Travel Sickness

[NickF 50]

Got a young pup and she has been travelling with me at weekends, mainly to shows. I never drive for more than 2 hours without a good stop. When I collected her it was a 400 mile round trip and she was fine on the way back. Now she is always sick in the car, anything I can do to get her through this? She eats dry food.

[johnrthrfrd 223]

Had the same prob with all of mine just kept on taking them out for small journeys and they seemed o grow out of it hey can all travel anywhere now.

[NickF 50]

Thanks, thats my take too. Do you feed them the mornings they are travelling?

[buster gonads 862]

Interesting this, mines been fine but was sick twice last week, she,s in season at the mo [10 month old] so this may be the cause, hope it doesnt persist afterwards, got a 30 mile trip tonight, i,ll keep my eye on this post, atb with the dog Nick, buster.

[Saluki246 1,053]

Keep driving about with them in the car, they will grow out of it, as one of mine was like that for a good while, but she is sound now...

[Country Joe 1,411]

Had this problem, don't bother, with all the remedies they don't work, have tried them all.

I have this with my present pup. they get better as they get older.

I dont feed in the morning if taking him in the car.

[chook1 184]

Lots and lots of trips out, my pup was the same, couldn't go less than 2 mins down the road before he would puke, now although he still salavates a lot he can go over an hour without puking, my local walk is only 5 mins lead walk to get there, but take them in the car insted as the more he's out the better he gets, he knows at the end of the car ride there's a fun walk so is getting less and less stressed about the car.

[sandymere 8,263]

Gets better with time and repetition, if its a lurcher once it knows what the lamp means it will settle, the excitement of going lamping over rides the sickness for most .

[dytkos 17,818]

Sit with it in the parked car a few times for 5 or 10 minutes with the engine off

Then do the same with the engine idling

Then very short trips building distance up slowly

 

This has always worked for me.

Also try giving it a couple of ginger biscuits half or so before you go out.

 

Cheers, D.

[Sirius 1,391]

Sit with it in the parked car a few times for 5 or 10 minutes with the engine off

Then do the same with the engine idling

Then very short trips building distance up slowly

 

This has always worked for me.

Also try giving it a couple of ginger biscuits half or so before you go out.

 

Cheers, D.

 

 

I agree Dykos its all about desensitising the dog to the car and building confidence gradually.

 

I often recommend that people feed the dog in the car or use treats or even a toy for a play in a stationary car without going anywhere just to start a interest and get the dog to see the car as a positive place. Once you can get the dog to chill and be relaxed around the car then move to the next step such as doing the same with engine running, then small journeys etc. This is generally better with anxiety based problems and not so much true motion sickness.

 

The thing you do have to remember that their are two types of travel sickness as one is physical motion sickness and the other is anxiety based and they often need to be treated differently. Also the age of the dog an how long the problem has gone on for can play a big role in how quickly or slowly the dog will improve especially in anxiety cases.

 

However I have seen several dogs who are quite simply extremely effected by motion sickness and often it can be very very hard to get headway with them but these sort of cases are not the norm and often a minority.

 

I often like to start with a cage in the car the same as the one the dog/puppy has in the house so it feels at home. And I take the puppy everywhere so as not to build up a routine for example I don't just take the dog in the car for a exercise or walk at the end of it, as this can in itself build excitement in the dog which it then associates the car with a exciting walk. What you need to aim for is the dog seeing the vehicle as an extension of the house or kennel its just on wheels.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sirius

[Country Joe 1,411]

Sit with it in the parked car a few times for 5 or 10 minutes with the engine off

Then do the same with the engine idling

Then very short trips building distance up slowly

 

This has always worked for me.

Also try giving it a couple of ginger biscuits half or so before you go out.

 

Cheers, D.

Tried it didnt work for me.

[dytkos 17,818]

 

Sit with it in the parked car a few times for 5 or 10 minutes with the engine off

Then do the same with the engine idling

Then very short trips building distance up slowly

 

This has always worked for me.

Also try giving it a couple of ginger biscuits half or so before you go out.

 

Cheers, D.

Tried it didnt work for me.

 

Travel sickness tabs from the vet then?

 

Cheers, D.

[chook1 184]

 

 

Sit with it in the parked car a few times for 5 or 10 minutes with the engine off

Then do the same with the engine idling

Then very short trips building distance up slowly

 

This has always worked for me.

Also try giving it a couple of ginger biscuits half or so before you go out.

 

Cheers, D.

Tried it didnt work for me.

 

Travel sickness tabs from the vet then?

 

Cheers, D.

 

 

 

Cheaper buying them from the chemist, the vet ones either tab form or injection cost over 15 quid for one dosage.

 

Stugeron from the chemist works just as well, its a form of antihistamine called cinnarizine, the other types chemist sells

are best avoided as the ingredients used are what is used sometimes before operations as it drys up the mucus membranes.

 

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel-health/medicines/stugeron.html

[neil cooney 10,416]

Some of the K.C. show fraternity line the bottom of the travel cage with plenty of newspaper . This worked for me in the past and I used a lot of newspaper.

That's in the case of travel sickness. If it's a case of the dog fretting because of the stress of being in a vehicle then as has been already said it's a case of the dog becoming familiar with travelling.

[Country Joe 1,411]

Some of the K.C. show fraternity line the bottom of the travel cage with plenty of newspaper . This worked for me in the past and I used a lot of newspaper.

That's in the case of travel sickness. If it's a case of the dog fretting because of the stress of being in a vehicle then as has been already said it's a case of the dog becoming familiar with travelling.

So what does the newspaper do to prevent sickness, apart from making it easy to clean?