car sick!

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ruckusluvr

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Lynn is 7 months old now and still she gets car sick. Almost everytime we take her anywhere she drools very badly, and usually pukes. Even if i just go down the road she drools really bad. She seems to like riding in the car, but it makes her sick. I take my dogs most everywhere I go, and its starting to be a pain in the butt with a car sick dog. I bet we go 4 times or more a week in the car.

Is there anything that I can do to help her get over this?
 
There are a couple of reasons that a dog would get car sick in the first place. 1) They are nervous in the car or 2) the physical motion of the car makes them sick. By the sounds of it, your pup is sick from the physical motion. If she is generally happy in the car and excited to go, then it likely isn't because she is scared and nervous.

To help the physical motion sickness, you can try crating her and covering the crate. How does she usually ride in the car? Free roaming? Crated? Seatbelt? If she isn't crated already, then definitely introduce the crate in the car (much safer that way, anyways). It serves as a sort of steady base that mutes the motion and blocks the view of the movement outside the window. Often, having something solid to lean on allows the dog to regain their equilibrium and not feel the motion sickness as much.
 
Drooling is usually a sign that a dog is going to throw up. You can also try giving her some ginger snaps about a half hour or so before leaving. Ginger is known to help with motion sickness.
 
Edan, who I adopted from his breeder at 7 months, had that problem also; and we tend to travel with our dogs whenever possible. He seems to have grown out of it and can now make an 1.5 hour trip without a problem. I still won't risk the longer 5.5-6.5 hours trips home to visit family without medicating him.

My vet recommended giving him 1/2 a Benedril tablet about 30 minutes before leaving. It left him a little dopey for a few hours but otherwise he was fine.

Normally I travel with my dogs in their crates however for short trips we'll just put the dogs in the back of the SUV. Edan has since discovered he can look out the windows and LOVES to put his front paws on the little sills and see what's going on.
 
my sheltie is given 1/2 a tablet of dramamine, or bonanine (sp?). she weighs 35 pounds. you would have to ask the vet what dose for your dogs size
 
Lexi had the exact same problem, and I thought it was a physical thing too, except I was determined to not let it keep her from enjoying trips! So I went to the pet store and got 2 things : Liver bites and Comfort Calm. I used the liver bites everyday.. when I took her near the car and she voluntarily jumped in she would get a liver treat. I would take her for short rides everyday and about every 2 miles give a treat. Eventually she was so engrossed with the thought of getting a treat she ignored the fact that she was in the car and was no longer nervous. On longer rides I would give the Comfort Calm. Comfort Calm are small treats made from natural ingredients. They basically make your dog feel full, which in turn helps calm them down a little bit. These worked like a charm on Lexi and I liked it a whole lot better than giving her meds (its just easier plus she likes them!). Even today she's not 100% overjoyed to be riding in the car, but she gets excited to go and NO MORE PUKING!!

here's a link for the comfort bites:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751921
 
Layla and Bits both were car sick as puppies. Before a trip, I didn't feed them and I also used drops from Plush Puppy -- lavender, I think -- to soothe them.
http://www.plushpuppy.net/drops.html

Now they both can ride on really long trips -- six hours or more -- with no problem.

Now Annie is another story. Honestly, she should have been a trucker's dog. :lol: Road Trip!!!!!
 
Cali usually drools and her nose runs constantly when we are in the car but I have never been lucky enough for her to throw up.. She always poops! It's usually when we are sitting still at a red light or something you can tell she starts to get nervous. Big trucks and fast moving traffic really gets her head moving a mile a minute! As long as I keep the windows up and keep her attention on me and away from the windows when we are sitting still she is usually fine though.
 
Thanks for the help everyone. Lynn usually just lays down in the back seat the whole trip.
In the spring we have a 12 hr car trip coming up! I dont know how we are going to live through that!
 
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