Can anyone please give me advice on car sickness in a young westie. I have had her for two months and she came over from Ireland, the breeder was giving her Sturgeon (this is for humans) and apparently is quite successful with travelling, her litter sister has the same problem. I went to my local pharmacy and when asked   who it was for I was honest and said I wanted it for my young dog and they refused to sell it to me. I later went to my vet who prescribed Cerenia and would only give me two tablets, I used one to go to ring craft yesterday evening (following  the instructions) and she drooled so much that I brought her home. The vet told me that it is physological and that I must spend time with my dog in the car, then start up the engine (doing this in stages) and if this is successful then ride round the block. I am a bit impatient I know but has anyone else had travel sickness problems

you can give travel sickness pill usually half a tablet to such a young dog, sea legs is one I have used in the past on the advice of my vet but you have to give it at least 2 hrs before travelling with no food.!
The vet is correct in his instructions about the car , I found the best way with one of my girls who had car sickness as a puppy was to put her in a crate and cover it up then gradually over days/weeks whowever long it takes, lift each side of the cover up until you remove it then gradually try trips without the crate with her travelling in the hatch, she still gets a bit dribbly if I put her on the back seat so you could try your hatch obviously depending on what car you have.

HTH

Roni

Thanks for your reply Roni, I did try sea legs at night and then Dorwest Digestive in the morning but when we got to the CH show she was quite sick and I had to wash her down (legs and face), saying that she did get a first place in her class. I really do hope to manage with the psychological trainning but it is time consumining.  This afternoon I put her in her crate in the car and then sat in the drivers seat (reading the newspaper and a cup of tea) she settled down very well after 1/2 hour  I then started the engine, no problem, I later drove up the road, no more than 3 minutes and I noticed she was dribbling so returned home.  I read that some one tried this 5 times a day and mastered the sickness in two weeks?

Im really lucky never to have had this problem with both my dogs, both great in the car both settle down well never been sick. my trainer (puppy classes) had a problem with his rottie pup when he got her, she would be sick just sitting in the car, he done the get in the car for a couple of minutes, then out, untill she was able to sit in the car without being sick, turning the engine on sit for a couple of minutes and slowly built it up from there, he has always said the trick was finishing before she was sick, he did have 1 or 2 set backs at the start where he had though lets try a bit longer see how she goes, it does take time but within a month she was fine in the car and now at 18 months old you would never know she had a problem with being sick in the car, its not a quick fix and does take time but will be worth it in the end especially if you are going to be travelling to shows around the country, take you time and dont rush it would be the only advice i would give and well done on your first place at the show

> I later drove up the road, no more than 3 minutes and I noticed she was dribbling so returned home

Hi there.
I've had several young dogs who have had the same problem and all have eventually out-grown it. However it can be a spiralling problem if they feel sick everytime they get in a car- become anxious - anxiety makes them sick - etc etc. Pills such as Stugeron /Sea legs may help on show days but the real fix is changing the dogs attitude to travelling.
Make a real point of taking pup out on short journies to a fun experience (where it doesn't matter that she is wet and messy) and have fun, meet other puppies or something that she really enjoys. Once the seed is sown in her head that CAR= party time she'll be raring to go and if the journey is short enough, this anticipation should overtake the anxiety.
I'm sure that there are chronic pukers but most pups grow out of it.Trying various places within the car to travel her may also help, one of mine was instantly cured by allowing her to sit up front and look out of the window. Not ideal for show days but could be used to instill the car=fun idea.
Good luck.

a friend of mine puts a t shirt on her beardie on show days to keep him clean if he dribbles.

I also know that different cars also is a factor as my girl who used to be travel sick would be fine if she was in my friends old ford Escort !! :)

I don't know if I am right or wrong, but I have always believed that it is an imbalance that eventually they just grow out of. I had a bitch that as a puppy would jump into the car with the others and look really excited. After about 15 minutes her head would droop and sway then she would be sick. Eventually she just grew out of it. Maybe it is an inner ear thing, I don't know. Have you tried ginger biscuits, that is supposed to calm the stomach down.

Hi White Friends,

you've already been given some excellent advice on how best this problem can be overcome, patience and baby steps re car socialisation are very important with youngsters.  However not all dogs outgrow or overcome their anxiety of car travel, no matter how well the appropriate steps are followed - one of mine has travelled many 1000's of miles in the car (and now in vintage years) yet still dribbles at the sound of the car opening :(  This caused sickness originally within a few minutes of moving off and latterly keeping down the tummy contents for up to a couple of hours which, between homeopathic help and regular stops on long journies, we've managed to prevent but not overcome the stressed dribbles unfortunately.

There are a number of OTC remedies which can help but of course as these require to be given orally they don't necessarily help the nauseas dog!  One thing which I found very useful for many stressful situations is chamomilla which comes in ether liquid or minute granule form and dissolves instantly on the tongue.  Often it's better known use is for teething and colic in babies however it does work well for stressed dogs - I've used it in granule form very successfully with travel, fireworks, thunderstorms etc :)  As nothing is put directly down the throat it doesn't adversely affect a dog already feely queasy.

Hopefully your little one will outgrow this but thought it best to offer an alternative solution just in case :)
best wishes, Teri

They do grow out of it in most cases, try a thick pile of newspaper under the dog bed in the car and travel the dog as near as possible to the wheels, less bouncing movement there. Told newspapers works but if it does not it is handy for cleaning up.

Some times it is just that the pup is scared and doing something like feeding or playing in the car may help with the confidence.

I have two dogs that drool when travelling.  Both travel wearing t shirts and bibs.  Marnie is 2 years and Hugo (a repeat mating) is 6 months both have been in the car since day one.  Neither of them vomit, just drool.  I used to get upset to the point I was going to stop showing them, but it's only a bit of saliva and it cleans up. (eventually LOL) Don't have any problems with my other dogs.

Tried all the usual off the shelf products and a few others besides.
I'm now trying a homeopthic spray for travel sickness from Crossgates and having pretty good results with that.  Marnie drools from the moment she knows the car is involved, even tried parking in another street and walking her to the car, but to no avail.  Since I started using the homeopathic spray she is settled and stops drooling within 5 mins of the journey.  Hugo takes a little longer but he does stop eventually. 

Hi there,

It was interesting reading about travel sickness spray from Crossgates so much so that I have contacted them and
Margaret, who works for them was very informative, so much so that I have ordered a spray so hopefully when I receive it I'll let everyone know, thanks for your information.

White Friends

We have had to try and prevent sickness as dog/s travel from island to uk mainland.
In  the car, on the ferry, across the English Channel.
So before each journey have given little food and a ginger biscuit.
So far no problems at all.
Karen :)

Ginger biscuit worked in the past for dogs that actually vomited,
but doesn't seem to work for droolers (is there such a word LOL).

i use sea legs on one of my yanks i give her one the night before and one in the morning and that works great, but she will dribble if her cage is not covered, so covered she will stay as she obviosly feels secure like that.

Thanks Daxilady

Will try covering the travel box on Saturday, travelling to Kelso for Border Union.
Anything (within reason) for a "dry run" LOL.

how did it go? 

Absolutely fantastic..........

Hugo arrived slightly damp round the chin, Marnie was totally dry.
NO DROOL on any of them.  I used the Travel Spray from crossgates on its own.
Tried covering them but Hugo cried till I took it off and Marnie kept pawing at the front to try and remove the cover.

So I think I have found the cure for my dogs, after two years Marnie now arrives at the show looking as good as she did when she left the house.

Hope everyone else who has travel problems finds what suits there dogs.

Regards
Joan

Hello I have a 14 week old golden Retriever and he is always sick in the car, he is in a cage but that doesnt seem to work. We have given him serene drops still sick. what can we do? We are going on holiday next week.
Please can someone help us.
sarah xx

I also use Sea Legs the night before the journey.

I also use Sea Legs (although they don't seem to stock them in many chemists these days).  No ill effects for my dogs - have used them for ferry crossings too with no sickness at all.  I would give half a tablet though not a whole one as pup is still tiny... Good luck and have a great holiday with your pup.  

Try covering the cage - some dogs are better for seeing out others suffer motion sickness because of it.  Hopefully this is just an age thing - youngsters often outgrow travel sickness, similarly to children.

I don't feed pups for several hours before travelling - however they have access to water both during that time and in their car cage.  In all but one I've had that has been the most effective method of stopping sickness almost immediately.

Make regular stops for the pup to relieve itself and get some fresh air too :)

HTH, Teri

My friend has litter sister & brother to Wukee who were both horrendously car sick, I suggested Stugeron , she gave them one tablet each & the result was two non sick puppies