# Car sickness?



## rj16 (Jan 30, 2017)

I don't know if it's something about poodles but I would love to know what you've been doing to get Leia over it. I'm dealing with carsickness with Monty too.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

I have been trying all different things. Today we are heading to obedience class so I am going to use the thunder shirt on this trip to see if it helps at all. I have tried ginger. I have tried rescue remedy. Right now we are going through a process where we ask her to get into the car but we don't turn it on or move it. Once she gets in we give her a treat and let her get out. We have been increasing the time in there a few min. at a time. Once she gets in and out with out hesitation we will get in the car and start the engine. Then shut it off and treat her and let her out. then once we get over that we will move the car a few feet in the driveway. and on it goes until there is no stress or anxiety about being ill in the car. This was the process our trainer gave us. Unfortunately she has to travel for the next few weeks to class so I am trying other things that might help keep the anxiety about throwing up as minimal as possible. I need this girl to be ROCK SOLID! She needs to work!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sophy suffered badly as a puppy, and still does if I forget to drive really, really carefully. The desensitising/counter conditioning helped a lot - I also tried:
Not feeding within an hour or two of even a short journey.
Ginger biscuits/ginger tablets shortly before travelling.
A walk/play in the garden before getting into the car.
Once she was somewhat better, lots of very short trips to very nice places.

And, of course, very careful driving - no sudden accelerating or braking, very gently round corners, dead slow over bumpy ground. I was in a hurry a few weeks back and broke the rules - I am still paying for it as Sophy has been very reluctant to get in the car. 
An enclosed crate (helps her a lot).


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## zooeysmom (Jan 3, 2014)

aasteapots said:


> Does anyone know if Poodles are prone to car sickness? Leia is my second one. I am working very hard to get her over this but just like Silvie it seems to be an ongoing issue. Poor girl is a hot mess in the car.
> I was just curious how many other people have car sick pups


YES, spoos are much more prone to carsickness!!!! Maizie drooled every ride until she was 8 months old. Threw up a few times. Frosty throws up every time the ride is over 10 minutes and he is already 8 months now like Leia. He is the most carsick of his litter (naturally I'd get that one!). A few of the others got mildly carsick as puppies and one or two never did (lucky!). Anyway, I'm going to keep driving him short distances to happy places like the park, so he looks forward to going in the car (and he does, thankfully). It's funny, it doesn't bother him as much as Maizie, and he gets more sick. But we'll keep working on it and I still need to try ginger with him. Also, I have some prescription Cerenia for when we have to take a long car ride in May. One thing that has helped Frosty is if he's really tired getting into the car--he'll usually lie down and sleep and he doesn't get sick. 

I hope our babes outgrow it soon!


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

If it's true motion sickness then there are both over the counter and prescription medications that the vet can help you with. Many puppies have motion sickness but outgrow it. If it's true motion sickness, then it helps to medicate them so they don't get into a cycle of always throwing up every time which becomes a pattern. The problem for me was I couldn't tell if my dog had motion sickness or it was due to anxiety so I decided to work as if it was anxiety first and if it continued, then medicate. She usually threw up around 30 minutes which is indicative of motion sickness.

If it's due to anxiety then the desensitization you're doing, driving gently, driving to fun locations such as the park and getting them to feel secure in the car is the answer.

When we first got Babykins, she used to throw up all the time in the car - if she had no food in her stomach, then she had the dry heaves and would bring up foamy bile. She also had an intense fear of the car. Like you we had weekly training classes with a half hour drive away, including steep winding roads near my house which are the worst for dogs. We also had long car trips planned to see family that I needed her to be able to tolerate.

I did the desensitization - I did it several times a day and within a week she was fine to go into the car and drive on our driveway and back into the garage. We did get to class, but not surprisingly she threw up on the way home all the rich treats she was fed. 

What made the difference for me was the SleepyPod Clickit Sport harness. I see they have a new version called Terrain. Clickit Sport - Sleepypod® | The safest pet company | Dog Carrier | Cat Carrier | Dog Harness There are some similar type harnesses, but this is the only one that passed the same test given to children's car seats - the other harnesses, when tested either had belts break or the dog was thrown off the seat of the car. Dog Safety Harness and Subaru's commitment to safety Since this was a few years ago, perhaps others have met the standards, but I'm not aware of them.

Why does it work..........before Babykins was anxious and standing up, she couldn't settle down in the car seat. Being scared, she was stiff and standing up and being bounced by the movement of the car constantly which is a lot of stress for a half hour drive. She would be up on the car seat and sometimes jumped down on the floor, and once she was thrown to the floor when I stopped at a stop sign and she wasn't well balanced for the change in movement. I had her on a short leash clipped to the car seat belts so she couldn't wander too far. I had a pet bed on the car seat to try to make her more comfortable and layers of towels to make things soft and also for ease of clean up after she threw up.

With the harness, she can sit up or lay down so she can change positions within a small range of motion for comfort. The seat belt goes between straps on the back. When she lays down the seat belt actually goes across her shoulders as if there is a hand holding her down to the seat itself. In this position, she isn't being bounced by the car movement so she can relax. If you always wear a seat belt in a car - and one day you don't wear one as a passenger - you will feel a difference - it will feel like you will slide off the car seat. You know you won't, but it will feel unsafe and uncomfortable. With the belt on you feel you are held back into the car seat and won't slide off. I believe the dog feels that same sensation.

With the harness, I now have a dog that hops into the car, jumps on the car seat, turns around to get into a comfortable laying down position then I strap her in. In an accident she will not be a projectile in the car. Between classes and fun activities Babykins and I are in the car for a minimum of 5 hours each week, mostly highway driving and I have never had a problem since we got the harness.

Some dogs do better looking out the window. With a larger dog, sitting in the harness they can look out the window - in fact I think Babykins can see out the windows when she sits - she's a minipoo. There are booster seats to help small dogs look out the windows.


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## Skylar (Jul 29, 2016)

I should add I discovered the SleepyPod harness here on PF because someone else had posted about it. I'm not a paid spokesperson, just thrilled that it solved our problem.


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## rj16 (Jan 30, 2017)

I'm very lucky in that we don't need to drive to get to the groomer or the trainer so I've been able to do slow incremental desensitization. We bought a solid plastic crate to start fresh with. I think we are probably on week 3 now and it has been going very very well. We finally left the driveway about a week ago and now we are up to roughly 15 minutes on the highway. We haven't had any setbacks and fingers crossed we will be having nice drives soon. I hope our patience pays off.

Previously we tried gravol and he always had a harness (Kurgo) before the crate. We never figured out if it was motion or anxiety. It seemed to be motion at first and then turned into anxiety. Now he seems more annoyed by being confined in the crate than anything else and that keeps him occupied! 

We have some Cerenia on hand for longer drives - we live 6-8 hours away from our families - but we haven't tested it yet. 

Good luck to everyone else dealing with this. It really is unpleasant for all concerned and puts a damper on otherwise fun activities.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Neither of our poodles was seriously carsick although Lily clearly didn't love the car until we really got into deep training and she figured out that the car ride was worth it to get to class!

Peeves on the other hand still sometimes gets car sick, but is vastly better than when a puppy. I think the fact that his gotcha day trip from breeder's to home was over five hours didn't help.

I'll bet that as Leia figures out that trips take her to fun places she will get better.


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## Suzysue (Feb 3, 2016)

Cooper has been struggling with this too. We tired the desensitizing training too and the vet suggested a low dose of dramine. Other than just getting older, what made a big difference was getting a car seat cover for the back seat that looks like a hammock. Cooper now gets in with no problem. He was afraid of sliding around and falling on the floor. It is fun to see him looking out the window.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

My dogs also greatly appreciate the hammock in the back seat.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

I wish we could try the hammock but I need the space for my kids. We will keep working on it!


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

aasteapots said:


> I wish we could try the hammock but I need the space for my kids. We will keep working on it!


Is one of your boys tall enough to ride in the front with you? The hammock I have can fully cover the back seat, but also can be adjusted to allow for a back seat passenger and one dog.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

Unfortunately there are 5 of us who travel in the van the middle row can't be blocked for access to the back seat and two people sit back their to avoid blood shed.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

aasteapots said:


> Unfortunately there are 5 of us who travel in the van the middle row can't be blocked for access to the back seat and two people sit back their to avoid blood shed.


Got it. That is too bad that the hammock logistically isn't a possibility.


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## 802flier (Mar 15, 2020)

When I was about 12, we got our first poodle, a 90 lb white standard named Kebo. He was a monster! We were on vacation 1200 miles from home and he bought Kebo at a pound in Vancouver for $7. As we were travelling home (no air conditioning back in those days) he kept getting car sick. We stopped for gas at one point and the attendant said, “Take that chain off his neck and hang it from the trailer hitch.” We did. End of car sickness. I guess it was the static electricity buildup that upset him.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

802flier said:


> When I was about 12, we got our first poodle, a 90 lb white standard named Kebo. He was a monster! We were on vacation 1200 miles from home and he bought Kebo at a pound in Vancouver for $7. As we were travelling home (no air conditioning back in those days) he kept getting car sick. We stopped for gas at one point and the attendant said, “Take that chain off his neck and hang it from the trailer hitch.” We did. End of car sickness. I guess it was the static electricity buildup that upset him.


That is fascinating. Wow. I’ve never heard such a thing.

I’m going to close this thread to further replies, because it’s quite old. But feel free to start a new thread on this topic. Might be useful to some of our current members!


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