Puppy vomiting in car

[Drbrowns]

Any tips to help with a puppy who vomits anytime he’s in the car? Even just for small trips. I got a spray from the vet that’s supposed to help calm him in the car but I think it’s motion sickness instead of an anxiety thing.

I read somewhere that puppies are susceptible to travel sickness as their brains are still developing, and when they look through the car windows at the world whizzing past their brain are pretty much scrambled.
We spent days feeding our puppy in the car with engine running without going anywhere, then going fairly short distances with a nice walk at the end.
We also taped over the side windows, so our puppy could only see straight ahead or behind.
He is fine now, although we still don’t risk very long journeys yet.

They do tend to grow out of it. If it's purely the motion then all I would do is avoid feeding before a journey and hopefully it's just a phase.

I found with ours that once she could see our of the windows, things improved. She was fine as an adult.

Tried everything with ours-in a soft cage in the front, in the boot, covered/uncovered, out of the cage, window open etc but only time fixed it and now he’s fine.
He would be sick with no pattern as to how long the journey and would drool constantly and then gradually it stopped!

I had an older dog that did this. Roundabouts in particular and deep bends produced instant vom.
DH cured him by taking him twice a day slowly in the van down to the riverbank, where there weren't too many deep bends and he really looked forward to the long walks. Took about four months.
Good on ya, DH.

Do you think the more he goes in the car the quicker it will stop or should I try and avoid it for a while?

I would think that you need to avoid him being sick, as that will reinforce that the car is something to be anxious about.