Hi
Has anyone got any ideas what he best thing would be too stop my 14 week old GSD from being car sick? He doesn't do it every time which is funny we have took him out every couple of days in the car just short journeys visiting families/puppy partys/vets! I first put it down too him not long eating but i make sure that he has not ate for a while before we go. He drools and slobbers so much aswell he looks like a ST Bernard when we get him out the car but i don't mind that it's the being sick! We got him Microchipped in the end today and it really bled! he was fine in the car on the way there (apart from the drool) but on the way home he was sick everywhere and sat in it! so he now has blood and puke all over him!! (sorry) he goes in the boot of our Xantia estate car by the way so he has lots of room Why does he do this is it a puppy thing?
Please Help Jinny

Do you smoke?? Or does somebody smoke in your car?? Do you sudden stops and go's? Did you put fresh gasoline in it?? Is the car too hot?

Not every dog does like the car rides. Sometimes it does help when the dog sits in the front. Put the towel in the front seat and see if he still does pook in the front. But it will hopefully get better when he is older.

Mikki

Jinny,

My youngest was also a bad traveller, the first I've ever had. Like yours, she dribbled and covered herself on the shortest of journeys - put a nice fluffy Collie pup in, get a dribbled mess out :D - and was also sometimes sick, sometimes not. The cure for her? .......... a weekend in Somerset with LOTS of travelling, when she was about 4 months old, where she just got used to it. No guarantee it will work for yours, but might be worth trying longer journeys and seeing if that helps?

Do you travel your pup in a crate? If you do, you could try covering enough of the top/sides that your pup can't see where he's going/been - didn't work for mine, but some people swear by it.

To make you feel better - mine's absolutely fine now, never have any issues at all.

M.

Oh, and PS .... lots of room is often the worst thing! Argos sell a crate for £35, or you could look in Freeads type paper for a second hand one, always useful for puppies and might make him feel that bit more secure? In my experience, uneasy travellers are normally far happier for having less space.

Many puppies are carsick to a certain degree, and the vast majority do grow out of it. But in the meantime, ginger biscuits are supposed to stop nausea - worth a try.
:)

Another PS - Marina's quite right. If he is loose in the boot he may feel very insecure, being shaken about and unbalanced. If you can confine him in a smaller space he will feel more 'stable' and less fearful.
:)

A small puppy in a large boot will get thrown around a lot. It is best to confine them so that they can't slide around as much. Having someone with their arm over back seat to keep him still will help, or putting a box in the boot wedged in to make the area just biug enough for him will reduce the movement.

They do grow out of it.

Bachs Rescue Remedy has worked with my 6 month old GSD. I put 4 drops in his water about 3/4 hours before we leave and he seems to be fine. If it is a long trip i make a stop and top him up. Has worked so far!!

Krys...

Hiya, been meaning to ask you how your pup is getting on!

Still big?

Mine is now 22in to the shoulder....and still about another 11 months to grow!!
Seriously...she had a big growth spurt, but doesn't seem to be getting any bigger now!!

Take care, talk soon.

Lisa

Hi Lisa

Yeah he's growing nicely. Measured him about 3 weeks ago and he was 24" to the shoulder. He will be 6 months old on Monday, so me thinks he will be a bit on the large side when he us fully grown. Your girl is a nice size to by the sounds of it, would love to see any pictures of her if you have any.

Becky

Hi Jinny,

We have beardies and they are renowned for being car sick, we have tried loads of things and the ones that we find work the best are:-

A Crate (as mentioned already) covered except for the back. Sometimes seeing stuff go by at the side makes them feel sick.

Rescue Remedy from Bachs (as mentioned already) this helps calm them down.

Hanging fresh parsley in the car on every journey - no idea why this works, but it has for us!! :D

Homeopathic Cocculus - this is a homeopathic anti-convulsant (sorry can't spell :) ) and works well for us.

Fitting an anti static strip thing to the car, need to make sure it touches the ground to start with, this helps, but not sure why!! :D

Have a window slightly open to keep the car cool, don't feed your pup before a journey and try a desensitising programme something like this:-

Take your pup to the car, open the doors, walk your pup through and out again and reward with a treat. If thats ok, put your pup in the car for about 10 seconds, remove your pup and reward. If thats ok, put your pup in for about 30 seconds and if ok remove and reward, this time should be worked up to about 5 mins with the car engine off. If that is ok with no dribbling, then turn the engine on and repeat the process as above.

Once this is ok, back your car down the drive and back up again, remove your pup and reward. Slowly extend the time to down the drive and up the road a tiny bit and back and gradually get longer and longer, so you can go round the block and then into town etc, BUT if your pup starts drooling, go back a step.

It seems really long winded and time consuming, but it helps to break the idea of car = feeling sick, which = dribbling, which = being sick etc, etc.

Good luck and one thing I wanted to know was, I think car sickness is connected to sensitive breeds such as collies and shepherds and sensitive individuals of tougher breeds. Does this match anyone elses experiences? :)

manda
X
:D

Hi, I've got a 3 year old shepherd, & she is always sick going the 3 miles to my in-laws ( no comment!!! ) I find it best to have a blanket, lots of carrier bags, & tissues & allow her to to sit on the back seat with me so that she can look out of the window, we went to preston yesterday, 25 mins. away & although she drooled & licked her mouth, she was not sick.

As someone else has previously mentioned some dogs travel better if they are covered up
Lel

Sorry to go off track, but how come the microchip made him bleed so much?
Did you mention this to your vet?
I would be a little concerned for a GSD to bleed a lot after just a microchip.
Please get it checked for the sake of the pup.

Nicola.

Hi Nicola,
My Dalmatian bled quite a bit when he was chipped (and on a white coat it really shows!!) - the vet who did it says it's quite common because there are so many bloodvessels in the area. I've known the same thing happen when pups are vaccinated, too. (My vet recalls the time the owner of a Samoyed pup fainted in the surgery at the sight!)

Hi Jeangenie,

It surprises me that your vet said it was common to bleed after chipping. I am a trained microchipper and have only ever had 1 dog bleed after chipping and that was only a very small amount, which stopped after pressure with a cotton wool ball.

Does your vet chip in the neck or betwen the shoulder blades? :)

manda
X

Between the shoulder blades.

My dog was chipped by the vet at Crufts a couple of years ago (just as well we'd been inthe ring!) - he wasn't surprised by it, either!

Edited to add: when I phoned to make the appointment I was advised to have it done after being judged because of the risk of bleeding.
:)

HI
Thanks for all the replies in answer to a few questions?
The Microchip was done by the RSPCA but my vet was present and our vets nurse done it coincidence i know! It was put in between the shoulder blades and they warned us before that it could happen and it did blood everywhere they said it must have just hit a vessel they held cotten wool on it for a time then it stopped but not before his neck and back were covered with blood and as he only 14 weeks it didn't need much to do that! The vets nurses all looked at him and said he was fine (he still ate his treats) and it stopped quite quickly after, just seemed a lot at the time.
Now for The car sickness! well we have took him out twice since the chip and no sick! but the drool is terrible we noticed yesterday that as soon as we put him in the car we went to lock the house up and when we returned he had already dribbled everywhere and that was without even moving! We do not use a crate for him he just has the boot but he always Lies in one corner and don't move untill you open the door then he can't get out quick enough i do wonder if a crate might be the answer? Also i thought that when he could see out the window it might be better but i've read some say no that if they see things moving that can make them worse! Also i'll add that no-one smokes in the car we always have a back window open for him and he has the whole boot with his rug in? If the sickness ever stops will the drooling?

Our old lab was carsick and a drooler :( The drooling would start forst, and if she didn't get into the fresh air PDQ we knew what would happen next! If you can get the dog more relaxed in the car (try feeding him in the car, or just sitting in it on the drive, you read a book or something with the dog in the back) you should be able to build up the length of time before he starts to get upset.

It worked with Bella, though she could never be fed before a long journey.

Our first GSD bitch years ago when I was a kid would drool like mad in the car :( She was never sick but she used to sit in the boot and hang her head over the back seat dripping down the backs of our necks
Lara x