Travel sickness

Not sure which section to post this in so I went for general!!

I have a problem with Charlie. He gets travel sick when travelling by car and as I am buying a car this week & taking him & Lizzie on holiday to the coast at the end of the month I'm a little concerned! Last time my parents came over as soon as they picked up their car keys he ran upstairs & hid

My plan of action (bearing in mind I have 3 weeks to get him used to the car!) is first to let him just sit in the car while I clean it, then to take him to the top of the street where the park is in it a couple of times, then maybe take him into town every time I go to the shop, then to the woods which are a couple of miles away ... building the distances up gradually so he's not worried or relating the car to being sick.

What do you think? any good suggestions without having to resort to sedation? I've tried the natral remedy ginger, peppermint & chamomile puppy travel biscuits from Pets at home but they made no difference!

I have a 145 mile journey on the 25th May ... so all suggestions appreciated!!

I have this problem with my Phoebe. She's only four months and every time we've taken her out in the car, she throws up, not on the journey but about 5 minutes after the journey. It's a bit of a pain really. A couple of times she's thrown up all over Frankie I keep thinking that she'll eventually get used to it but no sign yet! It'll be interesting to see what advice you get

i dont know if this helps, but my friends dog only used to get sick with sharp bends and bends in general, she was much better on motorways, so maybe he'll be better on the motorway parts of the journey. if he is, maybe you could get him used to those parts of the journey before the big one

Sounds like a good idea letting him sit in the car then building up to the engine on and then short journeys, my sisters dog would drool and shake in the car and then be sick no matter the journey time, she sprayed the car with d.a.p (dog appeasing pheramone) 20 mins before travelling and within a week of using it on each journey her dog was no longer sick or shaking and she now travels really well in the car.

try your vet.

i have a terrible motion sickness dog( she loves being in the car but the movement causes the problem) i've tried tones of remedies to no avail so i resorted toasking the vet.

Cerenia is a drug that works in an hour, doesnt cause drowiness and stops the sickness. it is an anti emitic that is now used for travel sickness. and it lasts for 12 hours.

it isnt cheap, but for short term use i would reccomend it.

Ginger works if you can't get any, give a ginger nut biscuit - it works almost as well.

Maybe a DAP collar?

Good luck as a travel sick dog is not nice.

Quite possibly, he definitely doesn't like sharp bends,

That sounds worth a try, where would I get this?

If nothing else works I will certainly go to my vet.

H'mm he loves organic ginger cordial, so that's certainly worth a try!

I've also been advised to try lavender, chamomile & ginger essential oils on his bedding.

Thanks for all your tips, I'll let you know how he gets on

Hi Gill as with some humans looking at moving objects through a car window can cause dogs to have motion sickness. If a dog suffers from genuine motion sickness it should be prevented from looking out of the window by either sitting in the foot well or in a covered crate. Also make sure the car is well ventilated.
Ginger is good for motion sickness but many preparations and biscuits only contain a small amount, you can get ginger capsules which are more concentrated from the health food shop.

Getting a dog habituated to a car as you are doing by going for small trips can help a dog who has learnt to associate a car with unpleasant experiences as can just sitting in the car and going nowhere/ playing/hiding treats/eating a meal in the car.

Totally agree with hectorsmum, if your dog is that bad this may be your only option.

My Benson is an awful traveller...5 miles is enough and he's sick everywhere!

He takes Cerenia and it stops the sickness completely. However, it costs me £37 for 6 tablets and he needs 2 per journey.