What to do with a Car Sick Dog
Dogs travelling, especially those who tend to get carsick
should not eat 6 to 12 hours prior to travel.
Here is a Desensitization Program
to Help your
Dog get over his Carsickness
- Put dog in car, parked in driveway. Have a desirable
toy or tennis ball for him to play with. Leave car after a couple of minutes.
Do this several times a day for several days to a week, depending on how successful
the dog is at not getting sick. Increase the time in the car each day (as long
as he doesn't get sick).
- Put dog in car, car parked with engine running. Repeat
for several days to a week, length of time in car increasing again from a short
time to longer, as long as dog doesn't get sick.
- Put dog in car, idling in driveway, move car down and
back up the driveway. This stage may best be done with two people: one to drive,
and one to handle dog. Do this stage several days to a week. Perhaps you can end
up driving the car up and down the driveway several times before moving to the
next stage.
- Take the car around the block once quit. Do this
several days in a row, and then try to go around twice.
Note: always back up to the step before if you get any
sickness or drooling (sign of nausea!) at all, and work in smaller increments
toward the next step, and take a longer time getting there. The object here is
to do as much as you can with no sickness.
- Take the car to a close convenience store or dry cleaners
or such. Leave him in the car (with your helper, especially if he has any tendency
toward panic or destruction), come back, drive home.
This process can take a week or 2 months, depending
on the dog! Some dogs may never get over carsickness.
