my puppy gets carsick, what can i do

i live quite a ways from town, i have been trying to take my puppy with me
when i go to town so we can go to the beach, or the park, just to let her
meet new people and other pets. she is pretty good on the way in, but just
before we get home she usually gets sick. i have tried taking her on
shorter trips to get her more used to the car, and not feeding her before
we go. average car ride there and back is about an hour.

dallygirl...

hi sassy girl, pleased to meet you.
my young dalmatian was car sick often too but for her it was
physcological but overcoming it will be the same.

you now have a fine line to walk as what could happen is your dog may
associate car journeys with being sick and that would throw up a bigger
problem.< ha ha no pun intended :D

i would take her out on an empty stomach and take a very slow drive up
the road and just turn around and drive back again. dont take her on
any long journeys unless they are neccesary, for the journeys i had to
make with my dal i used to give half a 'joyride' which are kids travel
sickness pills which seemed to do the trick and the other half for a
return journey but that was with a stop break each way and only for
urgent trips.

someone into homeopathy once suggested hanging a bunch of parsley
up???? never tried it. at the very least it might look pretty lol.

anyway the small journeys were built up and now we can travel with no
gastric threat.

watch out for those tell tale signs, is she panting? drooling? pacing?
any sign of stress at all and then the urgent sign of retching pull
over so she can have a break. take fresh water so when you do need to
stop she can drink and have a window open.

for now stop those hour long car rides and build it up, if you build
each day or maybe twice a day it won't be long before your back on the
road together

Davina Stuart...

There just happened to be an article on this in the most recent Drs Foster
and Smith's catalog...
they recommend that you get the dog comforatble with being in the car. just
sit in the car in your drive way, give treats, cuddle, play, etc. when the
dog is fine with that, turn the engine on and do the same thing. it might
take a while to make sure the dog is relaxed.

then back the car to the end of the drive way, then forward again into the
garage . give treats and praise. repeat as needed, then drive around the
block.

they say the main problem for dogs isn't motion sickness, it's anxiety, so
you want to make sure the dog is comfy and secure with the idea of being in
the car and and can remain calm during the experience.