Sickly Puppy

[nich1610]

Hi

Was wondering if anyone had any tips to help us?  We have a 5 month old puppy called Honey.  She is an adorable, loving little pup and is well trained and very clever.  We have only one problem - she is a puker!

At first she just used to vomit in the car, even on short journeys.  She is ok when on someone's knee, but if you put her on the seat on her own, even if the passenger seat, she shakes, whimpers and within 5 mins throws up!  During the day, she is taken to my boyfriends parents, who look after her while we are at work, and if we are going out for more than one hour, we drop her off at 'grandparents' house (not used to being left on her own).  If we would pop to the shops, when we got back we could hear her cry and sure enough she had thrown up - usually in the middle of our bed!!!  This made me think that the vomitting in the car is through fear and not through being travel sick?

Any ideas?

[cfordham2710]

Try Rescue Remedy can be got at Boots, and other chemists and also health food shops.  It is totally natural and has worked a treat with several dogs I know.

Clare

[Mudmagnets]

Have you tried sitting her on the passenger seat and not going anywhere, for say 10mins this way you can determine whether it is the motion of the car or fear? just a thought.

[nich1610]

Have tried sitting her in the car and just playing - she was fine, but the next time we put her in the car, it was back to the usual vomitting routine.  A friend of mine had seen car seats for dogs on a TV programme - has anyone used a dog car seat?

[Spaniel Ears]

Roxy is also nervous in the car and up until a few weeks back, would be sick on every journey.  I them moved the crate into the boot and whilst she does still dribble lots, she is no longer sick.  I think it's because the boot is flat and there is less shaking of the crate.   Do you have a hatchback and could you try the boot?

[nich1610]

Yeah tried the boot - threw up there as well.  There isn't an inch of the car that hasn't been covered in sick!

The strange thing is that it doesn't seem to bother her - she gets in the car by herself quite happily, and once she has been sick she is usually fine, it's just that she is destroying our car!

[Spaniel Ears]

I would try the rescue remedy then.  I think I am going to give that a go with Roxy.  I would invest in a good seat cover until then if I was you! 

[Jan/Billy]

Hope you get to the bottom of this, maybe a trip to the vets? just to rule out anything medical?

If she doesn't like being left on her own this is something you can work on. Even if you have someone to look after her when you are out she does need to get used to being alone, sooner rather than later. She'll get there eventually if you take it one step at a time.

Hope she's ok  

[ludo]

Dorwest herbs do skullcap and valerian which can be used for travelling - might be worth a go as it is made specially for dogs rather than for people 

[minimoo]

it might be worth you investing in a crate, and putting in a piece of carpet that can be replaced so she can get used to being fairly secure in the car at least then shes only being sick in one place  i also think you should try and leave her alone for short periods sooner rather than later , 

[PennyB]

I agree with the others and also try to get her to be on her own for a while --- you may not always have people to leave her with and may not be able to take her with you. I practised leaving my dogs from day 1. As lovely as she is you really do need to help her become independent of you so she is happy being left from time to time

[micky_moodys_hat]

I would definately leave your little one soon or I would think you are going to cause yourself all sorts of grief in the future. She will get used to it soon enough. Leave her in her crate with pleanty of toys and she will be fine.

[ali]

some good advice from above.

definitely think honey needs to very gradually get used to being on her own at home. do you have a room in the house that you can leave her in when you go out? barkley relaxes much better if he's shut in the kitchen. it's become a routine that he is really familiar with. when we are going out, he gets a couple of biscuits, and is left with us calling 'bye, barkley, see you later!'. it's the routine we've followed since day one but obviously we always make sure he's been to the toilet and had a reasonable amount of exercise before we go, so he's happy to just snooze. and we started with leaving him for five minutes and built it up very gradually. you basically want honey to be completely confident that you WILL be back and a routine can really help with that, i think.

re: travelling in the car- agree with the advice about trying a crate. barkley was awful when we first took him out until we bought a crate, and put a comfy old duvet in the bottom. first trip in it, we put him in and just sat in the car for five minutes or so whilst he settled down, and he was asleep with two minutes of driving. also, if you put old towels in then it will be easier to clean up if she's sick.

good luck!