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Try sitting in the car listening to music with all the doors open and the pup sitting outside. Or leaving all the doors open, and sitting on the grass next to the car...only special treats for her when she's close to the car. Just like what NCYank wrote ~ The car's not so big and scary after all ~
What 5Horses wrote is exactly what my trainer advised. It's a good dose of common sense.
My pup never threw up, but he'd get highly agitated and would pant & drool. It was hard to see him start to panic when he got in the car. Got my pup used to riding in the car, by doing what's been poster and referenced. It works~~~
We've gone on trips where we've driven close to 10 hrs. He does just fine, if we stop often and let him stretch his legs.
I searched for previous posts and found similiar ones in 2008, but they didn't contain the information I was looking for. I must have over-looked the recent post regarding this. My apologies.
here it is .... was a couple of pages back...... don't think the title specifically mentions car sickness........
Ginger snap cookies. The kind for humans at the grocery store. The vet suggest it for mine.
I always wondered whether it was the human or a certain canine type.
We sat in the SUV with the engine off today in the garage for a few minutes. I gave her some treats and talked to her. Then I turned the SUV on and we sat there a few more minutes. Lastly, I drove her around the block. As we were heading around the last corner she started to drool. I praised her the whole time. We pulled back into the garage and ended our session for today. Drool but no vomit...small victories are celebrated.
BTW, I have already talked to our pet-sitter about watching our foster while we are gone to the cabin. I seriously doubt 3 weeks will be enough time to acclimate her to a 4 hour one way trip. I wanted her to go to enjoy the free running, but who knows...maybe she'll be adopted by then!
Last edited by Amazonchix; 12-02-2009 at 08:15 PM..
Drool but no vomit...small victories are celebrated.
BTW, I have already talked to our pet-sitter about watching our foster while we are gone to the cabin. I wanted her to go to enjoy the free running, but who knows...maybe she'll be adopted by then!
Small victories win the war ~ You're a good foster mom. Thanks for the update and taking such care with her ~ karma stars to you...
We're not trying to force our foster into a speed zone for her car travel progress, but just wondering approximately how long do you all think it will take for her to over come this? And we do think it is an anxiety issue.
What we have noticed in the past two days, was that when we took her over to the pet sitter's house I took our sedan and the foster sat in the front passenger seat. The distance to the pet-sitter's home was only a few miles and our foster drooled towards the end of the trip there, but there was no vomit. Although I would guess we were close b/c her breathing started to become shallow. We picked her up in our SUV and due to us being loaded down in the back of the SUV, the foster sat in my lap. I was the front passenger. Our foster laid her head on my chest and only drooled a tad on our drive back to our house w/o any vomit. I obviously think our foster does much better when she can be held by one of us, but this is not going to be possible or practical for the long term.
We have practiced each day going around the block with the exception of going and coming back to the pet-sitters yesterday. No vomit with our practice runs...just a tad bit of drool. Today we did this twice and during our second practice run today we were able to go 2 times around the block before the drool set in. When we practice, our foster is loaded in the back of the SUV. The seats of the SUV are laid down so there is a huge area for her to walk around or lie down. We have even wondered if loading up our two big dogs would help her get acclimated faster. The one time early on when I loaded the foster and our two dogs she vomitted everywhere in a trip to the grocery store (which is only a few miles away).
I obviously think our foster does much better when she can be held by one of us, but this is not going to be possible or practical for the long term.
Just a thought...has she been acclimated to a crate? She may feel more secure riding in a crate. I think the idea is that it's more like a den and they feel more secure in one.
Not sure what others think about this, but I was taught that if they are scared to tears, and you are holding or petting them, that reinforces the frightened behaviour.
Sorry, but I don't really know how to could help here...seems like it's just going to take a long time to settle her down.
We have practiced each day going around the block with the exception of going and coming back to the pet-sitters yesterday. No vomit with our practice runs...just a tad bit of drool. Today we did this twice and during our second practice run today we were able to go 2 times around the block before the drool set in.
I think you should be ending 'practice' BEFORE she starts drooling. What does she do just sitting in the car for a few minutes? I think you need to slow down and let HER set the pace. Do what she is comfortable with before proceeding. Make sure the lessons end on a high note, before she is feeling too stressed and drooling.
You say in your original post that she didn't puke the first time in the car - she was riding in the front seat.
The dog could get anxious/scared and puke or it could just have a problem with motion.
Many people (I'm one) have been prone to motion sickness our whole lives. Riding me around the block in progressively longer trips is not going to cure me I do get sick faster in the back seat. Maybe that's why she didn't puke the first time?
I would try the ginger snap suggestions (read the ingrediants and try to find a cookie with lots of real ginger or make your own)
For your long trip, maybe frequent stops to let her walk around and get her ground legs, and the crate if she isn't ready to roam the vehicle, but I would continue with the short trip reinforcement for sure. I have an 8-month cocker mix that has not been riding as much as the others and she gets anxious in the car. When hubby drove her down to AZ from AK with the other 2 dogs, she was in the crate because as soon as the leash got near or he would touch her, she would piddle...now she goes for short trips where it isn't so hot down here and does fine. Bad side...we took them on about a 6-hour trip to El Paso out of the crate a couple months ago...she did great until we pulled in my son's driveway and puked..but that could have been the 5 minutes of stop and go traffic...she did fine on the way home though
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The car's not so big and scary after all ~ 
Got my pup used to riding in the car, by doing what's been poster and referenced. It works~~~
