Car sickness young pup

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gsp1985gj
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Car sickness young pup

Post by gsp1985gj » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:27 pm

Just got a young pup, great dog, flown to us from Texas. The only issue I'm having with him is stress (drooling) in the kennel in the car. He has also vomited twice in the car. My thoughts are:

No food near car trips
Give him some more time to adjust to his new life and no trips in the car for a few days
Dramamine

Anyone dealt with this? Any suggestions are welcome, thanks for advice.

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Sharon
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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by Sharon » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:49 pm

I had car sickness problems my whole life - in the back seat of a car, boats, buses.

(Drooling always precedes vomiting. Even with an empty stomach one will drool and feel terrible.)

What solves the problem for me is keeping my eyes on the horizon ; it's an inner ear balance problem.

I'd raise the kennel so pup can look out the front window.

(Dramimine works but makes one very d r o w s y.)
Last edited by Sharon on Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by shags » Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:58 pm

My youngest dog drooled something awful when he was a little pup - he'd really soak his crate.
Dramamine did wonders for him. After a couple three Dramamine rides, he was a lot better with travelling.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by 41magsnub » Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:38 pm

I've had a couple of dogs over the years with that issue. In each case they grew out of it. No food prior to car rides helped out a lot as well.

One of the worst things I have ever smelled was dog car sick. Coming home from the cabin and the dog blew chunks all over her kennel. Turns out my Grandfather gave the dog half a loaf of bread right as we were leaving. :?
Last edited by 41magsnub on Fri Nov 21, 2014 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by MonsterDad » Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:39 pm

Ginger has been proven to work. Trader Joes has really good crystallized ginger or you can make your own.

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ezzy333
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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by ezzy333 » Fri Nov 21, 2014 5:51 pm

Think this is common with pups but they usually get over it after a few rides.

Ezzy

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SCT
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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by SCT » Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:46 pm

Put him in the front seat with you and likely after two trips he will get past it. That's how I've gotten mine over it quickly.

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Car sickness young pup

Post by MGIII » Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:33 pm

I've heard Ginger works for this

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by Max2 » Sun Nov 23, 2014 6:36 am

ezzy333 wrote:Think this is common with pups but they usually get over it after a few rides.

Ezzy
my first pup no. He was a commuter dog who went to work with me 1hr each way no problem. max would get car sick as a young pup. Distraction's can help. can you get someone to ride with you and pup that may be able to distract pup to get his/her mind off the stressing ride ? I am not saying to coddle or play with pup but just try and get the mind in a better place. Short trips may do it. The kennel in your truck will come in time. (in our case it did) Now a kennel in our truck means "hunt" and when he rides behind our front seat it's social time. He basically will just sit and look out the window. Covered crate he lays down and enjoys the ride.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by DudeRN » Sun Nov 23, 2014 11:29 am

MonsterDad wrote:Ginger has been proven to work. Trader Joes has really good crystallized ginger or you can make your own.
so you use crystallized ginger? you just give some to the dog -- how much, and how long before you put the dog in the truck? My Brittany (named Ginger, btw), drools terribly every time we go for a ride.

thanks in advance!

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by atothek » Mon Nov 24, 2014 12:38 am

My pup would drool and vomit within a couple minutes of getting in the car. I tried everything but finally attributed it to him being nervous. Even though the park I take him to is only a couple blocks away I began driving him there everyday. After a week or so the vomiting and drooling stopped. Once he associated the car with going somewhere fun he got over it quickly. I haven't had a problem since and we have driven some bumpy and windy roads. Hope that helps.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by MonsterDad » Mon Nov 24, 2014 5:27 am

DudeRN wrote:
MonsterDad wrote:Ginger has been proven to work. Trader Joes has really good crystallized ginger or you can make your own.
so you use crystallized ginger? you just give some to the dog -- how much, and how long before you put the dog in the truck? My Brittany (named Ginger, btw), drools terribly every time we go for a ride.

thanks in advance!
I had a Lab years back that never outgrew this and a piece the size of a penny always did the trick. It is a harmless thing to give and most dogs really like it. I justgave it just it before we got into the car. We always seem to have it in the house. I liked eating it myself.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by Karen » Mon Nov 24, 2014 6:26 am

Most of mine started out car sick but outgrew it quickly. Tally isn't outgrowing it quite as fast as the others, so I give him Bonine (non-drowsy dramamine) before every trip. If we're traveling EARLY in the morning, he gets it at bedtime, if we're going somewhere immediately after work, he gets it in the morning before I leave for work. So far it's worked beautifully.

On a side note, he does NOT get sick when traveling in the horse trailer mid-tack. Not sure why, but he's fine there.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by DudeRN » Mon Nov 24, 2014 7:16 am

thanks for the information about the ginger. I am going to try it.

I thought she would outgrow the drooling, even though she knows we are going hunting and she loves that. It is not even the motion of the vehicle, because she will start as soon as she gets in the truck.

thanks again.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by Runningdog » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:14 am

My young GSP rode fine on Mama's lap ft. seat but in the back in the kennel drooled and puked, many short trips and time she rides well now.. around 8mo's old when she started to handle the ride...
Now for listening thats's another story... :D

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by ezzy333 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:52 am

Karen wrote:Most of mine started out car sick but outgrew it quickly. Tally isn't outgrowing it quite as fast as the others, so I give him Bonine (non-drowsy dramamine) before every trip. If we're traveling EARLY in the morning, he gets it at bedtime, if we're going somewhere immediately after work, he gets it in the morning before I leave for work. So far it's worked beautifully.

On a side note, he does NOT get sick when traveling in the horse trailer mid-tack. Not sure why, but he's fine there.

This is one of the things I always did with our pups before they were sold. Mama and the litter rode in crates or used to ride in the trunk sometimes on several field trips before they were 8 weeks old. I don't think we ever had a pup that had problems after the early experiences. Before I started doing that it seemed most of them had a problem for a short period of time. Just another reason to keep them and get them ready for their new owners.

Ezzy

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by rat » Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:45 am

I had an older dog with this problem. Just took dog on many short trips, around the block, up and down the road, not far. She finally got over it. Hope it works for you.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by MonsterDad » Mon Nov 24, 2014 11:48 am


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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by setterpoint » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:34 pm

your dog will grow out of it. this has happened to me . all grew out of it. you can use meds until your dog dose

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by Pepper » Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:56 pm

Change the environment and what I believe is having your your game vest full of scent to cause the change for them to smell. Have the vest next to their kennel. When you are in the area of hunting, then open the flood gates by opening the windows all the way so that they get the smell of the area you are hunting. Just my two two cents. :)

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gsp1985gj
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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by gsp1985gj » Wed Nov 26, 2014 12:37 pm

Thanks all... Good advice and glad to hear that it is something that he will grow out of. Both of my other dogs have been completely fine with cars and kennels. I think part of his problem was the trauma of a flight and then a four and a half hour car ride home. A week of adjustment and positively training the kennel has helped the cause... Lesson of the story is be prepared for anything with a puppy because no two are ever the same!

Happy Thanksgiving.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by DudeRN » Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:50 pm

so I tried the ginger for my drooling Britt, and...it works! She didn't really want to eat it by itself, so I picked up some pill pockets. I put a small piece inside the treat when we get in the truck, and it has worked for six consecutive rides.

understand, before the ginger she was drooling every. time.

today we went on a longer ride (about an hour), and I had to make a stop at the hardware store. when I came out, she was drooling a little so I gave her another small piece of ginger in a pill pocket, and we had no more drooling on the way home.

why does it work? who cares! thanks for the tip!

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by MonsterDad » Sat Nov 29, 2014 10:53 am

DudeRN wrote:so I tried the ginger for my drooling Britt, and...it works! She didn't really want to eat it by itself, so I picked up some pill pockets. I put a small piece inside the treat when we get in the truck, and it has worked for six consecutive rides.

understand, before the ginger she was drooling every. time.

today we went on a longer ride (about an hour), and I had to make a stop at the hardware store. when I came out, she was drooling a little so I gave her another small piece of ginger in a pill pocket, and we had no more drooling on the way home.

why does it work? who cares! thanks for the tip!
The exact reason is not known but ginger has been used for this purpose for thousands of years. There was a study done in Europe that showed it was twice as effective as medication.

Did you feed raw ginger or candied ginger? They will usually eat candied ginger quite easily because of the sugar coating.

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Re: Car sickness young pup

Post by DudeRN » Sat Nov 29, 2014 1:02 pm

candied. she sniffed it and licked it, but wouldn't eat it. she loves it in a pill pocket though. :D

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