Mine have always known the difference between ‘ride in the car’ picking up the keys & ‘getting the mail’ picking up the keys.
My old Siberian Husky (rest her soul), taught herself to go potty before getting in the car. She used to ride everywhere with me. Guess she also knew by the motion of the car or road when we were approaching where different animals lived. Cows around this corner. Goats 3.5 miles down that road.