Hi guys. Any experience on how long it might take for a pup to get used to riding inside the car in dog crate? Me and my pup are on our 4th car trip and he still pukes to and from our destination (which is only ten minutes away!!). I don't feed or let him drink anything before our early morning trip and yet he still pukes out that yellowish gooey stuff from his digestive tract. Will he outgrow this? He's 6 mos old now.

I sometimes wonder if it is hereditary. My former pup of the same breed and age never had a problem with the car even during his first car ride. Even had trouble prying him out of the car since he likes to sleep during the trip hehehe. With my current pup, it's an ordeal every time we travel.

ginger snaps and cream cheese. ginger is a natural anti motion sickness medicine. the added bonus is that it doesn't give you "medicine head" like all the other otc meds.

We call Starbuck the "Vomit Comet". I'm still trying to figure out what makes her sick.

2 hour drive from the breeder to the Airport - did not get sick.
1 hour drive home from the Airport - did not get sick.
Drive to and from the vet (20 miles)- did not get sick.

Drive to the store after a vet visit (with de-wormer) - puked up everything in her tummy.

The next time I took her out she only made it 10 miles before she got sick.

At that point we started to give her the Ginger Snaps

Several Ginger Snaps and another short trip - she got sick.

1/2 normal meal + Ginger snaps - got sick

I took her out several times with the windows rolled down 4" and she has not gotten sick with the extra air. But when it is 105+ here, that is not always an option.

She does better when she can look out the window. She also does better when she goes to sleep in the car.

All in all she is getting better.

One of my labs has always had car sickness...he's 7 years old now. All he wants to do is lay down while the car is moving...and you can just see that he is queezy by the look on his face. My older lab, 13 years old has always enjoyed the car rides. She's the one with her head hanging out the window while the other tries to keep things down.

Even if they don't have anything in their stomach, they can still get car sick as you know...its the movement just like we feel (or I feel) when on a cruise ship. The stomach just does somersaults. Things to try would be to (obviously) try to ride on an empty stomach. Or,

You could try making some ginger tea (yes, they will drink it). Chop some fresh ginger root up (about an inch square) and simmer in a pan of water for about 15-20 mins. Strain the liquid into a cup. Allow to cool, then encourage the dog to drink. The problem I have with ginger snaps is the sugar and cookie. I think most ginger snaps you buy don't even show it as the first ingredient...correct me if I'm wrong.

Peppermint works on an upset tummy. You could make a tea (herbal teas sold by any grocery store), this is what I do primarily. Or you could even grow some peppermint as a house plant or in your garden (be careful because it grows like crazy) and dry some, crush it and give it to them...if you are lucky, they will like the taste and you can just put it on their tongue. There are even Peppermint capsules you can get at your local health store.

Good luck...I live with it too.

Do you guys think that giving him daily rides in the car, puke or no puke, will help him outgrow his predicament?

That is kind of our approach. We take her on lots of short trips during the week. She has not gotten sick during the last 5 trips.

We plan to take her down to the beach this weekend, that will be a good test.

I had a rescue GSD that I brought home when she was 2 1/2. I was warned about her car-sickness problem so when I drove her home on the 9 hour trip it didn't surprise me when she puked.

After that, she used to get sick on the way to dog training (there were a lot of curves in the road to get there). She eventually seemed to "grow out of" getting car sick and rarely did it for the next 8 years of her life. I am not sure if she was just nervous in general until she got "used" to her new home and people?

My new pup is about a year and has only gotten car sick once on a long car trip. I never tried any ginger snaps, but that sounds like it would have saved me a lot of clean up with my other dog!

Hmmm the funny part of my experience is that my pup came from Germany. He was on a 16 hour flight, then an hour ride from the airport to my friend's house, then another half hour drive to my home. Guess what, no puke. Nada.

That's why it is quite shocking for him to be this way when in fact he went through longer trips with no drama before.

We gave her less than ½ her normal breakfast over an hour before the trip.
Starbuck only made it 45 minutes before she got sick on the way to the beach.

She had a good time at the beach and I took her out deep enough to swim this time.

She ate lunch on the way back from the beach. Full cup of food plus some ground turkey. She fell asleep in the back of the SUV and made it all the way home without a problem, over an hour.

I took Starbuck out on inspections with me last Thursday.

She got sick within the first 45 minutes again, but then made it through the rest of the 7 hour day with no problems. We did stop for about an hour for lunch and she ate about ½ her normal amount.

We took her to the park on Saturday. It is only a 20 minute drive and she did fine on that.