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Dogs and Car Sickness
Carsickness has many triggers in humans, such as smell, motion, dirty car interiors and so on. One of the leading reasons is one that is shared by dogs – fear. Carsickness in dogs is often a psychosomatic condition. The good news is, it is more often than not curable.
The first sign of dogs reacting badly to road travel is excessive salivating. In some cases, they start retching or vomiting. If these are symptoms your dog demonstrates, it is best to solve the problem rather than hope he gets over it with time.
A few weeks and a few hours is all it will take to rid your pet of his phobia. Here is how.
- Make your dog comfortable with the car. Start by playing near it, eventually leading him into it while it is still stationary. Feed him some treats and heap generous amounts of praise on him. Try this routine for a few weeks.
- Feed your pet dinner in the car. At dinnertime, take your dog and his meal and sit in the car. Try to leave him there, but if he refuses to stay in the car without you, be with him.
- Once he seems comfortable with this progression, sit in the car and turn the engine on without going anywhere. Slowly increase the amount of time you spend in the car.
- Go for a short drive, maybe down the driveway or street. Gradually increase the durations of the drive. It is a good idea not to feed your dog before you head out. If he seems uncomfortable, get out of the car, walk around for a bit, and then get back in.
- If he seems at ease, try to take pooch wherever you go for a while. He will realize that driving around is fun and look forward to it instead of panicking. Remember, leave the window down a bit, but if he is a small dog, you don’t want to give him so much space that he can leap out the window in a moment of fear or excitement.
One way to avoid such distress from arising in the first place is that owners only take their dogs out for a drive in order to something wholly unpleasant, like going to the vet or for a grooming session. No wonder he is afraid. You would be too. To create happy memories of car rides for your pet, take him along with you whenever you can. Drive him to the park, for instance. Letting him ride in the front seat may also decrease his stress level, as there is less motion than the back seat.
And just in case you were wondering, drugs like Dopamine which alleviate symptoms of carsickness in humans do not work well on all animals. If you are considering it, call your vet first.