I have a 7-8 month old Australian Cattle Dog with some shepherd and lab in the mix....he's a great dog who just wants to please. I got him as a severely underweight wormy 5ish month old (the "food" he was eating had only one meat ingredient 3 lines down....meat by-product meal O_o)....

We initially had a lot of trouble in the car as far as carsickness, he'd have diarrhea out of one end and at the same time be puking out of the other. Yet even when he knew he'd get sick he still would get into the car on command without resisting. On his new food (an all natural dry/wet mix puppy food mix my vet put together for him to put on some weight and clean up his teeth) he stopped having diarrhea in the car, put on weight, and has done a lot better. With repeated rides in the car and careful timing of his mealtimes on days he has to drive with me, he's pretty much stopped vomiting at this point...I also stopped placing him in his crate in the car which helped TONS...he has only puked once since letting him out of the crate and that I think was more the stop and go traffic we were in (hell, I got carsick that day...boston traffic during construction is nooooo fun)

The problem? Panting.....regardless of temperature he's panting up a storm, he has literally soaked my seats during a 10 minute drive. If I put down a tarp or seat gaurd he'll fill it with drool. I know it's not due to heat or hydration so I assume it must be nerves. I admit, I like it a whole lot more than the earlier varieties of bodily fluid, but still....any idea how I can make him feel a little better about being in the car? He still jumps right up into the car and doesn't resist going on car rides and he stops panting and returns to normal the moment he gets out of the car....

Thanks for the advice ^_^

How long into the ride does the severe panting start?

Also, how old was he when you acquired him, and how much did it improve? (I ask this because of the big number of puppies who have bad carsickness that resolves when they get older; the theory I have read is that It's the immature ear structures of puppies contributing to motion sickness.)

I would suggest arranging the crate so he could see out the front but not the sides or back (looking out the side and back windows makes motion sickness worse for many), but he's not in the crate now?

Can you arrange it so he has an a/c vent on him?

Erika and her mom Roxie both got carsick as puppies/young adults, what worked for me was very short trips and gingersnaps before and during the trip. gingersnaps have been proven more effective than Dramamine for motion sickness. to get over the nerve issues always go to a fun place with the pupper until he gets over it, your next problem will be keeping them out of the car

He starts almost as soon as the car is started.

He was about 5 months old when I got him, with almost no handling at all (not even a leash on him, not housebroken, not anything but "love" or so his previous owners said....). He's about 7-8 months now. That time to now has been remarkable though I really attribute most of that to a little bit of practice, and more importantly, a food that was actually made of edible ingredients and didn't upset his stomach)

I tried the crate in quite a few postitions, even covering the crate from different angles, I still had a whole lot of vomiting. Taking him out of crate has worked wonders, and he's very well behaved in the car apart from the waterfall panting (stays where you put him, no jumping at passengers, doesn't bug the driver)

feed,treat and play with him in the car, don't start it or go anywhere just get him use to going in and out and make the car a fun secure place for him

Well, I'm with Dennis on very short trips to fun places and ginger, along with making the car a fun place.

If you go with ginger snaps, you want them to have real ginger in them. Or you can get capsules of ginger root, a better choice because of not having sugar.

Also, Dennis mentioned snaps during the ride, and I have read several times that tiny mini-snacks like that (but with no sugar) can help. You don't want a full stomach, but you also don't want an empty one.

I do treat him in the car and he has no objections to sitting in an unstarted car, he'll even sleep happily in one and often plays fetch out of one when we're at the beach. It's just as soon as it's started and moving the panting begins....he usually doesn't accept treats after that point, he'll carefully set them on the dashboard during the ride then as soon as the engine is off....he'll gobble them down

when we're going places in the car it's seldom a bad place, usually the "dog park" (not a normal dog park...this is how every dog park should be) ...the vet is the worst place he goes but even that isn't a feared place...he probably the only dog in the world who loves the vet...he really likes the receptionist who fauns over him whenever he's there.

There are some dogs just as there are some people who are truly motion sick. It has nothing to do with anxiety and everything to do with motion.

I own one. My oldest female papillon is rampantly motionsick. More so than any dog I've ever seen. She will sleep happily in a parked car but somewhere between 10 - 20 minutes into a car ride, boat ride, or ferry ride. Panting, drooling, followed by puking. Happily she hasn't given me the other gift yet.

For her I've tried the vet stuff which just plain knocks her out, the various herbal things, ginger, and I've found one finally found a herbal generic brand paste by Petco that'll get me one hour in the car before it wears off and the puking begins. It's not perfect but I can get to the vet (45 minutes), the beach (30 minutes), and to my sister's house (1 hr away) so for us it's a big life improvement.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

There are some dogs just as there are some people who are truly motion sick. It has nothing to do with anxiety and everything to do with motion.

I own one. My oldest female papillon is rampantly motionsick. More so than any dog I've ever seen. She will sleep happily in a parked car but somewhere between 10 - 20 minutes into a car ride, boat ride, or ferry ride. Panting, drooling, followed by puking. Happily she hasn't given me the other gift yet.

For her I've tried the vet stuff which just plain knocks her out, the various herbal things, ginger, and I've found one finally found a herbal generic brand paste by Petco that'll get me one hour in the car before it wears off and the puking begins. It's not perfect but I can get to the vet (45 minutes), the beach (30 minutes), and to my sister's house (1 hr away) so for us it's a big life improvement.

Yes, it's rough when it persists past puppyhood.

More often than not, it doesn't --- thank goodness.

You said your dog sets his treats on the dashboard? So you have him in the front seat?

Try him in the back seat, he may do better back there when the world isn't rushing at him.

How is he when the car is parked, but running? (before you leave?)

Also, not to hijack but you did bring it up - did you say your *vet* sells you your dog's food? What exactly is it? (Most vets do not sell anything worth feeding to a carnivore).