Interesting, I hadn't thought of the "unfinished" effect. Last time he went for a ride, the bus was insulated and some of the cabinets were roughed in. The couch was there but covered with blankets which wer covered with tools and such. Now that the bus is very close to finished, maybe he'll take better to it. I tried opening the window for him, but he ended up with two paws and head out the window. I think he could have made it out if he wanted to, and as freaked out as he was, I was afraid he would try and make a break for it at 60MPH. Raising the dog was sort of where I was headed with the stepwell cover, although if he decided he likes as side window instead, I could make a platform. I tried to put myself in his place... Maybe in his dog mind he sees the bus as a house, and from his life experience thus far, houses are not supposed to move. The other challenge is getting him on the bus. He doesn't like going through narrow passages, so getting him up the steps into the bus is challenging.
That's sort of what we do. I couldn't force him even if I wanted to. The narrow passage thing isn't just the bus. If a passage is not at least about twice as wide as he is, he won't go through it. To get on the bus, I put his cookies up on the dash. He'll eventually come up to get the cookies, then find a spot in the bus to eat them.