Carsick dog

[Scottiemom]

Dr. Doug,

I’m going to be bringing my granddog home with me for a week. She gets carsick. What can I use for her? I won’t feed her before. It’s a 2-hour drive.
She’s a golden doodle. 55 lbs.

Thanks!

Dale

[dturm]

Glad things worked out!!

[Scottiemom]

I didn't feed her before I left and gave her dramamine about 30 minutes before we left. She did fine and had no ill effects.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Dale

[colliehauler]

Another thing you can do is stop more frequently at rest areas so she can sniff around and get some fresh air.

[Scottiemom]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I plan to walk her a time or two on the way. Hoping we have minimal problems.

DAle

[eHoefler]

Get a fresh newspaper, fresher the better. Lay it out under a blanket for him to lay on. The smell of the ink will keep him from getting sick. Our daughter would get car sick and this is what our doctor suggested, it works. We had a dog that would get sick, so we tried it with him, he no longer got sick and actually looked forward to going for a ride.

[dturm]

colliehauler wrote:
My Collies have logged literally thousands of miles in my truck. There usually asleep by the time I hit the interstate. They wake up when I slow down for a town and look out the windows then back to sleep. Sawyer's first ride was 3500 miles long at 12 weeks old. Sasha's first ride was only about 500 miles at 12 weeks old. Just try to leave them at home, they love to go for a ride.

Our Sasha's first ride was 5482 miles (according to mapquest) from Istanbul Turkey to Chicago. :B She has no problem with travel.

On the other hand, Kayley get so anxious that she frequently has problems. We have done prescription Cerenia that works better than any other medication or treatment we have used, but with years of travel in the motorhome she seldom needs anything anymore.

[colliehauler]

My Collies have logged literally thousands of miles in my truck. There usually asleep by the time I hit the interstate. They wake up when I slow down for a town and look out the windows then back to sleep. Sawyer's first ride was 3500 miles long at 12 weeks old. Sasha's first ride was only about 500 miles at 12 weeks old. Just try to leave them at home, they love to go for a ride.

[wra]

Try letting the dog sit where it can see out the windows. People get car sick because their balance detectors in their head gets different signals from their eyes. (they look what is happening inside the car rather than outside.) I would imagine dogs would have the same problem.

[Seon]

Our 9 yr old Pom gets car sick and we tried all the meds the Vet prescribed along with home remedies with no avail. She knows when we're headed for camping then she hides.

[Beaker]

My 14 year old plott still gets carsick. Motion sickness pills and no feeding before starting works great. He curls up behind the driver seat and stays there unless truck stops.

[dturm]

There are prescription meds, but dramamine works in some - same dose as a child. Also, benadryl can also work - 25 mg.

Good idea to not feed before trip :B

[ksg5000]

Most of our dogs got car sick when we first took them RVing - they all got over it quickly. If your driving a car then you might try leaving the windows open so they can hang their heads out. Another possible alternative is multiple stops until they adjust.