Poor Rio GetsTravel Sick!!

[Jennifer Martin]

Hi just wondered what any of you would recommend as the best treatment for over coming travel sickness in my pup Rio - poor chap get's ill every time we go out, he can tolerate a few miles but then I see his little face change and if I don't stop the car he is sick, - tried the DAP spray to relax him but it does not work - also some herbal drops that make him drowsy, tried not feeding him prior to going out but he 'dribble's' profusely and looks so unhappy. I live in a rural area so a dog that can travel is essential - not use to this,- Jinty was a 'joy rider' and loved being in the car.

[Teresa]

Maybe there is a smell he does not like or something that makes him nervous?
Pitanga "dribble's" everytime she gets nervous, and it used to happen in one of my friends car... We later found out that she had been hurt once in that car by a very hard breaking his wife had made that made her nervous from that day on... We did some more traveling in that car but with me next to her calming her and she got less and less nervous in that particular car untill she was calm in it again... And she still gets sick in my fahter's car, but so do I, it's the leather sit smell...
Also, Maybe you could start by small rides, only the number of miles he can tolerate and give him a "car break" with lots of praise during your stop, but giving the most of the praise inside the car..., Then, very slowly extend the number of miles, i believe eventually he will tolerate the car. Pitanga is still not a big car fan and looks realy sad everytime i put her inside the car, but she stoped getting sick and stays calm inside cars.
Hope any of this helps you, good luck with your pup

[ursula wilby]

As allways when training...start with the basics.

Step 1) Get the dog used to the car by letting it sleep in the parked car after a walk. Give it a treat of a nice bone (for instance) to keep it occupied.
Dont let the dog out before its settled down compleatly.
Repeat until this situation becomes normal to the dog.
You can also feed in the car.

Step 2) Once number 1 is under controll, start the car and go for short drives...continue from there. Concentrate on taking small steps forward instead of having to take big ones backwards...

And yes it works!

[Jennifer Martin]

I have been putting Rio in the car, he does settle and go to sleep when it is stationary. As you have recommended I will carry on with this. He has just had his walk and I have put him in the car with a treat, I will leave him to have a 'nap' - I am sorry to say I think I may have been rushing him through step (1) to achieve the goal of step (2) - back to basics and a timely reminder thank you.

[Rosie Dudley]

It's worth checking first that exhaust fumes are not getting into the car, check that the seal on the tail lift is good. You could try moving the cage forward to behind the front seats, if this is possible, to see if it makes a difference. Try also travelling with a window open, just till he gets his car legs. Most puppies are car sick at first, almost all soon get over it, the advise already given will I'm sure help you and Rio.

To me, for an 8 week old puppy, what a miserably journey it must be to be taken away from your mother, litter mates and all you've known, put in a big tin box that rolls you around and makes you sick. I think this first journey away from home for some dogs can be the route cause of the dread of travelling in the car, the next car journey is usually to see a vet with a nasty hurty needle. Then they are not taken anywhere in the car for weeks and then horror returns to them when they are !

I have with every litter I have bred, car trained my puppies before they have gone to their new homes. I believe the earlier they are introduced to travelling in a car or encountering different situations, the better. From about 5 weeks I put all the litter and mum in the car and drive them to a friends house, they are then allowed to rampage around their garden and have a great time, they absolutely love it. They are usually all sick travelling the first time and sometimes the second, but after that they can't wait to get in the car. On the return journeys home they all sleep. I do this two or three times a week before they go. I am used now to the phone call from the new owners, ringing to report that they arrived home safely, and in amazement the puppy was not sick!

[Michelle Webster]

What good sensible advice Rosie, I wish everyone foloowed your regime of car training BEFORE the puppies went home it would make life so much easier. perhaps it should be made compulsory? My Flynn was so bad in the car and never really got over the sicky bit. I could never feed him before travelling it would have been asking for trouble. His breeder receommended that I give him 1/2 a sealegs tablet, 1 hour before going in the car and it worked wonders, as he grew this was increased to 1 tablet and then 2 when he was fully grown.Fergus was the same, but Geordie has never needed anything.

[ursula wilby]

I feel that travel-sickness comes in different litters.
In some litters no puppies are sick...and then you have a litter where the whole lot is sick. This is one of the things I note in my details about each litter...how they deal with going in cars.
And they do differ.
But I have not yet bred or owned a dog that has not stopped being sick (or drooling) after a couple of months.

[Margaret Sierakowski]

I put my puppies in a crate in the car just to play or sleep several times, without starting the engine or going anywhere, so they get used to it. Thats before they do their first trip in a car
I dont feed the puppies much on a day they are going to travel, and nothing for at least 2 or 3 hours before travelling. And if they are going far I give them half of a travel sickness tablet, like Stugeron or Sealegs the night before and another before they leave. On a very long journey with young puppies, watch for dehydration if they are vomiting and drooling for any length of time.
Some of the racing greyhound people carry rehydration fluids with them for greyhound puppies doing long trips, for example from Ireland to England or Scotland

[Sue and Cash]

Any discussions on travel interests me because my dog is unruly in a car. I am curious is your dog car sick or nervous?
I feel there is a difference maybe? Some people get motion sickness, can this be true of dogs as well? It can be a inner ear thing I believe. And for humans they use a patch behind the ear or some other medications. Now if it is nervousness causing it, then I think it is trickier to deal with. My dog knows a car ride leads to good things. Good times, hence the reason he barks and gets a bit too excited in the car. Coming home he is very relaxed and calm. I would think that shorter trips with the destination being a great thing filled with fun and treats would help reinforce the experience as a positive thing.
So if all trips lead to let's say the vet, then the dog might associate the car ride with unpleasantry. Sounds like your post is more travel sickness in which I would speak to your vet to see if treatments are available like in humans. I could be wrong but I thought it is inner ear related and they say (for humans) you should be able to look out the front window of the car rather than the sides. So crating could make it worse then. I will have to go look up travel sickness in animals and see what I find. Okay it is a common problem and it stated that looking around in the car makes them sicker and how the heck do you convince a dog to watch outside of the car? LOL
There is newer medications that you can ask your vet about that do not sedate the dog but just control that awful nausea feeling it brings on. And the longer it goes on, the more nervous about travel the dog becomes, because they know it will make them feel sick again. This was a from a website in the UK. You give the pills an hour before travel and sounds like you leave the tummy empty. Good luck!

[Jo Ottinger]

I have the same problem with Hawk, He is the first dog I have had that gets car sick. He has been sick in the car from the day I brought him home. I tried a crate and he was worse. He does better in a harness, because he can move around. He starts salivating as soon as he gets in the car and will be soaking wet by the time we get to were we are going. If I have my purse and keys he goes outside and watches to see if he is coming along. I have tried short trips, sitting in the car, giving treats -he will not touch a treat in the car. Tried no food before and small amount hours before. As soon as we go towards the car he slows down and I have to pick him up to get him in the car. He has not been sick in the car for about a month, but he still does not want to get in. Only places we really go to are the dog park and hunt training which he loves to do. He usually does better coming home because he is tired and will sleep. Everyone tells me he will grow out of it. Well he is 11 months now.