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My beagle gets horribly motion sick. She likes going in the car, but sadly gets very ill, even after a short journey. We have tried to slowly introduce her by only going short distances with the aim of gradually making them longer, but everytime we spend more than 5 minutes or so in the car she gets sick.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

We are actually planning on moving house in the next month, which means a flight for poor Maddie. I'm really concerned about how she'll go. :-1

I had a collie mix with the same problem. It was torture for him to stay home, torture to ride in the car. He would drool by the pint the instant we started moving, but wouldn't lose lunch until we stopped. I figured out we had about a 6-second grace period to get the car door open or plan a sudden trip to the car wash.



We never figured it out. We decided to find him a good home (we were in England) rather than subject him to the plane ride. It killed me to give Ken away, but the lady that took him wrote us regularly the first year telling us of his adventures, meeting his new cousins, etc. It helped.

PurpleChicken wrote: My beagle gets horribly motion sick. She likes going in the car, but sadly gets very ill, even after a short journey. We have tried to slowly introduce her by only going short distances with the aim of gradually making them longer, but everytime we spend more than 5 minutes or so in the car she gets sick.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

We are actually planning on moving house in the next month, which means a flight for poor Maddie. I'm really concerned about how she'll go. :-1


If you are patient I bet Val will have some good advise for you, she is our resident Dogmaster hehehehe

I have only heard putting pooch on a 24 hour fast before the trip, but of course pooch needs water. But with water they still get ill. So not sure what is out there for a solution.

I had a friend who had this problem with her dog...actually with both dogs...she named one dog "Barf" and one dog "Ralph". Sadly, I don't have any suggestions for you though.

Hi PC!! Fasting the dog might help for the flight but unfortunately, the dog

can vomit quite a lot of bile.



You were on the right track with the short trips, I'd back it up a notch and

take your pooch out to the car with no intention of going anywhere. Just sit.

Lots of praise and dog "biscuits", happy talk. Keep it under the 5 minute

mark. Get out of the car and go back inside. SLOWLY increase your time,

then add a couple things like turning the car on, and SIT. More happy talk

and biscuits. (Make sure you have proper ventilation if you are going to

turn the car on) Even shorter trip (down the driveway?) stop, go back

inside. Problem with this is it might take more than the month's time you

have.



Some dogs do better sitting closer to the front of the car, some dogs do

better laying down so they can't see everything racing by the window.

You should belt/crate your dog in the car for safety.



You can give Dramamine to your dog, child's dose by weight. But it would

really be better for you to consult with your vet, especially prior to an

airline flight.



How old is your dog? A lot have a little motion sickness early on and then

outgrow it. My doggers had a little, especially when her PAPA (;) ) was

driving. Keep those turns wide and SLOW.



Good luck. Let us know how things go!!



P.S. I've never personally tried it, but believe it or not there are some

people who have had really good results with feeding their puppers

some ginger cookies before a trip!



:-6

Just thought of other things I need to add: I know I said "happy talk" but

try and make sure you really are doing "happy talk" and not just your

nerves and anxiety about oh no, the dog's going to get car sick again. The

smart little buggers can really pick up on that. I would maybe suck on a

breath mint, too. If at some point your dog seems like she might be

calming down, then quit with the happy talk and just sit quietly with her.



Another thing to try is a favorite toy, stuffed animal perhaps? Take it in

the car with her. She might find it comforting.



:)

valerie wrote: Hi PC!! Fasting the dog might help for the flight but unfortunately, the dog

can vomit quite a lot of bile.



You were on the right track with the short trips, I'd back it up a notch and

take your pooch out to the car with no intention of going anywhere. Just sit.

Lots of praise and dog "biscuits", happy talk. Keep it under the 5 minute

mark. Get out of the car and go back inside. SLOWLY increase your time,

then add a couple things like turning the car on, and SIT. More happy talk

and biscuits. (Make sure you have proper ventilation if you are going to

turn the car on) Even shorter trip (down the driveway?) stop, go back

inside. Problem with this is it might take more than the month's time you

have.



Some dogs do better sitting closer to the front of the car, some dogs do

better laying down so they can't see everything racing by the window.

You should belt/crate your dog in the car for safety.



You can give Dramamine to your dog, child's dose by weight. But it would

really be better for you to consult with your vet, especially prior to an

airline flight.



How old is your dog? A lot have a little motion sickness early on and then

outgrow it. My doggers had a little, especially when her PAPA (;) ) was

driving. Keep those turns wide and SLOW.



Good luck. Let us know how things go!!



P.S. I've never personally tried it, but believe it or not there are some

people who have had really good results with feeding their puppers

some ginger cookies before a trip!



:-6


I give my daughter ginger for motionsickness never thought of that for a dog. Brill.

Thanks for the great advice - particularly Val. I hadn't actually thought about getting her into the car and not going anywhere. The interesting thing is that it isn't all that difficult to get her in ... she seems quite happy and enjoys the trip, for the first few minutes. But I'll try to get in as many trips (or non-trips) in the car in the next few weeks to help.

Off to the vet on Friday, so hopefully they'll be able to help us as well.

I hadn't even contemplated leaving her behind... let's hope it doesn't come to that! :-1

Well, tomorrow's the big day for our Maddie. Because we are now selling our house, we have decided to move her a bit earlier than planned. With the change of date and all the preparations for getting the house on the market, I haven't had much time to get her used to the car. Have gotten her in it and gone nowhere a couple of times. And driven down to the park just down the road. All minor successes. But sadly, haven't had enough time to get her used to a long journey.



We are using a pet transport company. They do pick up and delivery! They seemed to think that putting the black plastic strap on the car (you know the one that reduces static electricity) works. Has anyone heard of that?



I have some motion sickness pills from the vet. I guess now all we do is get her ready and hope for the best. Don't think it will be the best trip for her, but hopefully she'll be ok. I'm nervous and worried for her....

The motion sickness pills will probably make her drowsy too so she should be ok.

I love Beagles, I have one too, her name is Sally and she hates the car. If you take your dog in the car you should put a harness on it that attaches to the seat belt, that makes it safer for you and your dog in an accident.

Have fun moving. I hope the weather is nice for you, it has been raining a lot up here in Central west NSW.

:-6 :-6

The motion sickness pills will probably make her drowsy too so she should be ok.

I love Beagles, I have one too, her name is Sally and she hates the car. If you take your dog in the car you should put a harness on it that attaches to the seat belt, that makes it safer for you and your dog in an accident.

Have fun moving. I hope the weather is nice for you, it has been raining a lot up here in Central west NSW.

:-6 :-6

I haven't heard of the strap but whatever works!!



Hang in there, deep breaths PC I am SURE she'll come through just dandy!



:-6

Well, it's all over. She arrived safely. Don't think the poor thing had a happy journey though. Hubby said when he got her, she had vomited and urinated all over her bedding. Was obviously happy to see him though, so I'm sure she'll forget about it pretty soon.



I'm gonna miss her for the next couple of weeks though....



Thanks everyone for your advice and kind wishes!

Thats great PC and the journey would have been worth it. I was heart broken when I had to leave a dog in Turkey, due to our very strict quarantine laws.

Where are you moving to?

Thanks OS, I would have been heartbroken to leave her behind. Though it was probably a long day for her (was probably 6hrs from pick up to drop off) it's definitely worth it. She'll soon be over the ordeal I'm sure.



Oh, and I'm moving to BrisVegas!!

Interesting development....



Maddie went for a 20minute drive today and wasn't sick!!!! The guy that my hubby & Maddie are living with (a good friend of ours) packed up the two dogs today (his and ours) and took them for a drive. He hadn't realised that our dog had car sickness issues. Guess the company of another dog distracted her. Hopefully this bodes well for the future.......

PurpleChicken wrote: Interesting development....



Maddie went for a 20minute drive today and wasn't sick!!!! The guy that my hubby & Maddie are living with (a good friend of ours) packed up the two dogs today (his and ours) and took them for a drive. He hadn't realised that our dog had car sickness issues. Guess the company of another dog distracted her. Hopefully this bodes well for the future.......


I'd also say it was the distraction too, as it is usually looking out of the window that makes them sick, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the eye movement.

Glad Maddies ok.

PurpleChicken wrote: Interesting development....



Maddie went for a 20minute drive today and wasn't sick!!!! The guy that my hubby & Maddie are living with (a good friend of ours) packed up the two dogs today (his and ours) and took them for a drive. He hadn't realised that our dog had car sickness issues. Guess the company of another dog distracted her. Hopefully this bodes well for the future.......
Well, that's it then. You have to get another pup. Name her Dramamine!

You should have more than one dog as they love being together, pack animals, I have two black labs and a beagle their great and have so much fun together.

Accountable wrote: Well, that's it then. You have to get another pup. Name her Dramamine!








Guess it looks like we need another pup!! Hopefully when we find a new house, it'll be big enough for 2. Only in a townhouse now, so was never really an option.

PurpleChicken wrote: My beagle gets horribly motion sick. She likes going in the car, but sadly gets very ill, even after a short journey. We have tried to slowly introduce her by only going short distances with the aim of gradually making them longer, but everytime we spend more than 5 minutes or so in the car she gets sick.

Does anyone have any suggestions??

We are actually planning on moving house in the next month, which means a flight for poor Maddie. I'm really concerned about how she'll go. :-1


Our late doberman of 13 years had the same problem. We tried all the usual suggestions and tricks like sitting in the car off, then on for a few minutes, increasing it etc etc. Nothing seemed to work. He wanted to go with but would get so carsick it was horrible and then would whine till he drove everyone nuts. When we moved where we are now years back.. we changed vets... the new one suggested studies he had been doing that it was motion sickness like people get and tied to the inner ear just like in people. He gave us motion sickness meds that people usually take geared to his size and age and its was a "downer" of sorts and mellowed him out but hew ould be awake and happy, we'd stop and walk him at his usual spots along the long ride from here to our house on the lake.. and he always KNEW we were almost to those spots a few miles ahead of time.. BUT he didn't get sick any longer and NO WHINNING... I don't remember the name of the meds, I'll ask my daugther and see if she does or if there is something new on the market now from vets since that's her field.

i wonder if it is a beagle thing. my part beagle does too. the last time she didn't up chuck. but drewled horribly. and shook like she was ready to have a fit. My other dog is a riding fool. I have to drag the beagle in the car. Now she will ride in the back of hubby's truck. maybe the air calms her?:-2

years down the road I guess dogs and even cats can be just like people with motion sickness.. for some it is an inner ear problem, others its anxiety and some the high pitched noise of the motor their fine tuned hearing is aware of we are not bothers them. Its been quite a few years since our dobe passed .. but our old female now who is a street dog we rescued is a pitbull/corgi mix and never had a car problem with her ever.. she gets into her spot in the rear seat and sleeps most rides to anywhere.. my male pitbull has learned to sleep most of the ride once he's sure we're not going to the vet. He shows no signs of any type of car sickness at all just he wants to make sure its not the vet but somewhere else he likes we're going to, once he's sure the trip is for pleasure he settles down and goes to sleep with his pack member and they take turns snoring most of the ride to our house up north which is about a 10 hour drive. There are things like

valerian root and other natural products you can use but you have to make sure

you get the correct dose for the dog's weight and age since too much can make them really ill, its used for people as wel to calm them and for sleeplessness or anxiety. Good luck with your beagle. I love dogs they are what most people should be.