Car Sickness

[Red Raj]

Well our new puppy (we got her from the pound) gets car sick. We have had her about 3 weeks now. Usually every week my boyfriend takes her to grandmas, she has gone to the dog park but the big kicker was when we took her camping and she wouldn't stop thowing up. She dosn't drool but when she gets into the car she drools buckets. This is I am shur because she dosn;t like car rides. Our other dog loves them. We can't open a door without her jumping in and soemtimes she won;t get out unless pulled lol. We thought by just giving her time she would get over it but I don;t see that happening. I don;t want her to hate car rides because we like taking the dogs everywhere. Should I just start hanging out with her the the car for short periods. Like listning to music giving her a treat. Or should I do many short rides to the dog park (a short 5 min drive and she loves it there).

I don't know iv never had to deal with a dog who got car sick. Thanks for any help

[shadowfacedanes]

You can give her dramamine. Consult with your vet on the dosage. Also refrain from feeding/watering her an hour before you ride with her. That should help reduce the nausea. I have a feeling if you can eliminate the nausea, it won't be such an unpleasant experience for her. Hopefully that's the case. However, I have seen some dogs that just plain out hate riding in cars.

[Bellabianca]

If it is rainy or cold and I can't put the top down on my car, Bianca gets sick. She likes to ride in the Jeep as well, for her I think it has to do with the flowing air and the ability to see out-if she is in the crate in the seat-if there is good airflow she usually does better.

[ESlover]

sometimes it is an inner ear thing. There is a bone on the inner ear that can take time to mature. It may just be a time thing.

I had this problem with my sheltie puppy years ago.

good luck.

[Shannon]

When dealing with car sickness, 95% of the time it is stress related and not motion related. This was the case with our sheltie. Lady was afraid to even get in the car, and once she was in, she would drool and vomit through the whole trip. We took baby-steps with Lady to the point where she now loves car rides. Heres what we did:

Step 1: Bring the dog to the car and reward with a treat
Step 2: Get in the car, and coax the dog in, reward even if the dog just sticks its head in.
Step 3: Repeat step 2 until the dog will jump in the car on its own, reward.
Step 4: Sit in the car for a couple minutes, reward
Step 5: Sit in the car with the car idling for a couple minutes, reward
Step 6: With both of you in the car, back up and drive forward just a few feet (do this a couple times), reward.
Step 7: Drive around the block, reward
Step 8: Drive a short distance to a destination like the dog park, and reward.

These steps were taken over a week period. Don't attempt to do everything within one day. If your dog is afraid of the car rides, remember to take small steps to ease its stress, don't force anything. But, ESlover could also be right, it could be some kind of balance problem. Hope this helps