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Travel troubles

My spaniel pup suffers really badly in the car, is there any way to help him overcome the travel sickness problem? Chris F VICKY PAYNE replies: Firstly many pups are travel sick and most grow out of it quickly. Make sure you don’t travel him too soon after eating and make good associations with the

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My spaniel pup suffers really badly in the car, is there any way to help him overcome the travel sickness problem?

Chris F

VICKY PAYNE replies: Firstly many pups are travel sick and most grow out of it quickly. Make sure you don’t travel him too soon after eating and make good associations with the car by playing with him in there and even feeding him in there every day. The car boot is not designed for passengers and not all dogs travel well there; consider putting him on the back seat in a car harness on even the passenger footwell but ensure he can’t distract you and cause an accident. Some are better if they can see out, others prefer to be covered up.

If the problem persists and he seems nauseous rather than afraid (happy to get in, sick later in the journey) feeding ginger can help. If he is afraid (unhappy to get in, drooling before car even starts) then various calming sprays and tablets from your vet may help. My own puppy suffered terribly badly and it took two months of daily training with the car to get her happy about travelling; now she’s great!

Avoid long journeys during car training but if you have to travel there is an anti-sickness tablet available from your vet which will stop motion sickness for 12 hours. It can’t be used daily and is quite expensive but will mean your car training isn’t put back.