Catch Car Talk this weekend? Turns out, man’s best friend can be a little high maintenance-- especially when it comes to riding shotgun. Jann from Little Rock asked Tom and Ray for a few tips on carsickness prevention… for her labrador retriever. (Miss it? Hear it here.)
Prescription for car-induced nausea? Distract with big game sighting (Flickr photo by fabionmohr)
Her question: what’s the best car for the dog with a sensitive stomach, and more importantly, how do you go about test driving for said feature?
Tom chalked up the pukiness to inexperience; give Poochie a year or two and she’ll grow out of it. Maybe.
Ray, a bit more devious, offered a moonlight scheme for sneaking Jann’s dog past the dealer, and recommended something large-- like a Lincoln.
Tom claimed to have a “vast experience in barfing.” Got the same dubious street cred? Regardless, we’d love to hear your suggestions for curing CVV-- that’s Canine Vehicular Vomitus – and thanks!
PS - For yet more dogs-and-cars info, including “kibble blowing” and much more, check out Car Talk’s FIDO Zone.
Honda Element! they don’t make them anymore but find a used one. I have several dog-owner friends - one even has a dog-sitting business - and they love it - you can hose out the plastic interior!
My dog used to get car sick - she only threw up once, but she usually drooled a lot in the car. One thing that helps if you’re going on a longer ride, is you can actually give them some diphenhydramine (benadryl), which will help with upset stomach and drooling, and also act as a mild sedative. My dog is about 60 lbs and I would give her 3-4 benadryl pills (75-100mg) about half an hour before leaving and it helped a lot. Most vets recommend about 1-2mg diphenhydramine per pound of body weight.
The correct verb for a dog doing carsick is yerp.
My dog, also a shelter dog, did this when I first got him. My vet indicated that it was anxiety. So I created some pleasant time in the car with the dog while it was running but not moving. I took a novel and some snacks out to the car, and just sat and read with the dog, in the running car, in the driveway. The dog experienced and learned the car to be pleasant and friendly. A few weekend sessions like this took care of it. The dog was never again carsick (and he rides with me every).
