# Car Sick



## GrannyMouse (Sep 3, 2010)

My new puppy, Lexi, gets SO car sick. She can only go a few blocks and first starts drooling followed shortly by throwing up. Any suggestions as to how to help her overcome this. We have to go to the vet next week for shots and I feel so bad for her. It takes her several hours to get over it and she looks so pitiful!!


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Rosie will be three in March and still gets carsick. She first could go to the office--2 miles. But it is 5 miles to the vet--she would throw up just as we were getting to the point that we could see the building. Will us going to my son's the last few weekends, she got up to the 7 miles between his house and the hotel. Otherwise we give her something the vet prescribed when the car sick med didn't work. It puts her to sleep, so doin't like to use it every day. We could never take a car trip with her. When we get to Nashville, we leave Rosie at my son's house, then the last night, we go back to the hotel with her and come home from the hotel. About the time that I think she will be fine and maybe we could not dose her, she will wake up and puke. So if anyone has the fix for this problem, please share.


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Brody gets car sick. Short, frequent car trips really helped. It also helps that I can go anywhere in the town I live in, in under 10 minutes. He comes to work with me, which is about 7 minutes, and so he'd get short car trips twice a day, 5 days a week. At first he'd be covered in drool and throw up by the time we got to work or back home. Gradually that lessened. 

Last August I took him on a 16 hour road trip with frequent stops. He cried and carried on something terrible for the first 6 hours (if I recall correctly, it may have been longer) and drooled, etc. After we got over that hump things have been much better. He'll still get sick if we have to drive on gravel roads and he isn't super fond of driving (or flying), but things are much better than they used to be. 

When I first got him and brought him back to where I was staying, he puked the entire hour or so trip and went through EVERYTHING I had brought (which was several towels, wipes, pee pads, etc.) in the first 5 minutes. It was awful.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Let him sit in the car without the motor running....then run the motor.....wean him into the car thing. I can relate to the constant vomiting while driving. Hopefully he will out grow it like Dexter did.


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

GrannyMouse said:


> My new puppy, Lexi, gets SO car sick. She can only go a few blocks and first starts drooling followed shortly by throwing up. Any suggestions as to how to help her overcome this. We have to go to the vet next week for shots and I feel so bad for her. It takes her several hours to get over it and she looks so pitiful!!


Email me privately , I have an article for you. Too long for here. And I see you are from Virginia Beach. I also know a super trainer from there if you're ever interested,.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Zoey out grew getting car sick. The day you go to the vet don't feed your new puppy. I have a VW wagon and I use a small travel crate . Both Maddie and Zoey have always shared the crate for car rides. They cant see out the windows I have wondered if that might have helped Zoey a bit. It took her tell about 6mo to stop. She was worse in town around corners.


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## anaacosta (Sep 1, 2011)

the best advice I can give you is to get her one of those car seats that look like a basket. It has helped Leyla immensely because she can see out the front windows. Good luck with your new baby!


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## klf0110 (Jun 30, 2009)

Huey was extremely car sick when I got him. He is now two and has never outgrown it. The only thing I ever found that actually helped was desensitization training. Meds helped but put him to sleep-not good for short trips and I did not want to drug him all the time. I took him to my local vet school and saw a vet behaviorist who diagnosed it as anxiety. The training has helped but it is a long, tedious, slow process. To me it was worth it and I would have done just about anything to help Huey handle the car better. We had worked up to 30 min trips without symptoms until we were in a terrible car accident and I have had to start all over with him. Good Luck.


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## whitzend (Dec 1, 2011)

We've had Cooper since Dec.26th. and have been taking him for car rides since then, never been car sick. Yesterday we went for a ride and this time he was sick uke: If they are car sick prone wouldn't it have been at the first car ride or will he now be car sick from now on? We are going to try again today and hope it was just a fluke.

Is it better for them to have some food before or is an empty stomach better?


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## GrannyMouse (Sep 3, 2010)

We've been going out and sitting in the car with the car off. Then I turn the car on. As soon as the engine starts, she starts to drool. Yesterday we rode around the block. Today we'll try twice!! Baby steps . . .


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## jcarol (Mar 20, 2010)

Kody has been prone to car sickness ever since we got him. He's almost 1-1/2 yrs old. Lately we have been taking him on short rides and it has helped. He starts drooling and shaking his head almost immediately after getting in the car. The vet gave us some pills for long trips, but it didn't help much. It's strange that he will only throw up when the car comes to a stop such as at a stop light but he drools and shakes his head the entire trip.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

whitzend said:


> We've had Cooper since Dec.26th. and have been taking him for car rides since then, never been car sick. Yesterday we went for a ride and this time he was sick uke: If they are car sick prone wouldn't it have been at the first car ride or will he now be car sick from now on? We are going to try again today and hope it was just a fluke.
> 
> Is it better for them to have some food before or is an empty stomach better?


If it has only been once, I suspect it's a one-time thing. He may have been feeling a bit sick anyway for some reason, and the motion of the car sent him over the edge. (can happen to me if I'm migraine-y)

As far as food or not, I think it depends on the dog. Some with sensitive tummies do better without eating first. I know when Kodi was a puppy, and we were told to bring them to puppy class hungry, he threw up bile in the car. I started feeding him half his breakfast before we left, and no more problem.

It's like the car seat/crate/harness thing. you have to experiment with what works best for your dog. Some do better if they can see out, while this will MAKE others get car sick when they might not otherwise.


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Both my Hav's experienced anxiety on car trips, Yogi only threw up once, however he will have very loose stools after the trip, he also use to and still does after being around lots of unknown large dogs (training or trial), he also use to whine the whole trip. Misty use to throw up, coming home from the breeder 4.5 hours she threw up many times, and at first everytime she would get in the car. Because it was anxiety it was important to make the car familer (a safe zone) and only go to fun places. I stopped using the crates (I am now reintroducing the crates for travel) I do use a car harness and something to protect the seat, I started taking them out one at a time around the block, get them out let them walk and sniff, settle them in, back home, yay we're home. Mail drop, just short places. Of course training...their favorite place. It has worked, Misty loves to go and Yogi only whines when DH is in the car. Also I would sometimes take a trip to the feed store with both and the Lhasa who is a nice car ridder...just sits there looking handsome, he hates Yogi's whining. Sometimes we think it is car sickness, but its anxiety. It took a long while, I always don't make a big deal and just make things a part of my day, this way I am calm, not rushed, I truely believe that the way we feel affects our dogs. Sometimes it takes awhile to find what works for our dogs. Hope your new pup gets through this quickly.


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