Does anyone else have problems with their Deerhound getting car sick ? If so any suggestions ? When I first brought my Deerhound pup home she was very car sick for most of the journey home on the Isle of Mull, this involved approx 3 hours of driving, followed by 45 mins on the ferry followed by another 45 mins home.A month later I took Amy to the vets for her jabs, she was sick all of the way there & all of the way back. I then just took her for a 1 mile drive every weekend in order to get her used to the car, & on each occasion she was car sick. Following my own knee operation I was unable to drive for a number of months. Then Amy was just too heavy for me to lift into the car. Now if I want to take Amy anywhere in the car ( eg vets ) it takes me upto an hour to actually get her into the vehicle & then she slavers for the entire journey, she isn't actually sick as I don't feed her breakfast prior to the drive. I even tried D.A.P today( a natural spray that is supposed to give your dog a feeling of wellbeing), but both myself & Amy were as stressed out as usual !
Has anyone got any suggestions please ?

First i would sort out the stress, she sounds like shes getting stressed before shes even got in the car, try a few times a day, taking her out to the car, if she dont want to get in it, dont force her, give her a few yummy treats whilst you sit there, let her carm down,
sit in the back with a longer lead and try and encorage her to get in with you,

once you have get her going in the car, carry on taking her out to the car - put her in and sit in the drivers seat, just like you would do when your going somewhere, but dont turn the engine on, try giving her some of her dinner in there, once shes used to that, turn the engine on - but dont move, let her get used to that, once shes happy, then you can try short drives,
it will take time to get her over it, some people say ginger can help with the sickness,
but if shes stressing, then its better to tackle that first,
some rescue remady, - you can get it over the net, can help carm,
there are a few products on the market you can try as well.

www.netpetshop.co.uk/p-16...-dogs-15ml.aspx

www.simplyk9.co.uk/shop/i...95275e1f75dc019

Have also heard of people useing the travel tablets for humans with sucess,
and making sure they cant see out.

What Chook says is good adive. Bree used to get car sick but stopped when we got Xena. Fortunately Lockie never got car sick.

Ben was very bad in cars when younger, he'll go in one now but is still not that keen. He also had a similar experience as we drove him from Glascow to Stafford when we picked him up and he was extremelly stressed. I gradually coaxed him to get in a car and always took him out to a nice place to walk to encourage good experiences.

On a longer journey I gave him 1 "Sea Legs" sickness tablet as recommended by a breeder and it worked well. I understand that this is the only tablet suitable for a Deerhound and other brands should not be given without being thoroughly checked out with an authorative person.

I do sympathise with you, earlir posts by me explain Murphy's car sickness. He hated it, was sick after 5 minutes in the car. No amount of treats made it any better, he never ate in the car, even if a juicy steak would have been put in front of him, he would turn his nose up.

The advice about taking them somewhere nice is good, she'll associate the car with a nice place to walk. It seems at the moment you aren't getting her out and about only to the vets, that might be the problem.

Is the car comfortable for her, I had to buy a van so he had room and he is ok now. He too used to saliva all over the headrests of my car and shake like a big jelly.

The key here is perseverance, she will get better, but get her in the car every day. Even now at nearly 4, Murphy walks so slow back to the car and if you mention the word car he sulks off and hides at home, though he gets in and out of his own accord. Or you could borrow a dog that she likes to play with and take him out in the car too!

Keep on trying, it will get better, you sound just like us with Murphy when he was younger. Oh and get one of those plastic covers, I paid a £1 in Tesco and it completely covered the back of the car up and any sick was hosed off, it'll keep your car clean.

Thankyou all for your helpful advise. My car is a Toyota Hilux pickup (double cab), which I bought when my other rescued cross breed dog Charlie outgrew my previous car - he was only a wee pup when I first brought him home & he just kept growing & growing - he's now a very similar size to my Deerhound Amy. I have tried feeding Amy in the back of the pickup ( which has a roof & opening windows ) successfully, I have also left the back open & the cab doors open & she's jumped into the back no problem. The problem only arises when I want her to get into the pickup rather than she wants to/chooses to herself ! I don't know how she knows, but she does. It takes between 20 mins to over an hour sometimes. On the last trip which was to the vets I eventually got her into the back with Charlie for the journey down - she slavered all of the way, the inside was soaking. Then, as we had arrived at the vets a little early I took both dogs for a walk, unfortunately this involved walking past my pickup to get to the vets. Amy thought we were heading for another ride & so slipped her collar & ran away from the car, she circumnavigated the vets garden a few times before returning to me at the vets door - & only then because I was pretending to talk to another dog ! Nightmare ! I jokingly asked the vet " forget the dogs could you inject me instead " we were all so stressed out. Then for the return journey both dogs were in the cab with me, which although less room than the back, Amy did not slaver as much as she had done on the way down.
I think it was a good suggestion to take Amy somewhere nice rather than to the vets, there are loads of different great walks that I would like to take her on if only I could get her in the vehicle. I just worry that I'd eventually get her into the vehicle, she would enjoy the walk especially somewhere new, then I'd struggle to get her back into the vehicle to return home.
I will take on board your suggestions & keep trying.

One day, I will never forgt it, we took Murphy to the golf course, he must have been 5/6 months old, let him off for his run about, time to go home, he knew, he knew every inch of that course and where abouts the car was parked, so we confused him and walked a different route. Made no difference, he spotted the car before I got him back on his lead. Although he wanted to be with me, he wouldn't come within 100 yards of me, if I stopped, he stopped and sat down, if I wanlked near him, he shot off a bit, it was a nightmare. Then it hit me, I turned my back on him and was facing my husband, I thn preceeded to walk backwards, being guided by my husband until I eventually got him, he didn't see that one! The point is the car caused such problems, but you have to persevere, every day, even for 10 minutes and she must get in on her own accord, not when it suits. You'll injure your back trying to lift her and then she will never progress to doing it herself. Just be firm, she has to do what you want her to do, not the other way round.
I know it's hard and I do sympathise with you, been there but keep on trying!!! One day she will just hop in!

Ben was just like Murphy. I took him to puppy training classes and at the end of class he just wouldn't go anywhere near the car, he walked me around the car park for an hour avoiding getting within 30 yards or so of the car. Eventually I tied him to a fence and drove the car to him and lifted him in the back despite his protests.

I have a BMW 318 hatch back, the rear entrance is a bit high, one day I opened the drivers door and put the seat as forward as it would go providing plenty of space behind the drivers seat and coaxed him in, he went pretty well and climbed up into the rear quite spontaineously. I do think that on top of his car phobia he also did not like being lifted into the car, I was told my a dog chiropractor that a large dog should not be lifted as it puts tension on their spine and can dislodge the spinal discs. He still is not keen on the car but will get in through the drivers door when I insist.

If your car door is quite high you could try placing a make shift platform beside the door for her to climb onto.

Keep on practicing. Take her out as much as possible. They do grow out of it.
Since the day we brought Mac back from the breeder he was sick in the car.
For a long time he really didn't like it at all. Everytime we walked over to the car to take him somewhere he would run the other way. Even ran off and hid in his kennel and wouldn't come out.

I think the most important thing is that they feel safe, secure and stable in the back of the car.
It took a long time for Mac to relax in the back of the car and now he jumps in ready to go to lots of a nice places.

Blimey - I must be really lucky cause no dog I have ever owned has had problems with the car! Murray refuses to get out and has to have his lead clipped onto his collar before he moves and Smokey greyhound usually spends most of her day in the back seat in the summer (with all doors opened. I have not really thought about the difficulties that car sick dogs go through

Elsie Grey's original owners said that she was really car sick & panicy and they could not take her out at all in their car. She had medication from the vet when we drove her down from Norfolk & was fine, although she had Daisy May in the car with her, so she may have felt more settled.
To start with I just took her for short drives followed by an immediate free run & she soon just associated the car with nice things I have never had to give her any further medication & the only time she has been sick in the car was after eating unsavoury things (say no more!)
Maybe she just grew out of it, or slowly got used to longer journeys.
Good luck, I hope it sorts itself out so your poor hound can enjoy a trip out

Cars…..
Our dogs love to travel in our old Grand Voyager, space and comfort. And as it nearly has travelled 300.000 + kilometres,
we do take care that the dear vehicle does not get upset. But our dogs always get upset in our “second” car. I can tell you, they do not like speed or anything of so called modern comfort…………On the other side our first male Ardkinglas Euston travelled in my very first car all the way down from Scotland to Germany all the time being sick…..and that was a very old VW Golf.
On another occasion Klaus first Deerhound-bitch would not jump into his blue Renault 20. That one was soon replaced (different matter) by a green Renault 20; and the dear darling jumped into the car……………………….

I sympathise so much with this we got a deerhound pup 2 months ago - and from the first drive home she has shown that she hates the car - we thought it would improve if we took her for short distances to a place that she would associate with a lovely walk but if anything she gets worse - and drags away from going out of the front door even because she associates that with the car - once in the car she does settle down but the threat of it is overwhelming for her!

p.s. she looks beautiful!!

We have an audi A4 and I know the suspension is very hard in german cars - maybe the golf was the same - maybe that is the key to the problem!!

Cathcode, I have to say this, don't let it become a major issue. Murphy was exactly the same and having greyhounds and Lurchers for years, never came across this before, I was just like you and the others on here, didn't know what to do. I didn't show him until he was well over a year old, emailed people, asked various others for advice.

Murphy is 4 now and this is a long forgotton problem, BUT, when you go to put his lead on now, although he is excited about going for a walk and cries with excitement, he will put his neck on the floor and avoid the collar going on. If he is out in the gaden he stands by the back gate.....shaking!

Sometimes we feed their fears, by talking about it and sympathising with them and nurturing that fear. Lead on, no talking, straight out to the car, day in day out, it WILL go away, trust me! It just feels like the end of the world.

Don't make a big fuss of it, you need the dog to do what you want it to do, or else if he/she wins with one thing, they are like children and will know how to get out of doing anything you want them to do. You're the boss!!!