Drooling In Car

[Erica]

Delta's started drooling in the car...I'll go through backstory with the car etc.

On his first car ride (to the vets for puppy shots, and to the groomers), he was reportedly fine. The next day, I took him home, about 9 hours' driving total with potty breaks every hour or so. He slept nearly the whole time. The first "bad" experience in a car was on our way to puppy class one day when Delta was about 4 months old (mid November), when I picked up a friend to go with me so he could see how the puppy class was run. After I picked up my friend, Delta threw up his breakfast. My friend lived about 30 minutes away (then another 15 to the class), and most of the travel to his house was on fast, slightly curvy roads.

I didn't notice any excessive drooling or any carsickness at all until late December. I was taking Delta to the pet store and was stopping by a dog I was housesitting, to let her out for a potty break. I had planned on it taking about 5 minutes, which Delta was fine with sitting in the car for. However, the owners hadn't told me that the hidden-behind-a-bush side gate didn't actually latch shut and that wind would blow the gate open, so it was more like 15 minutes, with me realizing the dog wasn't in the yard anymore and then having to find her. Delta surely heard me running through the neighborhood yelling for the runaway dog. At some point while I was gone, he threw up in the car. After that, most of the time when I drive him he will drool a lot. He has become reluctant to get in the car, though once he is in and we start moving he will lay down sleep, or at least appear to sleep. I take him out somewhere public and different at least once a week, and since the time the dog escaped the yard, I haven't left him in the car alone. (I did try the day after that; we were moving into another house to housesit for a couple weeks, and I wanted to carry all the stuff in before I brought him in, but he was distressed when I tried to leave him so I brought him with me.)

Is there a way for me to tell if this is only stress from thinking I might leave him behind in the car, or if it's carsickness, or a combination of both? What are some ways to combat carsickness? My gut feeling is that he now has some bad memories associated with the car (being left there for longer than he was comfortable) and that stress might cause him nausea. Should I take him on more short, fun drives (eg 3-minute drives to off-leash walks) or avoid car rides unless necessary for a while and just do something like put him in the car, give him treats, then take him out?

[Nettle]

Avatar lady was fine in the car until 9 weeks - then threw up helplessly until 9 months - then was fine again. The only dog I've ever had that was travel sick but boy was she travel sick.

You get the same pattern with small children. Must be something to do with development of balancing, I reckon, and there is an aspect of smell as well.

They almost always grow out of it. Remedies include a ginger biscuit 10 minutes before travel, homeopathy, human travel sickness pills (check with your vet first) thundershirt, blanket over crate so no outside view. Only the ginger worked for us, and it gave us 2 miles.

Clean up with enzymatic cleaner so the smell doesn't linger.

Also desensitise to a stationary car, car with engine running etc. You too might have a minimum milage you can go before IT happens Some dogs are better in diesel cars than petrol, some drivers are smoother than others. If you normally have music on in the car, don't - it adds another layer of distress, especially if the dog travels near the speakers.

I feel your pain, but hang on in there.

[JudyN]

What has worked for me is starting with just getting in the car, treating and getting straight out, and working through starting the engine, then reversing out the drive and straight back in again, then very short drives. As Jasper is on the back seat I can hand him treats as we go along (obviously on quiet, straight bits of road). As well as him liking this, it's also a good way of judging how stressed he is - if he won't take kibble he's a bit stressed, if he won't take liver cake he's very stressed!

Can't help with the possibility of car sickness though, as he hasn't had that problem.

[Erica]

Thanks! We will cool it on the car travel for a bit then, and wait on agility classes...the only good ones are a full hour away. :/ Lucky us there are good populated places about 5 minutes away so we can keep up our socialization without loads of driving. I'll also do some cc, Judy. There are no straight bits of road anywhere nearby but maybe I can plonk a kong in back with him and see how he does.

[Steve29]

We used to have a German Shorthaired Pointer that my Grandson showed when she was young and every trip was very unpleasant for her. This went on for several years, until she was 8 or 9, then one day she just hopped into the car when the door was open, after that she was fine. Who knows?

[rnor1120]

Couple things over the counter you can try for motion sickness -
-Benadryl [diphenhydramine] at 1 mg per pound (EG a 25lbs dog would get 25 mg Benadryl) up to every 8 hours.
-Bonine [meclizine] 25 mg once daily.

[Erica]

Thanks, rnor! I will keep those in mind too if I need to take him on a longer car ride