Car Sickness - Page 1

My puppy gets car sick and pukes
I tried in a crate, riding on the seat, it doesn't matter, she pukes both ways
And don't tell me not to feed her, she is a puppy and she needs to eat, and sometimes i can't wait hours for her food to digest before we go somewhere, and if we are gone all day, i'm not going to withhold food all day. I just feel bad for her, it must feel horible to puke like that(I know humans who get car sick and don't like it at all), and her poor little face looks so disgusted after she does it. She goes next week for her next set of shots, I can ask the vet too.
Do they outgrow this? I never had this happen with my other dogs in the past.
What have some of you done with german shepherds if your puppy had this issue?

Yeah mostly they can outgrow this - but you can certainly help, now. You push aside the ideas of this pup travelling on an empty stomach, or only at times when meals have already had a chance to mainly digest; but honestly, a little re-arrangement of your schedule to take this into account will probably pay dividends.

But there is other stuff you can do. Yes I expect your Vet will sell you anti-emetics to give her. You can also buy OTC meds against travel sickness. But rather than fill her with chemicals, you would be best working out why she is so sick. Is it where she sits, how she is being carried ? Is she apprehensive for some reason, the sickness may give a kind of relief to her worries about being in a vehicle.

Did you conduct a gradual introduction to the car ? If not you might find some benefit in going back to basics and starting from the beginning; getting her to sit in the stationary car with the engine off for a few minutes, then the same but with engine running, then taking her on very short trips - preferably with a nice visit to somewhere she'll enjoy at the end of the little run, then home again. Anything but straight into a working routine of daily commuting, for instance.

On locating her in the car, is she secured ? A proper car-seat harness, or better yet a (small) crate, can make a world of difference to a small dog's feelings about security if she is normally just shut on the back seat loose, or expected to curl up in the front footwell which may already be becoming too small for a GSD pup - and might have bits of seat sticking into her when the car corners. Make sure she isn't at a level where she is breathing in exhaust fumes. You may well have already thought to check out these comfort things, but you do not mention them and you'd be amazed what some drivers can overlook.

And you need to make as little fuss as possible when clearing up the puke, as and when it happens, because otherwise you will re-enforce that she gets your attention if she is sick.

You could always try the thing many of my compatriots swear by ( and I have had some success with myself) - give her half a GINGER cookie, at the start of every journey. Half a biscuit isn't enough to promote huge volumes of puke, it is more likely to result in dribbling. But it frequently soothes their stomachs enough to give them time to learn not to throw up.

Good advice Hundmutter. Your pup will more than likely outgrow the motion sickness as the inner ear stability improves. In my own experience, pups who have very active lifestyles while still with mom tend to have less issues.

I forgot about ginger, works in humans I will try it with my pup
she is ok for short distances

haha car fumes..i think i'd be getting sick too if fumes from my hybrid car were getting inside the cabin.
it doesn't matter if she's in the crate or on a seat, window open or not.
I"m not changing any schedules around (this is a fantasy world idea, or maybe a retired person who has nothing to do except drive their dog around and does private classes that they determine the class times) ,and this is not realistic since the day depends on so many other people's schedules too. She is getting sick no matter if there is food in her stomach or not.

Emoryg, I think you are right. I dont think my puppy got much car travel or activities with her dam outside of the home/whelping box when she was with the breeder.
My previous dogs(not GSD's) never had any issues with car sickness or anything else, and were overall way more forward, bold, fearless and confident from the beginning, but they came from breeders who did alot with the litters before they went to their new homes. They were crazy about going somewhere in the car from day 1 I got them at home, they wanted to go!
Once we arrive anywhere, my puppy is very excited and happy, she loves meeting new people and going on new adventures and does not really seem to be aprehensive or phased by each new social situation i introduce her to

Here's what worked for my girl: You put them in the car and let them contemplate for a while. go nowhere. When they settle down some and relax the take out then praise with a little doggy treat of kibble.
Next time, take note how long it takes for the dog to relax, no motion or anything just sit there; calm owner, calm dog; when dog settles down, that's it; take out and praise with cookie, if the dog does not take the cookie, dog is not ready.

Repeat and move car when dog is ready. BOL

My boy had severe car sickness. All he had to do was know we were heading toward the car and he start drooling. I did nothing just dealt with it. He grew out of it around 1 yr old got better has he got older.

Nature … your dog pukes for a reason -

Many times I have wtitten that my mentoe had taught me : if you do not know where the problem origniate then how in the world are you going to address / fix it . Also I wrote : dog , not being human/ a person , arevery vbery much like a person.

This is not reasonable to see if your dog out grows this puking because even though many dogs do , we assume right from the start that your dog will , by you doing nothing . Why does the dog puke ? To help understand the dog I ask myself why: WHY does a person puke when they are in the car ? And the answer is : motion sickness , in inner inbalance . I have seen dogs become sick just at the thought , that is to say , just at the sight of seeing an automobile causes them to get sick . Like looking at food that gets you sick - just the sight or the smell starts upsetting your stomach and makes you sick ! I have had friends that owned GSs with this problem and I helped them clean this situation up as soon as they told me such that in a short time they were able to take their dog for an hour plus ride. So Nature - if you e mail me I will give to you my suggestions. [ may take a day or two for a reply ]

Thanks Centurian..reminds me of one of my older brother used to get car sick too, but none of the other kids did.
My pup is fine for less than an hour, she doesn't even drool and she tries her best to jump in the car to go, so she is not anxious about going, but something is happening to her poor tummy along the way on longer trips. I'll send you a message. And I live in a place with roads that are mostly not straight or level.

Puppies' inner ears are not fully developed, which is why puppies sometimes still get car sick, even if they have super nerves. Most of them will outgrow it by 4 months.

Use cerenia until they outgrow it, otherwise, they will start anticipating being sick and then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Thank you Centurian, NanGSD and Jenni, great advise and Nan your method seems to be working for my girl too.
Jenni good idea, if i thought something was going to make me nauseated it would be awful to be forced to do it (like we take our dogs anyway, no matter if they want to or not)