Carsick shelties?

Car Anxiety?

My cute, adorable, wonderful dog, Pippin, hates the car. He even tries to go around them if we encounter them on walks!

He did get sick in the car once when he was about 14 weeks old, but has not been actually sick since. However, when we get near the car, he starts "bubbling" at the mouth- excess saliva everywhere. I have tried therapy- putting him in the car, with the door open, car not moving- bubbles and spit everywhere. He always enjoys our destination, but can't seem to get over the anxiety. Any suggestions? :confused2:
 
sheltie_love said:
Does anyone have a sheltie who gets carsick easily?
My Amber, she can't take a car ride that's over around 15 mins long. i know someone else whose sheltie gets carsick too, so i'm wondering if that's common among shelties?
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I guess the first question is "Is it nerves or real motion sickness?" Some dogs hurl the moment you back out the driveway. That's clearly nerves. You should be able to desensitize a dog like that by putting him/her in the back seat and going nowhere, Then let them out to praise. Repeat with longer stays, back out the driveway, go a block. Gradually increase the length of drives over several weeks. You get the idea.

But 15 minutes could be real motion sickness.

I had a dog that would get sick after about 45 minutes to an hour. She would be sleeping calmly, then get up, make noises like a washing machine and throw up every five minutes until you got where you were going. I tried the desensitization technique, Bonine, giving her breaks at intervals out of the car. Nothing worked as a cure, but taking her for frequent short trips did increase her stamina and got us to that one hour mark, where we could take her to most places we went like the in-Laws, etc.

We just learned to live with it, and kept her home if the trip was longer than she could make. Holly passed away of cancer last December, and the current dog, Nicky, has no such problems in the car, thankfully.
 
Meclazine is available over the counter as Dramamine. But be very careful, there is more than one kind of Dramamine. Make sure it is meclazine only. My vet suggested half a tablet when Lola was still only about 11 pounds. It did work.

More than being nauseous though, I think she was just nervous. She was always very nervous in the car and would shed a lot. We would have to pick her up to put her in the car too. But we started taking fun trips to the dog park, the beach, and other leash-free areas. She loves it and now likes to go for car rides and no car sickness anymore! :smile2:

Good luck to you!
 
Meclizine is the active ingredient in non-drowsy Dramamine, in Bonine and it's available as meclizine - I buy 100 ct bottles at Wal-Mart- I'm sure it's available at other pharmacies as well. There are 2 strengths - 25 mg and 12.5 mg. I spend a lot of time on boats- I get seasick if I don't take it so I've found sources. Some places you will need to ask at the pharmacy counter and other places it's on the shelf by the other anti-nausea medications. It is not a prescription medication. I would definitely check with a vet about dosage before trying it. :wink2:
 
Shelly the sheltie used to get car sick every time we would go somewhere. I watched what she was doing. She wouldewatch the telephone poles go by... I "fixed" this problem by not letting her look out of the car and took her to the vet in the panel van (company truck) that I had at the time.

Now that she is older and does not climb up on the seats, she travels very well in the motorhome. No more car sickness.
 
Marlie gets sick everytime we are in the car for more than 20 minutes. I think she has motion sickness because she loves to go with me, I just think all of the starting and stoping makes her sick. I just asked the vet about it and he said that Benedryl will work too. Haven't tried it yet, but will let you know if it works. :winkgrin:
 
I have only had 1 accident with Cali so far in all of our trips.. She is perfect in my Honda and my Volkswagen I guess because she can kinda sit down into the seat and still look out the window but I have been driving my Jeep alot lately (its lifted with 35 inch tires.. and well.. it rides rough as all hell!) and this past weekend I was taking her over to my parents house to play with there little dachshund and we were sitting in the McDonald's drive through so I could get a soda and she pooped right in the passenger seat! I had to pull away right after I ordered because I was gagging.. She went potty right before we left so I guess it really upset her stomach! She has been fine the past couple times in the Jeep.. I just have to make sure I empty her out good before we leave!
 
We've been taking Madison on short trips around town like when we've got some errands to run. The longest she's been in the van is about 30 minutes and so far she's never acted like she's gonna be sick.

I think she's more concerned about how she's gonna go about trying to get up in the front so she can jump in my lap ;)
 
not exactly carsick..

Gavin loves the car, as it means he is going somewhere :)
But he does do some weird things (for him, at least).

If there is anyone in the backseat with him (he only gets to ride back there, usually buckled up if we are going past the local dogpark), he will crawl in their lap. He has done this with me as well as complete stranger (to him).

He normally NEVER crawls into my lap, so I know it's specific to the car.
I can only guess that it reduces the vibrations from the car when a person is between him and the seat :winkgrin:

Cindy
 
Ahh, carsickness is fun. Not. Chase used to be fine as a puppy, but when he was a few months old he started getting car sick all of a sudden and it was reeeally bad - he'd throw up after a 5 minute drive. This lasted for a while and then it went away as suddenly as it came. I guess he was just going through a phase..
 
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