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I was hoping someone can help me with my beagle. The simplest car ride down to the vet can turn into a throw up nightmare. I tried not feeding anything hours ahead of taking her on a trip. I've tried those car sickness/calming pills that they sell at the pet stores, and even mild amounts of dramamine. I put her inside her crate now while she rides in the car, and its helped for a really short distance, but she still throws up. I want to be able to take her places, like the dog park, but its a really uncomfortable ride for her and myself. It gets to the point where she'll throw up bile even. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

>>I was hoping someone can help me with my beagle. The simplest car ride down to the vet can turn into a throw up nightmare. I tried not feeding anything hours ahead of taking her on a trip. I've tried those car sickness/calming pills that they sell at the pet stores, and even mild amounts of dramamine. I put her inside her crate now while she rides in the car, and its helped for a really short distance, but she still throws up. I want to be able to take her places, like the dog park, but its a really uncomfortable ride for her and myself. It gets to the point where she'll throw up bile even. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

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Your best bet is to condition her to a car gradually in a different way than riding in one. In fact, during the treatment program you need to avoid taking her for the kind of rides that are making her sick. How to do that, I'm not sure! One way might be to use a radically different vehicle. Another might be to work with your veterinarian on a sedative to use. Or you might just be able to arrange to avoid car rides long enough to rehabilitate her.

I personally don't like the idea of getting a dog's stomach empty, because that alone makes some dogs throw up. But the start of the program doesn't involve even running the car anyway. You just walk out the car--or near the car--and do things the dog likes, like dinner, treats, games. Gradually, session by session, you move this into the car without the car running, then with the car running, then back just down the driveway and back, then down the block, etc. First trips are to happy places. The longer the problem has continued, the longer the treatment will take. Go especially slowly in the earlier steps of the program. If at any point you cause the dog to get sick, that's a huge setback, so take baby steps.

Also a behavior specialist in person may have some great help for you with it. And be sure your dog's ears are 100% clear of infection at all times. Motion sickness is an ear problem, common in puppies, that most dogs outgrow.
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com

The thing is is that she doesn't hate getting into the car because the only time she gets into the car IS to go somewhere fun. She's three so I definately think she won't grow out of it. My car's lease is up in march, so I'm getting a new car so maybe it'll be better for her. Perhaps it could be her ears, but I just took her to the groomers and they cleaner her ears, so I hope that's not the source, because if it is than I got jipped. I think next time I go to the vet I should ask him any solutions.

I had the same problem with a beagle pup. My vet told us to try children benadryl in small volumes. It calms their stomach and makes them drousy. Worked like a charm until he got over the problem.