I'm looking for help with a car sick puppy. Almost every time we go out, whether for a super short trip or a slightly longer one she gets sick.

This is keeping her from liking going for rides, even though we are going to fun places.

Ahyoka is getting better, and she is liking going more, but if she gets sick, she doesn't really want to do much of anything when we get to our destination.

I have tried ginger, and it seems to work some, but it's not 100%. I'm looking for something natural, and easy to use. Something easy to get.

I have been looking into CBD oil, but don't have any experience with it.

As said before, I would like something natural, no side effects, easy to use and get.

Ahyoka wants to like going, but upset tummy takes the fun out of it.

Thanks for any suggestions.


ARman

Here are some natural ideas ... that we tried, and most worked to some degree but did not totally solve the car sickness.

https://www.dogsnaturallymagaz...-4-natural-remedies/

Our little guy eventually grew out of it. The fresh air really helped too.

Nothing worse that four legged or two legged "car sick puppies". Hope she grows out of it. Meantime patience!

Yeah, she's getting better, but it just takes all the fun out of it. She gets to our destination and she doesn't want to do much.

This Sunday she was doing great, until a bunch of Firetrucks with sirens wailing and horns blowing got her worked up, you could see the change in her face. Before the last one past us. She started to drool and panting started, a little bit later here comes breakfast!

She went from enjoying her ride to hating it in a blink of an eye.

I had given her some ginger about half hour before we left, it didn't help.

When I put her in the crate it makes it worse, she does better setting in the front seat with her seat belt tether on. Being able to see what's going on has better results.

Going places is important because I don't have a fenced in yard, and since my friends dogs will run off, Ahyoka has to go to their house to be able to play. She stays with me, so fence or not she is no more than 20 yards from me. But she has to travel to play with other dogs. If she gets sick, she doesn't want to play.

ARman

Try crating her so she can only look forward maybe?

Old Dino, thanks. I actually have a couple of those things on hand. Everything I looked at didn't say anything about dill, or peppermint. I have both. I'll give them a try.

Other tips appreciated!


ARman

quote:

Originally posted by Krazeehorse:
Try crating her so she can only look forward maybe?

Crate makes it worse. Except for the cleaning! The seat belt tether seems to help. It keeps her safe, she's in the front seat and can look out the windshield and me, but can't really look out of the passenger window.

Loud noises seems to be a trigger. Loud exhaust, sirens, and horns get her worked up. So windows down and fresh air become a problem with loud noise.

ARman

With my hunting pups, we always made lots of noise at feeding time. Banged pots n pans and such. Got em used to the noise so they wouldn't be gun shy. Maybe that would help with some of it...

Our new pup hated truck rides until I hit on taking our slightly older pup with. Now everything is ok with truck rides.

So maybe borrowing a dog your pup likes for a few short rides until she is ok with riding.

Why don't you let her stick her head out the window?
Seems to me the proper way to give a dog a ride.

Bob

Our one dog consistently got car sick. We tried a lot of different remedies and none worked 100%. To her it was not a big deal, she never balked at a ride and never let throwing up interfere with her day. She rode on the backseat with our other dog so that wasn't a remedy.

We never let our dogs ride with their heads out, too much chance of getting hit with a stone. My friends do this but the dog wears goggles.

Take the time to train the puppy in the car. Leave the car parked and you and the pup spend some play time in the car. Toys, treats and such in the parked car. Eat a meal in the car. Spend enjoyable time in the parked car. Then, try some short rides. Lengthen the trips slowly.

Can you set up a seat/bed so she can always see out, even when laying down?

I built a shelf that sits on the window level of my truck king cab, right behind the seats. Both dogs ride on the shelf, can see out everywhere, all the time. When I had a cap on the Tacoma I put a similar shelf in the cap, against the cab. With the back window open they could go back and forth from the cap to the cab at will.

All of this ties in with my time in the US Navy. When first on ship, at sea, I was sick as a dog for two weeks. Found that being able to see out, see the horizon, helped my balance and give me reference for what was stable. Might apply to dogs too.

Not sure if this will help, but one pup we had got car sick all the time. I used to get carsick as a child, but looking out the window solved that for me. So we would take the pup, one of us ride with him, and keep his head up, and looking out the window. Kept telling him to look for doggies, or something. It worked, he stopped keeping his head down, and just keeping his head up and looking at things outside the window, he stopped getting sick and enjoyed the rides. Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Take the time to train the puppy in the car. Leave the car parked and you and the pup spend some play time in the car. Toys, treats and such in the parked car. Eat a meal in the car. Spend enjoyable time in the parked car. Then, try some short rides. Lengthen the trips slowly.

This. This is the ticket. Short rides and gradually make them longer.

Remember that car sickness has to do with balance and equilibrium. The ability to see where you’re traveling makes a huge difference.
Fresh air can help.
Getting over car sickness is no different for dogs or humans. You just have to train the person/dog so they don’t get sick.
I would set a goal for a 20 mile drive. I would make that goal six months out.
Start out going from the house to the end of the block and back.
The next day, increase it by a block or two. Gradually build this up, but the key is to start out slow. If you see drooling or panting, or a precursor to that, stop the car and get the dog out and walking on solid ground.

Here’s a pretty good article about kids and carsickness.

I have a dog that gets car sick, but only when in stop and go traffic.

Bonine seems to help; fresh air in the car seems to help.

I just got used to it and got one of those dog seat cover things that hang between the two headrests in the back and the two in the front seat and had zip-up sides that hag from the handles on the roof.

Didnt solve the problem but it did contain it.

<coughs> meclizine 12.5mg 30 min prior to travel <cough>

It's natural, in a pharmaceutical kind of way....

Same problem with our dog when she was a puppy. I used to take her for a ride in my old truck in the morning before she ate. Didn’t take long for her to get over the car sickness

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmnut:
Same problem with our dog when she was a puppy. I used to take her for a ride in my old truck in the morning before she ate. Didn’t take long for her to get over the car sickness

Interesting idea. Gotta try that as we are having same issue.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Take the time to train the puppy in the car. Leave the car parked and you and the pup spend some play time in the car. Toys, treats and such in the parked car. Eat a meal in the car. Spend enjoyable time in the parked car. Then, try some short rides. Lengthen the trips slowly.

I have done this and it surely has helped, in her fear of being in the car, before I did this just seeing the car would make her scream.

Though it has helped her with the general fear, she still gets car sick 50-60% of the time. I'm able to go further away, but any loud unfamiliar noise, or having to make quick breaking when some jackass pulls out on me triggers her. She'll start drooling and usually before I can get off the road, here it comes!

There are a few good tips, I'm going to try.


ARman