Car sickness in a dog or puppy can be heartbreaking. My puppy has been getting car sick, and I’ve been documenting what I’ve been doing to help her. If your puppy or dog is drooling in the car, refusing to get in the car, hates car rides, throwing up or foaming at the mouth when travelling, or showing any other sign of motion sickness, you are not alone.
In the episode you'll hear:
- The signs of car sickness in puppies and dogs.
- How I helped my puppy This! initially and what happened after lockdown.
- What motion sickness does to puppies and dogs.
- Why some puppies outgrow car sickness, but others do not.
- The importance of counter conditioning our dogs for travelling.
- How the sight of a car can bring on sickness for a puppy.
- About changing our dog’s emotional response to the car.
- What I have been doing with my puppy to help her with car rides.
- How I become a canine booster seat.
- Why I didn’t turn on the car for a week and how games are helping.
- About building up to longer drives in the car when there is motion sickness.
- Why I borrowed the confidence Tater has in the car to help my puppy.
- All the steps to creating a positive conditioned emotional response to the car for our dogs.
- Why to write to us about Home School the Dog.
Resources:
- YouTube Video: Let’s Train Your Doodle with Susan Garrett
- Gunner Crate Crash Test
- Podcast Episode 66: Resource Guarding: Dog vs Dog Aggression
- Write to us at [email protected] with the subject line “My Kids Are Going to Love This” for a special opportunity to join Home School the Dog.
- Susan Garrett’s DogsThat YouTube Channel
- Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube
Just posted on Facebook Boston terrier Addicts because someone is having this problem and I’m working on this with Trex so let her know it doesn’t work and how Awesome Susan Garrett is ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for sharing the method you used to help your baby get over her car sickness. I will implement many of your tips to help me with my 7 month old Husky/Chow Chow cross. I am grateful I found this vlog/podcast.
Thank you so much for this episode. We are in the grips of -20C weather here in northern Ontario and I’ve been feeling despair over my 7 month old puppy’s anxiety over car sickness. Her story is similar to yours with lack of truck rides due to COVID and not really having any place to go! We’ve tried both in a crate and sitting on the back seat with same results when she was younger. We haven’t been forcing the issue, but recently I’ve wanted/needed to take her on a few car rides and she appears to be mostly nervous and has vomited again, but I’m reasonably sure it’s now a conditioned response. I will be trying her with your protocol to change her response to the truck!
I am soooo glad I watched this episode! My 2 year old corgi had been showing signs of anxiety/fear while riding in the car first on longer drives then even the short daily commute to our horse barn (less than a mile). He would typically start panting and shake as soon as I started the engine. Sometimes he would not even want to get in the car. He rode in a wire crate in the cargo area of my SUV. His behavior started several months ago, and was especially noticed after my older dog (whose crate was side by side with his) died. After watching this the first thing I tried was changing the crate. I had been thinking of changing to something more enclosed and den like anyway so I splurged and purchased a Gunner. We have had this about a month and so far, he happily jumps right in and I have not noticed any shaking or panting. He even sometimes lies down and seems pretty relaxed. This has been well worth the money.
My puppy Gemma (19 months)) does fine in the car in the city at low speed. But on the highway at high speed is standing, panting and shaking. She is in a seatbelt harness that is tethered to the frame of the car like a baby carrier would be. My car is small and I don’t think will hold a dog crate large enough for her that will not block my visibility while driving. She is also terrified of thunderstorms. I wonder what you think of putting her in a thundershirt? Last week when we had a storm while at home she was shaking and panting I swaddled her tightly in a soft blanket and held her tight which stopped her fear. Any ideas? My 12 year old Golden Jesse is there with her completely relaxed. I feel terrible that she is so afraid. I also want to comment that I feel horrified when I see people with their dogs in the front passenger seat because if there was even a small accident the airbag would fly out and injure or kill a dog.
thanks a lot
I am using this protocol for my dog that barks in the car. Jazzy is a border collie and she is always on high alert while riding in the car and whips her head back and forth to watch everything whizzing by. My goal is for her to lay down and relax in her crate while in the car. So far, we are having luck with starting the car and backing out of the driveway. These used to be triggers that started her barking. She will lay down and she is quiet while doing this. She isn’t relaxed yet, but at least she isn’t barking. Next will be to work on the relaxation part.
I am going through Home School The Dog with my 4 month old puppy right now. Sadly she also gets car sick. She has the drool and has actually thrown up. I’m a little confused how the conditioning can help the dog if it is a physical issue. Did you rule out it being a physical issue because your puppy is now 6 months old?