Caney went through a phase as a puppy where she HATED being in the car. When she was very young we took her in the car a lot without any issues, but one day out of the blue she got sick in the car... she was probably around 6 months old then. After that incident she did NOT want to get in the car for anything, it was literally a struggle to get her into any car, and once she was in, if the ride was longer than 10 minutes, she'd get sick again. She would whine constantly and drool more and more before she threw up... it was NOT fun... but at least I had some warning :rolleyes: This went on for several months. She finally got over it and now LOVES car rides and has not gotten sick since then, even on trips several hours long.
To help her overcome her fear/carsickness I had to gradually build her up to longer rides, but in the beginning we didn't go anywhere at all... we'd sit on the driveway next to the car, then practice getting in and out with lots of praise for getting in on her own, then getting in and starting the car, etc. I made a point to ALWAYS take her on short errands that I knew she could handle... to the grocery store, the gas station, etc. When in the car I encouraged her to SIT (she tends to pace from window to window and stand up tall for a better view, which I'm sure doesn't help motion sickness) and paid her absolutely no attention when she whined. I made sure to give praise whenever she was sitting/laying in the seat and being quiet. The window was always at least cracked if not open, the radio turned off or on very low volume, and I tried my hardest to make the ride as smooth as possible for her. She rode with me on short trips like this nearly every day, and little by little she got better at it, but it took several months before she actually started to enjoy car rides again.
I'd suggest just keeping with it... take her on lots of short trips, and if you ever think she's about to get sick, pull over and let her get out for a minute. She probably remembers those two times she got sick in the car, and she'll need LOTS of good experiences in the car before she can forget about the bad. On the other hand, another bad experience in the car will reinforce that fear she has and will be a major setback... so make sure not to do too much too soon. For now (while she still has this "car anxiety"), do whatever you can to make her feel relaxed and comfortable in the car.
