Natural Remedy to Avoid Dog Motion Sickness in Car
Today's blog post tackles a queasy subject: 🤢🤢🤢 motion sickness in dogs.
If your dog companion gets anxious riding in the car, they might be experiencing motion sickness.
For those who frequently travel with their furry friends, using motion sickness medications or pills might seem like a viable option.
However, we're here to suggest a natural remedy that could help prevent your dog from getting car sick in the first place.
How to Know If My Dog Has Motion Sickness
Motion sickness in dogs is super common! If your dog is pacing, whining, and/or licking its lips when traveling in the car, they might be experiencing motion sickness.
Unfortunately, it's often overlooked and downplayed by people who live with dogs and are well-conditioned to car travel.
I'm not a dog, but I have experienced motion sickness. I can easily understand how riding in a car might feel akin to riding a roller coaster through a hall of mirrors for a dog.
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Why Do Dogs & Puppies Experience Motion Sickness?
Motion sickness is a common issue among dogs, particularly affecting those under one year old.
Dogs not properly conditioned to car travel can continue to experience stress and motion sickness into adulthood. Unfortunately, to date, telling them to 'just relax' has not been a proven method of stress reduction.
How to Prevent Motion Sickness in Dogs While Traveling by Car
Luckily, desensitizing your dog to car travel and counterconditioning new behaviors to improve your dog's riding experience is possible!
While it does take a bit of time to introduce settling in the car for full car rides slowly, our advice is to "just relax" and contact a professional dog trainer who can help you figure out a plan.
If you’re local to the PDX area, we’d love to help you at our dog training facility, Urban Pawsibilities, in Portland, OR.
3 Steps to Getting Your Dog to Settle & Relax in Car Rides
Secure Your Dog in the Vehicle: Is your dog loose in the car? The first step is to ensure the dog travels in a harness with a seatbelt attached to the back clip or in a car crate.
Reinforce Settled Behavior: Start by reinforcing your dog so they can lie in the car without moving. Reward your dog with small treats for settling in the backseat with the seatbelt on as you begin to put on your seatbelt and turn on the ignition.
Introduce Short Drives Gradually: Once your dog is comfortable, start with short trips around the block, reinforcing calm and lying down behaviors. Stick to these brief excursions until your dog shows readiness for longer durations.
Need Help Training Your Dog or Puppy to Relax During Car Rides?
Helping dogs feel more comfortable during car rides isn't complicated, but it does require patience and consistent training.
If you're local to the Portland area, consider visiting our dog training facility. We'd love to welcome you to one of our upcoming classes, where we tackle everything from motion sickness to basic obedience.
Not local? Get dog training tips and positive reinforcement techniques from our Certified Dog Trainers by following us on Instagram @Urban.Pawsibilities. We regularly share helpful videos and advice to enhance your dog training efforts!
