Dog Car Seats

**flowergirl** · 12-04-2006, 03:04 PM

Okay, I think i may try a car seat for Daisy and Penny.

Daisy gets sick pretty much everytime she is in the car. If she is really tired she will just lay down and then she doesn't puke. But, otherwise, she likes to move around, look out the window, etc. I think the movement is what makes her sick. I was hoping she would grow out of this (Penny did) but she hasn't.

Penny doesn't get sick, but she gets so scared in the car.

She will curl up in my lap and bury her head if i let her, but for safety reasons, i don't often let her. I put her in the back seat. She lays there and burys her head, but i feel so bad because she will shake she is so scared. So, i think a seat may comfort her.

Does anyone use a car seat? I would love feedback. I want them to go in the back.

I'm thinking about this one by Outward Hound . It says it attaches to the passenger seat, but i think it would work in my back seat (I have an Element).

**borzoimom** · 12-04-2006, 03:58 PM

A dog that gets car sick having an enclosed crate, like a airline crate, usually does better as there is less to watch. I use to have a collie that got sick in the car, and I found that a vari kennel ( air line crate) with a blanket over the sides and back - he did much better and seldom got car sick. This will also work with your other one if the dog perceives the crate as a safety place...

**flowergirl** · 12-04-2006, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by borzoimom

A dog that gets car sick having an enclosed crate, like a airline crate, usually does better as there is less to watch.

So, do you think it is the view that is making her sick? That's interesting. I was thinking it was the movement. Since she is only about 20 lbs, i imagine she can feel every bump! I'll look into a closed crate. Thanks for the input!

**borzoimom** · 12-04-2006, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by flowergirl

So, do you think it is the view that is making her sick? That's interesting. I was thinking it was the movement. Since she is only about 20 lbs, i imagine she can feel every bump! I'll look into a closed crate. Thanks for the input!

Yes- too much view. If she felt more safe and secure, and only had the flying movements from one direction would be better. And quite frankly- she will be more so watching you and not looking out the drivers window. At first with my collie, I faced his crate that it looked into the back of a seat. ( it was snore city for him.. lol out like a light asleep..)

**lute** · 12-04-2006, 06:20 PM

i agree with borzoimom. i had to do it when Gracie was a puppy.

**BitsyNaceyDog** · 12-04-2006, 06:39 PM

I agree too that it's probably the view rather than the movement. One of my dogs, Nova, will get car sick whenever she looks out the window. I either use a crate or if my husband is driving and I'm in the passenger seat then I will put a blanket on the floor by my feet and she lays down there.

I've never used a car seat like the one you posted. For my 40 pound dog, Jake, I use a dog seatbelt and it works well. Without the seatbelt he tries to get into my lap. I got him a seatbelt and strap him into the middle of the back seat and he can lay down or sit and look out the window.

**Love That Collie** · 12-04-2006, 06:56 PM

Well, I have had the opposite occur than most of the posters on this thread.
I have a softside travel crate that holds upto about 34lbs. Bailey used it when he was smaller than his now 76lbs and Chloe used it until last week she is now 38lbs and 5 months old.

When Bailey was little he puked in the crate all the time until I let him ride out in the backseat........no puking, he loves to look out the window. Chloe only puked a little bit, sometimes. She now rides in the back cargo area (I have a stationwagon type car) on a non-skid fuzzy cargo coverup. No puking although she likes to ride only looking out of the back window. So, for these two, being confined to a crate wasn't what was good for them. They both ride beautifully.

The vet said it was probably the motion, coupled with the fact that they couldn't see outside, said kind of like if someone put me in an small confined space and I couldn't see out and began to move it rapidly and he said that some folks as well as animals get disoriented and some do not.

**borzoimom** · 12-04-2006, 07:08 PM

Once a dog is use to the car, out and about works. My guys have netting made for the interior of my van to make seperate areas, but they can easily stand up and turn around- but if I had to stop fast or someone hit me from behind- they could not go flying . ( will get a picture tomorrow- looks like cargo netting on a pick up truck but it runs up and down inside a van verses the cargo area of a truck.
I think for now, just let the dog feel secure. Nerves have a way of making dogs sicker faster.

**elizabethann** · 12-04-2006, 07:27 PM

http://www.snoozerpetproducts.com/ca...r_Seat_Lookout

This is what Fenway uses. He has the Oversided Pet Lookout Car Seat - in black. His doesn't have a drawer or a monogram. He loves it. But he's never gotten sick in the car (even before I purchased the car seat). He just hops up in it and looks out the window and then curls up into a ball & falls asleep.

**flowergirl** · 12-05-2006, 08:28 AM

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I will try to crate Daisy first, before i try the car seat. I tried to crate train her when she was a pup, and she would absolutley freak! So, i'm a little worried it will distress her, and not help. She does not appear nervous at all in the car, she really seems to like it, just gets car sick. I hope i find a solution that works. I love taking them places, but am tired of dealing with the puke! i have gotten pretty good at knowing when she is about to, and can get her to do her business in a plastic grocery bag about 90% of the time. lol.

She is the main reason i bought an element (just this past weekend-yeah!)...NO CARPET

**elizabethann** · 12-05-2006, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by flowergirl

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I will try to crate Daisy first, before i try the car seat. I tried to crate train her when she was a pup, and she would absolutley freak! So, i'm a little worried it will distress her, and not help. She does not appear nervous at all in the car, she really seems to like it, just gets car sick. I hope i find a solution that works. I love taking them places, but am tired of dealing with the puke! i have gotten pretty good at knowing when she is about to, and can get her to do her business in a plastic grocery bag about 90% of the time. lol.

She is the main reason i bought an element (just this past weekend-yeah!)...NO CARPET

Elements don't have carpeting? I never knew that.

Good luck with your dog. I hope she stops puking.

**TFTpwnsYou** · 12-05-2006, 09:34 AM

I have that same exact car seat for my dogs. Works really well. My one was skeptical of it at 1st, but now he just chills. I think he thinks he's big man now....lol. And it acually should fit in the back seat. I have those seats that fold down to get in the trunk, so I just fixed it all up good, and it sits perfectly back there. I'm hoping what they're saying about crating works because I have a Pap who gets car sick. I put him in a crate and he throws up, but outside of one he just drools a lot. But maybe since yours throws up out of a crate, maybe it will work the other way...lol.