Taking your dog on holiday is of course very nice. Not only for you, but also your dog often prefers to stay with his owner than to go to daycare. However, this is not a nice idea for every dog. Dogs can also get car sick. Veterinarian Piet Hellemans tells us what you should pay attention to if you take your dog with car sickness in the car.
Car sickness
According to the Animal Pharmacist, almost 20% of dogs suffer from car sickness at some point or another. What a dog experiences during car sickness is comparable to that of a human. Veterinarian Piet Hellemans explains: “Car sickness is caused by your balance signal saying something different than what your eyes see. Those signals are then no longer correct.” Dogs cannot tell you that they are nauseous and that is why it can be difficult to know whether they are suffering from car sickness. A number of symptoms that you can recognize it by are: vomiting, drooling, smacking, restlessness, shaking and panting.
Dierapotheker also says that car sickness in dogs can get worse. This is because travel-sick dogs develop a kind of transport stress. They can associate the car ride with something particularly unpleasant, such as an unpleasant visit to the vet in the past. This stress, fear and tension causes a dog to vomit when hearing the starting sound of the car.
Associations
Just as dogs associate cars with negative things, you can also teach your dog to associate cars with fun things. Piet explains: “By taking your dog to a park or forest, they will also associate car rides with something fun. Otherwise, you are already 1-0 behind. It is also important to give them something tasty when they get in the car. After all, you have to reward them.”
Medication
There are also special medications for dogs with car sickness. But Piet adds: “If your pet is really so car sick that you have to give it medication, you should first ask yourself who you are doing a favor with it.”
Tips
To make it as comfortable as possible for your dog, we have listed a number of tips. For example, take some fun toys with you and reward your dog with a treat as soon as he gets in the car. This will make your dog associate the car ride with something fun, which will help a lot.
Piet previously indicated that nausea occurs because your balance signal says something different than what your eyes see. He also gives the tip: “If you put your dog on a raised platform where he can look out in front, the chance of nausea is reduced.”
In addition, it is good to take breaks. Guidelines indicate that it is wise to take a break approximately every two hours. This is necessary to let your dog pee and exercise and not to leave him in a moving vehicle all the time. It is also useful to take familiar items with you. If you take his pillow or blanket that he always sleeps on, your dog will be much more at ease.
Finally, Piet adds: “Think especially about who you are doing it for. If your dog is very car sick, don’t take him on holiday. Or make it as comfortable as possible.”
