Author Topic: Car sickness  (Read 8832 times)

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Car sickness
« on: September 09, 2007, 04:41:02 am »
I don't really know if this is a medical question per-say, but I figured this was the best place to ask it.
Does anyone else have a dog with a terrible car sickness problem.  My poor Naja HATES car rides.  When we go anywhere in the car, (which is anytime we go anywhere at all b/c I live out in the country and the car is the only way to access even the closest park) she gets terribly sick.  She won't get in the car on her own b/c she equates it with being sick.  We only ever go places that are fun in the car, to the park, or my dads house (he's got a nice big back yard that's fenced so she doesn't need to be on leash) to play with his dog PIMA.  She's always good when she's out of the car, happy and playful.  But as soon as she's in the back seat she lays down.  She doesn't always get sick, in fact it's really only 7 times out of 10, but that's still the majority of the time.  On long trips I have to give her half a childrens gravol, and even then sometimes she throws up.  I just feel so bad for her, I want her to like car rides so much so I've been trying to slowly get her used to them, but it's not working.  I'm not going to be able to drive with her to BC when the time comes to go home if she is like this, and I REALLY don't want to have to put her on a plane.  :-\
Does anyone have any advise on what I should do?  Should I stop making her go on car rides, or is there some sort of trick you guys have used in the past?
Thanks for your input in advance!
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mama23+pyrs2

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2007, 04:47:09 am »
Well I don't have advice but I can tell you my experience! Yukon and Yiska have been car pukers too. :D It didn't seem to matter if we withheld food before a trip either, and the trips weren't long trips. BUT, we didn't take them in the car much to get their tummies used to it or anything, so it was like vet trips only- so not often. It had been awhile since we took them anywhere (like 3 mos) before these latest vet trips and Yukon has done fine. I *think* he's just outgrown it, and I've heard that from other people. I don't think Naja will always be this way either, I would tend to think it is her age, but I could be wrong. I'm sure someone else will have some good advice for you! Good luck!

Offline kathryn

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2007, 04:49:54 am »
Mine haven't gotten car sick but I have a friend who has a small dog that gets sick nearly everytime he's in the car.  They have a crate for him but they also put down towels for him so he can puke on them.  They also with hold food before trips.  Hope that helps some.
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mama23+pyrs2

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2007, 04:52:50 am »
OH, and I don't neccesarily think she equates the car with feeling sick, though I guess it's possible. But my pups did NOT want to get in my car anytime I had to take them someplace. Once they started getting heavier it was hard on me because there were 2 of them, pulling in the opposite direction as the car very strongly, and I have an SUV so they needed to be actually lifted in- yeah those trips weren't fun. But they did the same thing trying to get them in the door to the vets office lol..I don't know how long I stood outside trying to get them in.

Some dogs seem to LOVE car rides but not all. I know that Yukon now jumps right into hubbys truck with no hesitation. I couldn't believe that when I saw it because last I tried that, they wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps that is just age too and not being scared of all kinds of things like they used to be. I know it takes being exposed to something to get over their fear but like I said, we don't routintely take them places and at least Yukon happily goes now that he is older.

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2007, 05:02:00 am »
Some dogs seem to LOVE car rides but not all. I know that Yukon now jumps right into hubbys truck with no hesitation. I couldn't believe that when I saw it because last I tried that, they wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps that is just age too and not being scared of all kinds of things like they used to be. I know it takes being exposed to something to get over their fear but like I said, we don't routintely take them places and at least Yukon happily goes now that he is older.
Hmmm...  I hope she out grows this.  I like to go alot of places, and it's nice taking her to the park or my dads house, or to Hamilton to see my family there, but I just feel so bad for her right now.  How old was Yukon by the time he got over his not like car rides?
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Offline People Whisperer

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2007, 05:07:45 am »
I know nothing about trips puking but I just wanted to let you know that Lily always lays down when we travel. Sometimes she would stick her head out of the window but not longer than 1 minute or two. She always loved car trips though  :-\ We go long 3-12 hours trips and she just hangs out on the back seat with her chewy bones  :)

I would think that dog are like children...mos t of the children puke on car trips.
Lets hope she will outgrow it  :-*
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mama23+pyrs2

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2007, 05:09:25 am »
Some dogs seem to LOVE car rides but not all. I know that Yukon now jumps right into hubbys truck with no hesitation. I couldn't believe that when I saw it because last I tried that, they wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps that is just age too and not being scared of all kinds of things like they used to be. I know it takes being exposed to something to get over their fear but like I said, we don't routintely take them places and at least Yukon happily goes now that he is older.
Hmmm...  I hope she out grows this.  I like to go alot of places, and it's nice taking her to the park or my dads house, or to Hamilton to see my family there, but I just feel so bad for her right now.  How old was Yukon by the time he got over his not like car rides?

Well I can't give an accurate age since the last time I took them anywhere (to get shots) was almost 4 mos ago.. when they were about 4 mos old. If we had been taking them places often I'd be better able to tell you when I saw an improvement. I really hope she outgrows it too! Having 3 kids, I don't have the opportunity to take them on car rides often, they like to be in your LAP still and Yukon refuses to stay in the cargo area. Now that he is much larger, my daughter wouldn't be able to hold him back from coming over the seat. But I haven't mastered the talent of taking 3 children and 2 huge dogs anywhere at once by myself lol, now being pg I'm not about to try. :P

Offline London_Pyr_Lover

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2007, 05:20:07 am »
OMG!!   :o ;D
You really do have your hands full don't you!  Thanks for the advise though.  I guess I'll just wait it out and hopefully she gets better with the car as she gets older. 
Oh
BTW, I don't know if I've said this but congrats on the baby.  :)  Do you know if you're having a boy or girl yet?  Or are you gonna wait and make it a surprise?  ;D
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mama23+pyrs2

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2007, 05:24:32 am »
OMG!!   :o ;D
You really do have your hands full don't you!  Thanks for the advise though.  I guess I'll just wait it out and hopefully she gets better with the car as she gets older. 
Oh
BTW, I don't know if I've said this but congrats on the baby.  :)  Do you know if you're having a boy or girl yet?  Or are you gonna wait and make it a surprise?  ;D


No problem, wish I had some advice for you though! Oh and no surprises here! We're having a boy this time. :-* That will make 2 girls and 2 boys. Yay! :)

Offline GoldenPyrs

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2007, 07:15:09 am »
I remember my dogs outgrowing the car sickness, too.  I don't recall exactly when, but I think that they were  around 4-6 mos old when it quit.  Poor Naja, I sympathize  I was car sick a lot as a kid, too.  Nasty feeling!  I'm sure that she'll like car rides a lot more when it ends.   ;)
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Offline Sillygoose

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2007, 11:11:25 pm »
Well i discovered yesterday that Tripper gets car sick. We were on our way to handleing class and I dound he was drooling alot then next thing I knew I was cleaning up breakfast. We will be doing alot of traveling to shows so I hope this doesn't last too long.

Offline schelmischekitty

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Re: Car sickness
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2007, 11:27:20 pm »
peanut used to get car sick.  we gave him Dramamine (12.5 mg/25lbs, every 8 hrs.), withheld food and water for a few hours before, and took LOTS of small car trips.  the way down to MS from GA was horrible b/c i didn't realize that he was so bad.  the whole time we were in MS we did the small rides, etc, and he got over it in the two months we were there.  the small rides started out going just around the block, and worked up to the BIG trip back to GA. i guess with peanut it was just desensitizing his tummy, kinda like someone who has never ridden a roller coaster and pukes the first few times.
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