Monday, February 11, 2013

Mischief Monday - The car

Our Lady is sorry she didn't take pictures, but she was laughing too hard to remember.

Background: Phod has terrible car sickness and the people have decided it is time to take this on. He has only been in the car one time since moving here. The Lady wants to be able to take him places.

The research:  Our vet recommended giving him a gravol. Our Lady read on the internet to try and give him something sweet to eat, keep the car cool, window down, keep him looking forward.

The ride:

It looked something like this. An hour before, Phod took gravel wrapped in peanut butter. Lady didn't have anything sweet to give him.

The man put the cover on the back seat. Lee got in her harness and Phod was attached by the car harness. Phod was so stressed that the Lady thought he might do better if she sat in the back with him. So Lee moved to the front. Once in the front, Lee started to freak out and tried to get in the back. Phod was freaking out trying to get to the front. Lady was laughing hysterically and Man was shaking his head. In the end, Lee got put in the house (left alone) and Phod and Lady stayed in the back.

The plan was to drive the about 2.5 km (1 mile) to the corner store where the people could return their bottles for money.
With the window open (and it was cold here today), the Lady tried to keep Phod facing forward (hard to do with a stressed out German Shepherd).
They made it to the store without a problem. It was on the way home, so close to the house that poor Phody threw up.

The Lady was able to keep Phod out of his throw up in the car so he didn't need a clean up. Lee was thrilled to have her people home (they were gone for like 10 minutes). Phod felt bad for being sick. Some throw up got on the backseat and floor of the car, but Lady cleaned it.

We are not sure who is responsible for the mischief, but we feel this is mischief.

Big question: Has anyone had a very car sick dog and if so what have they done?  We want to be able to take our Phod places.  We would be grateful for any suggestions!


18 comments:

  1. Me me me! I have thrown up in my peeps wellies and designer handbag before. I get sick when the car slows down not when it is going fast. We have to have a whole In Case Molly Is Sick bag with bag, towels and clean wipes. I am better now but it sometimes still happens. Have a marvelous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. Try inviting him into the car without going anywhere. Make it really positive and happy. Have all the windows open. Maybe only do it for a few minutes at a time, but every day. Then slowly work up to trips around the block. My first Golden had wonderful car sickness/stresses - this helped her out. She'd still freak out if someone got out of the car, but she didn't get sick anymore.

    Sam

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  3. Oh No! I have only gotten sick in the car if I was already sick (like when I was on the way to the vet to see why I was sick). I love the car. I even hop in the car, if the window is down, when the car is just sitting in the drive way. I love it in there. I think Sam has a very good suggestion.
    Blessings,
    Goose

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  4. Poor Phod :(

    My Mum would agree with Sam, that's what worked with her Golden's :) I was only ever sick the first time I was in the car, now I'm a pro and love being in the car!

    Good luck,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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  5. Phod...bless your heart. My human sis's kitty gets very very carsick. They try to avoid too many trips but when the have to they have found it best not to feed him a few hours before a trip.
    Hugs Madi your BFFF

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  6. Poor Phod :(
    Try and make the car a wonderful place to be, try opening the door and throwing his favorite toy or treat inside, when he goes in to get it give him loads of praise!! Keep building on this until eventually he is happy being in the car while it is on and the doors are shut, then try driving, if he isn't comfortable with this go back a step until he had enough confidence, good luck!!
    Love Milo :)

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  7. Aww poor Phod. You could always try some Dramamine or maybe even benadryl. I don't know the dose for Dramamine so you might have to ask your vet about it. Benadryl is 1mg/lb.

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  8. Phod...I shouldn't be laughing at this, but your mom tells it so funny! No good suggestions from me. Casper is the only one who has ever been sick in our SUV, and I think it was just a fluke because we take them out a lot. I will say that the time Casper was sick, he was the only hound in the vehicle. I always wondered if traveling with all three gives them more stability.

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  9. Maggie used to get very car sick. She loved her crate, so we got a folding canvas travel crate that took up the entire back seat of my car. She didn't get sick in the crate once, it seemed to make her feel safer. We also only went to fun places for a few months, like my parents' farm or friends' houses with fenced yards.

    Once we got Duke there wasn't room for both of them in the crate. Maggie will cuddle up with him on the back seat or will sit on the back floor. Luckily Duke LOVES going for rides.

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  10. Mom says I am the bestest car riding dog BUTT in the very beginning Stanley did not like riding in the car at all! We started out riding in our kennels (we have a big truck with a double cab and it is big like that). Then we got rid of the kennels and went to just lying on the floor. Stanley got real used to riding when that happened! Eventually, our pawrents put the seat back up and now we sit/lay on the seat. Stanley is now cured! We are very happy cuz he really kicked up a fuss!

    Murphy & Stanley
    Online Doods

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  11. Maybe there wasn't enough time for the gravol to set in?

    My suggestion would be to start with sitting in the car first, in short spurts. Sit in the back with Phod, and when he calms down, give him a treat and exit the car. An hour later, go back into the car. Repeat a couple of times and when he's completely calm (if that happens0, THEN go for a ride.

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  12. Bwahaahaahaa! Sorry we're laughin'. It does sound funny. Sorry we don't have any advice. We haven't had any problems with car sickness.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  13. I don't have any car sickness advice, but I will tell you who is responsible for the mischief: The Humans, that's who. As always.

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  14. Omg! One wanting to go to the back while theother tot the front that is hilarious! Idon't know if this will work, and perhaps you are already doing this anyways, but my old beagle mix when he was younger used to HATE car rides would get sick and everything,he didn't go on a lot of them in the beginning. There was a time though where we had to take him in the car a lot, so the more exposure to it he got the better he was about taking them, soon it wasn't a big deal at all to him. Also it helps if the lady and man, although I know its hard try to be as calm as you can because that will translate to Phod

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  15. Thank you all for your suggestions, we will try and see if we can get him over this!

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  16. I used to get car sick. Took me a while to get used to being in the car, plus having my hammick in the back really helps. Now i just lay down and sleep:-)

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  17. I used to get car sick. Took me a while to get used to being in the car, plus having my hammick in the back really helps. Now i just lay down and sleep:-)

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