Car sick

[Tammie Miller]

Help! Need advise. My 3 month old doodle still hates the car ride and always slobers uncontrollably all over and always gets sick. Each time ive tried to take her with me I make sure its been 6 or so hours since she has eaten and she is in a crate. She wont even go near the car. I have to carry her.

Any advice?

I want to be able to take her places and when she out grows the crate that still fits in my van she will need to ride loose.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Ginger snap cookies works for our Bella. Plus an empty stomach, plus open windows, plus no longer than 45min to and hour in the car. She is 2 1/2 yrs old and it's getting better, but if I push it too long, or didn't give her the cookies, I can count on a mess. Fortunaletly she is very neat and always cleans it back up. Gross I know, but this is the dog that eats her own poop, so regurgitated food isn t that big a deal. Lol

[Sue and Buddy]

She may grow out of it. I've had several dogs including Buddy who got car sick as puppies. Around 6 months of age they got better. I think it is because the inner ears are not completely developed until then. We found Dramamine helped Buddy a great deal. Dogs can take 2 to 4 mg per pound of body weight given 30 to 60 minutes before a car trip. But you might want to check with your vet. There is also Cerenia. It is a powerful drug that blocks something in the brain. It's used with dogs taking chemo as well as motion sickness. It is very expensive.

Buddy got car sick. He didn't get nervous or drool, he just threw up. I wanted being in the SUV a good place for him and did not want him to only associate it with throwing up.To keep the SUV a happy place I would feed him one of his daily meals in the SUV, in his crate while parked in the drive way. I did this one or two times a week. Sometimes we would work on some of his simple commands like sit and down while in the suv.  I did try taking him on short trips around the block (not right after feeding). We did use the Dramamine.  His crate was wire and we usually covered the sides so he could only see out the front.

One thing we discovered with Buddy is that he needed something on his tummy.  An empty tummy made him throw up yellow bile. When going on trips that required several hours in the car I would give him a dose of dramamine the night before the trip. In the morning I'd feed him about half his usual amount at least an hour before the trip along with the Dramamine. He'd get a bit more food 4 hours into the trip. I'd usually mix the food with water because he does not like to drink while on a trip and I feel the dry kibble needs some water. Sometimes I fed him gingersnaps. I'm not sure how much good they did.

We took a 1700 mile trip cross country when he was almost 6 months using Dramamine and keeping a bit of food on his tummy. I don't know if we were at the point of his growing out of car sickness or the meds did the trick, but he threw up only once. That was when he had an empty tummy and he threw up yellow bile.

Dramamine makes a pup sleepy, so Buddy slept most of that 1,700 mile trip. As a result he now promptly goes to sleep when he gets in the SUV. We don't need to use the Dramamine, but I do make sure he has a bit of food on his tummy.

Good luck with your sweet girl.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A car restraint that fits around her chest and keeps her sitting upright and facing forward will help.

[Sheila & Finnley]

Gosh, sorry you are having a car sickness problem with your doodle. Mine got sick he first few times in the car until I got her a doggy seatbelt. I totally agree with Karen about the car restraint around the chest, and sitting upright and forward. It's kind of like the way you have to work with little kids. It helps with the looking forward and not side to side or backwards. After I belted Finnley up we had to make a fly trip to bring my son something he forgot to take to college with him. It was a 5 hour to and 5 hour back trip. Finnley was 3 months old the  and did great.

Good luck !

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I have had puppies who got car sick but they all outgrew it.

[Lynn D.]

Yeah Echo gets carsick too. What makes it worse is we live in the mountains so there aren't many straight roads to drive. I usually give him 3 ginger snap treats about 30 min before heading for the car. My pup doesn't like the wind from open windows at speeds greater than 45 mph. Th ginger snap treats came from the bulk treat bar at PetCo's Unleashed store.

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Charlotte sits in a booster seat with a tether that attaches to her harness.  This way, she's propped up high enough to see out the window.  She can sit up and face forward or lie down to rest or sleep.  Maybe your puppy will feel better, if she's not low down in your van in her crate.  Cracking the window open a bit will help, too.  Charlotte's current seat is made by Animals Matter and it's their extra-wide companion seat.  It fits dogs up to 40 pounds, according to the manufacturer.  Can someone sit next to your puppy to provide comfort and reassurance until she gets accustomed to travelling in the car?