Does anyone know how to help my dog with his severe car sickness?

Question

We can only get about 2 kilometres up the road before he is very sick, maybe there is a remedy or something we could feed him before the journey?

Answer 1

DONT TAKE HIM IN THE BLOODY CAR!!!!
why do people insist on humanising animals?

Answer 2

Well you can go the easy way and "drug" him *laugh*

Or you can go the hard way and put some work into to cure his stress about the car rides.

The easy way is getting something like
Dramamine - Ask your vet about it and the dosage for your size dog.

The hard way is to have your dog associate your car with something GOOD. Because more then 90% of carsickness in animals is not caused by motionsickness like people.. it's caused by stress.
So drive your dog to the park, even if it's around the corner.. have a good romp, head home, have a good play there, or give him a special treat.
Keep that up for a few days.. you might even try a park or off-leash thats a bit further away say 20-30 minutes.. same thing again.
Most dogs get over it pretty quickly. It's just a matter of having the time.

Couple of tips:::
~Roll the window down, get some fresh air in
~Put them in the front seat and or get a booster seat so he can see out the window(if in fact it is due to motion sickness)
~Don't feed him at least 30-60 minutes before you plan on leaving.

Answer 3

Dogs who become carsick must be exposed SLOWLY to riding in the car. Each step should take a week, and if the dog gets sick on a step, you need to back off to the previous step until he doesn't get sick.

Put the dog in the car. Have a toy to keep the dog's mind off the car, but don't let him get too rowdy.
Dog in the car, car started and running in driveway.
Dog in the car, car started. Back down the driveway and then move back up the driveway (IF the dog hasn't gotten sick on the way down!)
Dog in the car, take car around the block (shorten the trip for a week if even that is too much)
Dog in the car, take car to local convenience store and back home (or any place close but farther than around the block with a couple of starts and stops along the way).
Dog in the car, short trip (you decide the length based on how your dog is responding.
Dogs who get carsick will especially benefit from either a crate (especially the more enclosed plastic crates) or a seatbelt (check your local pet shop for dog seat belts). These will limit unsteady movements. Keep in mind, dogs don't always vomit when they are carsick. Some may just drool excessively or look wet around the mouth and may have a sick or queasy look in their eyes. Watch your dog for signs of carsickness and work with the steps above to make both of you feel better!

You could also try giving your dog Dramamine and do not feed for at least a couple of hours before taking the dog for a ride

Answer 4

Try:-

putting him in a cage and covering it so that he can't see out or
buying a travel sickness remedy from your Vet but these should be used sparingly
or
trying a natural remedy - these are usually ginger-based as ginger is supposed to settle the stomach.

If he is a pup he will probably grow out of it - most of them do.

Don't make a fuss when he is sick - it's pointless telling him off and comforting him will reinforce his behaviour.

If he is older he might be car phobic - if so try:-

putting him in the car and not going anywhere and
play with him in the stationary car and
feed him his main meals in the stationary car.

Do this often until he gets into the car readily then:-

walk him to the end of your street i.e. a very short distance
and drive him back home - you might need someone to bring your car to you or you could drive it the short distance then go back for the dog.

Repeat very short journeys that end at home - you could arrange to be collected from the field or park.

Do many short journeys until he seems settled then gradually extend the length.

Once you manage more than 2k you know he is getting better!

Answer 5

Benadryl to sedate him and also has some anti-dizzying properties (is that a word? lol) If your dog is bigger than 12 pounds (about 5.5 kgs) a 12mg tablet benadryl should be ok (childrens benadryl and make sure is only diphenhydramine, not the type with the other stuff). Smaller dog, consult your vet. In dogs, benadryl is more effective for motion sickness than dramamine. Another drug used in dogs is called "ace", but it requires a prescription, ie. a car trip to the vet.

Don't feed him at least 3 hours before the trip, water is ok.

Some people say that a little bit of ground up ginger also helps.

Answer 6

don't worry my dog was the same way when he was younger! my mom told the vet about him getting sick in the car. they were able to give him medication for it. then they will also tell u how long before u should give it to him before u leave to go on a trip. just to let u know if they give u the same medication they gave to my dog there are some side affects to it.
1. it makes them look tired
2. it makes them look like they are drunk(nothing to worry about)
3. it makes their eyes look droopy
all of this is just to help them relax during the car ride.
he might lay down the whole time when u give him the medication. i know that's wat my dog did after he had the medication.
also don't feed him before u leave that might also be a cause of why he would get sick in the car! he might have a touching stomach after eating!
good luck!
hope this helped u somewhat!

Answer 7

try this cos it works....for people and dogs....spread newspapers over the seats or the back of an estate ,or where ever the animal rides in the car,get the person or dog to sit on the opened newspapers and they just dont get car sick..i have absolutely no idea why but it cant hurt to give it a try...i have had similar problems in the past and its worked everytime after a couple of trips,,no more car sickness.

Answer 8

My dog also suffers with car sickness,we bought some tablets from a local pet shop that you simply give an hour or 30mins before your journey.It worked wonders with our dog as he was not sick once,we managed to go for a 2hr drive going on holiday.

Answer 9

People, dogs have to be taken to the vet. And taking your dog to the park once in a while isn't humanizing him. Jeez. If you don't like dogs, don't answer dog questions.

Julie, try gingersnaps -- it helped my dog when she was a pup. And taking her on an empty stomach. And she did grow out of it by the time she was 18mos or so. Is yours young?

Vets can prescribe motion sickness pills, like someone mentioned. Don't try a human medicine without consulting the vet! Good luck to you and your dog.

Answer 10

the first thing to know is not to feed the dog for at least a couple hours before taking it in the car.

Answer 11

It probably is because the dog is in the back of the car, which moves around much more than the front of the car.