...not a PEEP! She settled down and slept or just layed there. We stopped two times to let her out for a potty break. She was a GREAT traveler!

[cheryl & oliver]

I don't have any advice about the car problem, but I think the ideas of others is great. Our Oliver loves the car, so I never had that problem, but I do like the idea of the car seat, my oliver loves to look out the window. But I do have to comment on Oliver the puppy, he is just GORGEOUS!!!! I love his coloring and his face, OMD, he is just sooo cute. Glad to hear that he is doing so great with his training....

[Carol and Banjo]

The antlers don't have any smell....we just love them! I was not a fan of bully sticks...although Banjo did love em!

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Carol...antlers sound good. I haven't tried them yet. I assume they are less smelly than a bully stick. I can't tolerate the smell of those.

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Thanks for all the compliments for Ollie. He would have a head the size of a pumpkin if he could read :-D
Nancie..he is a dark chocolate brown with lighter highlights. I think the reddish tint in the second photo is because that photo was taken after dark.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Oh, he is just the sweetest, cutest puppy!! I don't have any suggestions because both my dogs love the car, but I just had to comment on his cuteness! Good luck!!!

[Carol and Banjo]

Wow! He is totally adorable!!!! Have you introduced antlers to Ollie yet.....if not - perhaps giving an antler ONLY in the car might help and start over again by taking just very short ride and then home again. They seem to be a HIT with most dogs.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Oh, Ollie is adorable. What color is he? Hard to tell if he is a very dark rich red or chocolate. I love his color. No suggestions for car riding since I have a big 73 lb. who takes up the entire back seat. I do know that they love to look out the window and so the suggestion from all the others who have small Doodles to get a car seat sounds like a good idea. All dogs love to look out windows! When Gracie was a baby she wasn't fond of riding in the car so I think it is just overwhelming to be so little sitting in the back seat of a car. All they can feel is the motion but can't see. She outgrew it as she got bigger and could eventually look out the window. Good Luck!

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Thank you all for the car seat idea. He has a harness but he still wiggles around in it chewing things around. Very distracting! I'm definitely going to try the things you all have mentioned.

[Camilla and Darwin]

We bought a car harness for Darwin. We wanted it for safety, but he is much more secure in it. He used to pant and move around the car like he was nervous and now he just calmly sits or lays. It's a great arrangement for both of us. So glad Ollie is doing good with training, and of course he is still outrageously cute.