Dr. Donna Kelleher was interviewed for and article on dog Car Sickness/Anxiety in the June 2015 issue of Whole Dog Journal.
Five magic words: “Wanna go for a ride?” These six simple syllables are enough to launch some dogs into a dizzying display of tail-wagging leaps and spins in eager anticipation of the fun to be found in a car buzzing along the open road. In contrast, though, are the dogs who find car rides as much fun as most humans do root canals. For some dogs, the dislike is physical; they experience motion sickness and battle with nausea, drooling, and vomiting. For others, it’s emotional, and the dog suffers from anxiety associated with riding in the car. Unfortunately, the two causes can overlap, where a dog initially experiences physical motion sickness and comes to associate the unpleasant feelings with the car, which leads to anxiety related to riding in the car.