Chuffy
Posted : 12/7/2007 10:01:10 AM
You can buy tablets from the pet shop for carsickness but I have no idea how good they are. Ginger is a good remedy for nausea so you could offer a ginger biccie just before travelling. (I et loads when I was pregnant)
It's very important not to give up going out in the car. Take lots of very short journeys, ending in something positive. Have someone she likes and trusts in the car to massage her ears and chest and talk soothingly to her, to try and keep her calm. If she appears stressed out, salivating, restless, lots of panting,, anything like that, stop the journey before she is sick and try not to reinforce her in this state by encouraging or soothing. Feed her meals in the stationary car. Play games in and out of it, like fetch (obviously also while stationary).
I think sometimes the nausea is caused or exacerbated by being nervous. And the nervousness is in part caused by the nausea. "Oh no, not the car again! I always feel sick when I go in the car!" So, trying to get the dog to view the car as a "happy place" can go some way to solve the problem.
I also think being over stimulated can stress dogs out and cause problems, so I think actually STOPPING the dog from seeing the road is the better option. For some dogs, all that stuff whizzing by is just too much. Sometimes, its not the motion, or the stuff whizzing by either... its the feeling helpless. There's a big wide world out there, uncountable "threats" and no way to run away, hide, fight it or make it go away!