The 411 on car sick dogs

A bunch of nice people passed on my foster pup Meggie because she gets car sick. My Collie and his entire litter got car sick for the first few months. Half of the fosters that we have had in the last year got car sick. Finney was easy to deal with, I just gave him Benydryl and a kid's lap to sit on in the car when he was a pup. Stella, formally foster dog Evon, lives quite happily with my cousins. She was adopted out while they were still getting her sickness under control. They had a hard time because they live in Boston and the stop and go traffic made her sick at first.

Are they happy to have adopted a dog that overcame her car issues? Of course! I have never known of a dog who did not get past car sickness.


Meggie' and Stella's car sickness is based in fear. Many of the pups who have been shipped up from the south get car sick. Three days in a van is a pretty scary place, especially if you are not feeling well. In hindsight, I wished I had started with the Benydryl earlier. Once the dogs get sick, then they fear getting sick and that in turn makes them sick. Meggie had been doing really well and taking rides with me that were very short. Picking up a kid down the street, or a ride to an off leash park. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I drove her to Windham to be in class did she get sick both ways io the 30 minute ride that I realized that she was not yet over the hump. Prior to that if I saw that she started to drool, I pulled right over and let her get her sea legs and she was fine for the remainder of the short trip, sans gak. 



So, moving on to finding Meggie her forever home, I have stepped up my plans at helping her overcome her car sickness. Only problem is, I don't have a car at this time. My Kia Sedona van was towed up 95 from York after it overheated. Shout out to tow truck driver Don who took not only my 9 year old kid, but my dog Charlee in his tow truck. Tow truck drivers do not have to take babies in car seats, or dogs due to some sort of liability issues, or so they have told me when I was stuck on the side of a the road in the past No amount of eye lash batting, or bribery changed their mind.

I mention this because while there is nothing you can do at the time, it is something to keep in mind when you take your dogs to various destinations. My daughter and I commented how grateful we were that we didn't have Meggie in the car last night!

Once I get a vehicle back, I am stepping up Meggie's car training. This will involve short trips with Benydrl given a half hour before we leave.  She will get to go  fun places on an empty stomach, we will hang in the car when it is not moving, and she will eat her  meals in the car in the driveway. We will also try ground ginger. You can buy ginger powder in bulk and then put it in your own organic capsules. I will let you know how that goes. I have been accused of not really wanting to place Meggie and undermining her potential homes.

Guilty! But Meggie is just so darn cute and her reactivity is pretty much gone with me, and I worry that it will come back if I am not super careful where she is placed.

By the way, today is national Shelter Dog Appreciation Day. Shout out to my favorite gal pal Charlee who was pulled from a kill shelter in Albany NY after being relinquished when her owner died.

Finney, the day we picked him up.  He didn't gak that day, but did get sick a few times in the begining.  His entire litter got over getting car sick in a few months with just a little effort.

Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites

In preparation for my first time wrangling of about 25 dogs for a Television commercial, I baked a batch of Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites. Humans were told to bring treats, but I wanted to be sure we had a super high value treats just in case.

My budget for dog's treats breaks the bank some weeks. When I saw my trainer friend  Tracy Haskell's  blog on  salmon brownies that she baked and brought to a Rally-O trial, I took a look at the recipe and couldn't wait to give it a try. I already had a pack of seven 7 oz cans of Salmon my mother bought me at Costco (for human fish chowder , but Mom I still have enough for fish chowder) and all the other ingredients on hand.
While I realize that was not technically free, it sure seemed like it last week! A comparable dog treat if purchased in a store, would not be nearly as healthy and would cost about 10 dollars for less than half a pound. I estimate this made the equivalent of perhaps a dozen store sized  bags, but my guestimate math is weak at best . What I do know is that I had enough for all the dogs at the shoot, and for training treats for my 4 dogs, and my client's dogs for another week. Only a few dogs turned their noses up at it. Most of the dogs including mine, acted like it was doggie crack.
Now that is some guestimate math that I can get behind!

For Charlee who is on a very restricted diet due to pancreatitis, I stored the treats in with her regular food to make her own food tastier and of course smellier. She still has a small bag of  salmon trail mix left.

Tracy's recipe is for Salmon Brownies, but I ended up using my pizza pan, which is how I ended up making Salmon Puppy Pizza Bites. 

Copy and pasted below is Tracy's recipe. I will be making them again, and next time I am going to add shredded sweet potato. I will let you all know how that turns out. If you have a  tried and true high value dog treat recipe (not biscuits) please share in the comment section. My baking time was closer to 50 minutes.


FYI, I froze leftovers in small baggies and used them as needed. I have no idea how long you can freeze these for, but at my house that is not ever an issue.

Bandit liked them so much his Mom asked for the recipe.  I wish they had told me that you can't wear shoes in the studio, guess who wasn't wearing any socks that day?

Tracy's Chewy Salmon Brownies


The Basic Recipe
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix All together:


14 to 18 oz. canned fish- do not drain (salmon, tuna)
2 or 3 eggs
1/2 cup cheese finely grated
1 1/2 cups flour (oat, wheat...)
Spread onto an oiled 9 x 13 inch baking sheet.
Bake about 20 minutes.
A large chef's knife works well to cut them. After cutting remove from pan to cool.


Makes about a bazillion training size treats!


Feed to your dog- who hopefully relishes them- woof, woof woof!