Hi there! I have a black standard poodle, 6 months old, who is wonderful in every aspect but one---she drools all over the car when she is travelling, even on short jaunts to the store, wet before she is out of the driveway, and then gets sick once we have stopped. It is so pitiful because when she gets home, she is back to her happy, romping self in poodledom! Well, we have tried ace (by vet, a tranquilizer) it makes her so out of it,she sleeps for 2 days..half tablet does same thing. Got a travel kennel, she gets sick and drools till she is soaked..tried ginger tablets and ginger drops...still drool everywhere...tried flushing ears as vet thought might be ear problems...still no help!! Has anyone experienced this? She is so wonderful other than this...it is so sad!! Can somebody help me?? Thanks

-- Anonymous, January 05, 2001

Answers

Yes! Not with a poodle, but with a maltipoo and with a rottweiler. My solution was a long and tedious one. The drooling was nerves and car sickness. It starts with tiny steps.

1) Sit with dog in car, not moving, not turned on. Once there is no drooling for long stretches, turn the car on. 2) Once the dog doesn't drool with the car running, drive down the driveway and back up. Quit for at least and hour. 3) If the dog doesn't drool in the driveway, drive around the block. 4) Always praise (but don't food treat!) with success and when she can go for short distances try just taking her to the park for a couple of weeks (or someplace else she thoroughly enjoys). 5) If you have to take her a distance that she's uncomfortable with, so be it but be aware that you may have to back up a couple of steps in her conditioning to keep her comfortable. 6) Hopefully, you will eventually have a dog that will just curl up and snooze for drives.

Some dogs seem to have more difficulty when they look out the windows, esp. the side ones. Others enjoy looking outside and I think find it distracting. A breeze is almost always helpful but don't let your dog stick its head out of the window; it's cute but it can lead to eye, ear, nose, throat and lung problems. It has also led to hundreds of dead dogs because the owners didn't realize they could get their bodies out of the window at 50miles an hour.

Also, I find that my dog, who generally is ambivalent about car rides will get sick, drooly and feel generally horrible if she has eaten within 2 hours of the long rides or has just had a long drink.

Best of luck! I hope this was helpful.

P.S. I have heard of people giving half a kid's gravol but this makes me nervous and you should definetly check with your vet before considering this in any way.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2001