MOTION SICKNESS IN DOGS



Let's go for a drive?


Much like you hoomans some of us also experience motion sickness. It is however more common in puppies than in adult dogs as the ear structures of puppies aren't fully developed which thereby affects our ability to balance. And in some cases because of the experience of the first few rides we develop anxiety when it comes to car rides, even after our systems are fully developed. Therefore, steps have to be taken to tackle this from the very beginning. 

One totally awesome way of fixing it from the start is play with us in ways that will prepare us for the car rides in the future. Cuddle us upside down in your laps, lift us up in the air or may be play a lot of "Roll Over" with us. These small motions a few times a day will somewhere prepare us for the kind of movements we will experience in cars in future.
Thereafter you can follow the below mentioned simple steps:

1. Start putting us in the car with you for a few minutes a day. Don't turn on the car or drive  anywhere, just sit quietly praising and gently petting.
2. Next, you can open the doors of the car, while the engine is off,  and put us in so we can     freely explore and familiarize ourselves with the car
3. Thereafter, you can turn the car engine on and  we can spend some time in the car.
4.  After a few days, try staring the car and take us for small rides, say 10  minutes or so and   then slowly you can start increasing the time.

The trick here is to progress slowly and ensuring that we feel at ease in the car. 

One thing to keep in mind is that the backseat is where the most motion is. Also, in the backseat we can only see out the side windows where a whizzing blur of objects creates a fuzzy visual that aggravates motion sickness. By keeping us to the front, say in the middle seat and having us look forward towards the windshield puts us in a better position as we see less movement. And don't forget to use a seat-belt like harness on us while in the middle seat to keep us safe in case of an accident.

 Another important thing to keep in mind in case of long drives is not to feed the us at least 6 hours before the planned travel time. Feed us after the car ride. And do not use treats to reward us in the car. 

In my case my parents are using the conditioning approach with no oral medication to help me with my motion sickness. They only gave me oral medication once when we had to go for a 6 hours long drive. 
So, if you are planning a long drive with a young puppy like me please consult your Vet and in parallel the work to fix it for good can go on until we overcome it completely. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

KNOW YOUR DOGGO

Image
A lot of times we think we know our dogs, but do we really know them like our parents know us or you know your best friend. Upon asking people about what do their dogs love, these are the most common replies I hear: 1. My dog loves food 2. He loves cuddles 3. He loves walks 4. He loves to play with a ball But from where I see, these are sort of more generic things. Like when someone would ask my mom or my best friend about me, the details would be much more specific. Like when it came to food, there would definitely be things that I would prefer over the others, like Chinese over Italian. When it comes to cuddles, I could prefer hugs over kisses, or may be back scratches over everything else. I could prefer walks in the rain more than walks in general. I think knowing our dogs is underestimated. Like they say, "Dogs do talk, but only to those who listen". Your dogs are always telling you about themselves. And it is amazing how when we start listening the who
Read more

MY FIRST BATH !

Image
I had my first bath today and my hoomans ensured that I had fun. I hear so many of my pupper friends and their families find such a fun activity very tedious. So, I decided to put down all about our baths that you guys need to know.  WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME FOR A PUPPY'S BATH?  My first bath happened after 3 months, i.e, after 12 weeks, after all my vaccinations were done. Before that I only had sponge baths, mainly because there was no real need for it as I was not stepping out of the house as much. My parents say that they will bathe me once in 2 weeks in summers and bring it down to once a month during winters. My hoomans bathe me on sunny days so I can dry well in the sun and not end up feeling cold and ultimately falling sick. If puppers like me are bathed too often with a shampoo it is likely to disrupt the natural balance of our skin and fur.   Under our fur is a little world of friendly bacteria that help us maintain our skin at exactly the right level of ac
Read more