Car Sick Puppy

MissyGallant · May 26, 2012

Clara is six months old and in the last month has started getting car sick whenever we take her somewhere. We've been taking her on car rides since she was 4 weeks old, so she is used to the riding. Does anyone know a way to prevent this? She throws up all over the car and does it several times on a ride. Hopefully, she will grow out of it because I really want to take her places with us.

Chris · May 26, 2012

They often go through a spell of that. Ginger helps, as does the Plush Puppy product that's an herbal remedy.

Shelby's mom · May 26, 2012

Sorry I don't have an answer but Shelby was the same way but has since out grown it. She isn't very fond of getting in the car but once in she is very good. I have attributed her hesistancy to getting sick. Hopefully she will out grow it.

Megansmom · May 26, 2012

I have two Shelties, one who never got sick, one who did and still gets a little drooly on car rides. I find having Toby nibble on a ginger snap cookie before and during the car ride helps. I think he is also growing out of it but still does not like car rides

mbfrench · May 26, 2012

I feel for you.
Our Jasper at one time,could not even get out of the driveway without losing it. GRR...

So we went back to 101 with him.
1-sitting in truck
2- more sitting in truck with radio on
3- starting the truck...(yes he puked) but we cleaned it up and perservered...
4- we did 1 thru 3,but put it in reverse and sat there,turned off truck,cleaned up puke. Then in drive back under carport

5-About this time(a month or so of previous instances) I was blowing up this forum asking for help. So we did ginger snaps,kong,blanket on back seat...bach's rescue remedy...no resolve in the issue.

6-Jasper had to go to the vet for a checkup,and we were dreading the ride. I even covered his head so he woulld not see the scenery whiz by his eyes. (helped some) as he did not get sick on the way there,only profuse drooling. (still considered car sickness)

In one post here by Toffee's mom she mentioned Cerenia. so i mentioned it to our vet. He gladly gave us 4 little pills. MAGIC PILLS!!!!

He only ever got 2 pills, on two differant occasions in the vehicle. It helped tremendously. He learned to swallow the overflow of saliva,and learned to relax.

I did purchase a soft sided crate,which also helped. On occasion he would puke.

More so when we drove into the driveway. Made it to town,but lost it in the driveway.

He is now 2,and I have to say it does get better. But don't do as we did,and stop the rides. Jasper lacked alot of socialization that he could have had because I let a little car sickness stop the trip. He suffered greatly,so it was like playing catch up. And at that point he was nearly 1yr old.

Try our first method,it may work for your pup. I narrowed Jaspers fear to him getting in the truck. It was easier to calm him before he had to get in. Once he was in and already sick,there was no use in trying ginger snaps..etc..

If all else fails,ask your vet for some Cerenia.And pray the pup outgrows the dilemma.

Megansmom · May 26, 2012

mbfrench said:
I feel for you.
Our Jasper at one time,could not even get out of the driveway without losing it. GRR...

So we went back to 101 with him.
1-sitting in truck
2- more sitting in truck with radio on
3- starting the truck...(yes he puked) but we cleaned it up and perservered...
4- we did 1 thru 3,but put it in reverse and sat there,turned off truck,cleaned up puke. Then in drive back under carport

5-About this time(a month or so of previous instances) I was blowing up this forum asking for help. So we did ginger snaps,kong,blanket on back seat...bach's rescue remedy...no resolve in the issue.

6-Jasper had to go to the vet for a checkup,and we were dreading the ride. I even covered his head so he woulld not see the scenery whiz by his eyes. (helped some) as he did not get sick on the way there,only profuse drooling. (still considered car sickness)

In one post here by Toffee's mom she mentioned Cerenia. so i mentioned it to our vet. He gladly gave us 4 little pills. MAGIC PILLS!!!!

He only ever got 2 pills, on two differant occasions in the vehicle. It helped tremendously. He learned to swallow the overflow of saliva,and learned to relax.

I did purchase a soft sided crate,which also helped. On occasion he would puke.

More so when we drove into the driveway. Made it to town,but lost it in the driveway.

He is now 2,and I have to say it does get better. But don't do as we did,and stop the rides. Jasper lacked alot of socialization that he could have had because I let a little car sickness stop the trip. He suffered greatly,so it was like playing catch up. And at that point he was nearly 1yr old.

Try our first method,it may work for your pup. I narrowed Jaspers fear to him getting in the truck. It was easier to calm him before he had to get in. Once he was in and already sick,there was no use in trying ginger snaps..etc..

If all else fails,ask your vet for some Cerenia.And pray the pup outgrows the dilemma.

Excellent suggestion Michele as I have never heard of Cerenia before! I'll ask our Vet about it :wink2:

MissyGallant · May 30, 2012

Thank you for the suggestions. We took her out on Saturday and had no incidents. Hopefully she's grown out of it. She was in the car all the time when she was a baby. It seems to help her if she can ride on my chest for a while. And she does not give up that ground to her sister. She is so funny.

biowicks · May 30, 2012

I just read about Cerenia on line today. I wish it had been around for my Angel Pavi, as he had terrible car sickness on every car ride except the one home from the breeder when he was a pup. Back then, 12 years ago, our vet prescribed human dramamine, and told us how to adjust the dosage for him. We used that for three years, then tried without it, and the car sickness had passed. I think that after a while, just getting in the car reminded him of when he got sick, which made him sick....and the dramamine broke the cycle. Cerenia is just for dogs, which is great for carsick shelties. Based on my one experience with that, it seems that if they get sick once, their brains assume that they'll get sick every time, so they do. Silly shelties!