# How does your GSD puppy/dog react on car rides?



## Robb (Jul 16, 2010)

Juno (14 weeks) loves getting in the car and seems to love being in it on rides...but mostly seems interested in just curling up across us and sleeping while we drive (with her face in the vent if she can! ). <although she's about to be too big to continue that in the front seat! >

How are your puppies/dogs on car rides? Like to sleep? Like to look out the window? Curious if the car is relaxing her or perhaps upsetting her stomach or something else. Also curious if she'll eventually enjoy sitting up and looking out the windows.

Would love to hear other folks experiences!


----------



## DJEtzel (Feb 11, 2010)

Frag almost always lays down in the back seat and sleeps. If I roll the windows down he'll sit up and sniff out them for a few seconds, then he goes back to sleeping though. Sometimes he'll sit up with the windows up and rest his head on the back of the back seat and look out the back window, but that's rare. He likes sleeping in front of the back vents as well.


----------



## JLOCKHART29 (Aug 23, 2009)

Auron is 12 weeks today. Teaching him "down" on the back of the Pathfinder so he doesn't scratch it up trying to get in his crate!LOL Once in his crate you never hear a peep out of him in the car. Never been sick at all.


----------



## Herbie__53 (Aug 25, 2010)

My new 8 week old puppy curls up in his crate and sleeps on the back seat - its an hour and a half's drive to the vets (we live in the sticks) and we never hear a peep out of him!
Not so lucky with our four month old mixed breed pup though... she is always sick :-(


----------



## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

My GSD Sinister loves car rides. Open the door and he gets in and lays down. He has no interest in the windows. He lays down for the whole ride. 

My GSD/Husky mix Rogue hated car rides when I first got him (couple of days ago) now instead of fighting me because he doesn't want to get in and screaming and drooling like a wild animal, he jumps in on his own and sits in the back seat. Sometimes he drools and sometimes he cries but he is getting alot better.


----------



## jakeandrenee (Apr 30, 2010)

Sleeps the whole time....loves it.


----------



## bianca (Mar 28, 2010)

Molly (9 months) has always loved going/being in the car, she always looks out the windows and barely ever sleeps in there


----------



## Wolfiesmom (Apr 10, 2010)

Wolfie gets so excited to get in the car and go for a ride. He hops right in, and holds his head out the window. Then the car sickness sets in, and he paces for a bit, lies down for a bit, drools a lot. If we don't stop after about 45 minutes and let him walk around he will vomit.


----------



## crisp (Jun 23, 2010)

My dog always loved car rides. As a pup she would sleep, I think because she couldn't see out the window and knew not to stand up after a sudden stop made her fall over. Now she sits in the back and stares out the whole time. She will monitor all the cars around us and give a solitary 'woof' if she sees another dog in a car. At every stop light she will move forward and lay her head on my shoulder or lick my ear. As I start driving, she sits back and goes back to her windows.


----------



## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

They are all crazy to go somewhere. All ride crated while in the car though, so they generally just sleep on the way.


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

My 8yr old male, Apache, shakes like a leaf & drools all over his legs, he just lays there waiting for it to be over. 
My 6yr old, Kiya, goes crazy as soon as I say "want to go in the truck" she cries and runs around like a wild woman so excited. When she finally gets in the truck she lays in her spot by the back door, occasionally sitting looking out the window. You would never even know she was there, she'd stay in the truck all day if I let her.
Lakota, 7 months, is so good. Her spot is laying down right behind my set. Occasionally she rests her nose behind me looking around at everything.


----------



## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

I crated them when they were puppies, once they hit about 5 mos old they were too big to fit in the crate- my car isn't big enough to hold the proper size for them now. So they either lay down and sleep or watch the cars go by. Stosh is a fiend for motorcycles so he barks at them, other than that they're very well behaved


----------



## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Stosh said:


> Stosh is a fiend for motorcycles so he barks at them


I have to laugh, I ride so when my dogs hear a bike, they look around as if to say horray "Mommy's home".


----------



## JazzNScout (Aug 2, 2008)

Does this answer your question?


----------



## clearcreekranch (Mar 18, 2010)

Wolf just sleeps. We recently went to Kentucky from Texas. Yea, it was looooooong 2 day drive there and 2 day drive back. He slept the whole time. But he loves riding in my utility vehicle and of course, not in the back, right in the seat.


----------



## Robb (Jul 16, 2010)

Thanks for the great experiences!! We'll see if she decides to start looking around as she gets older but for now...she just loves to jump in, curl up and nap for the whole drive.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Riley used to be terrified of car rides but a couple trips to the dog park and pet stores fixed that so he's all happy and excited and does a spinning kinda dance. Zena was a fiend for rides but i think it was only cuz she likes sleeping so much. Shelby will jump into anyones car if it means a ride and Shasta gets car sick but we're working on that one. She's fine as long as Shelby is riding with us.


----------



## Jelpy (Nov 8, 2009)

Lycan doesn't care, he'll lay down and go to sleep. Allie is wildly excited and makes whining and woofing sounds, particularly if we get close to an area where I generally stop and let her out. Grendel is a backseat driver. She parks between the two front seats with those big ole bat ears at full alert keeps an eye on everything. Periodically she'll turn around and give a disapproving look. You can almost hear the dialogue:

"Do you have to go so fast? Watch out for that car? You are noticing the light up ahead aren't you? What's with the leadfoot? You're braking too hard! Shouldn't we stop and ask directions...."

Jelpy


----------



## vrett2k (May 11, 2010)

Unfortunately I don't have A/C in my truck but Sydney loves to ride. She'll have her front paws on the center counsel viewing out the back slider window, panting and slobber hitting the back of my neck or the windshield.


----------



## ccl16rt (Jun 24, 2010)

My almost 6 month old puppy just lays down, he he gets sick easily. Definitly on long car rides (over an hour), and every now and then on shorter rides... I dont know what to do. I heard he will grow out of it, but next week he will be 6 months and he is still getting sick. I dont know....


----------



## CHawkins (Jul 12, 2010)

Gella is 11 weeks old and absolutely loves to go for rides!


----------



## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

Morgan has always LOVED car rides. She sits up and watches everything. She used to try to bounce a lot - before I discovered the miracle of buckling her up, she was often bouncing from seat to seat.

Otto enjoys the car, he's just more mellow about it. He sits up usually for a few minutes to look around. Then he gets bored or something so he curls up until we get to where we're going. As soon as the car parks, he's up again.

Funny about Otto, until he was 3 months old, he fit in the console. He would ride there on all our socialization rides when he was a wee pup, right next to me, safe and happy buckled up with his baby harness. NOw at 2 and 80lbs, he still tries to fit in the console!


----------



## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

If you want her to be a backseat passenger, it would be best to start right away. It's going to be harder the longer she gets to ride in the front seat. I was lucky to have a friend tell me that as didn't do it with her dog (a Schnauzer) as a puppy, and when he was an adult - no way would he ride in the back. She may be more comfortable on the floor until she is older. You can put a towel or blanket down and take along toys. Sting was/is great in the car, (aside from the one time when he was teething and he decided to chew on the upholstery!) but it wasn't until he was 7 months old that he climbed up on the backseat, inspite of me putting his toys, favorite bear, and even sitting there myself to show him. Now he rests his head on the backseat armrest and looks out the window. He is so relaxed, I can even go through the car wash with him as the backseat passenger.


----------



## patti (Apr 7, 2010)

Unfortunately, like Wolfie, my Bo will drool and then throw up, usually on my feet....


----------



## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

i never had a problem with my
boy and car rides. i use to sit in the car with him 
while the car was in the driveway. sometimes
i fed him in the car or treated him. sometimes
i would back up and down our small driveway.
slowly our rides go longer and longer.

i taught my boy to ride in the back and to lay
down when in the car. i also taught him not 
to exit the car without a command. sometimes
my dog will sit up and ride backwards looking
out of the back window (Subaru wagon).

sometimes before we leave the house
i'll go out and open the car door.
i'll come in and gather somethings. before we leave
i'll say "Loki get your leash". Loki grabs his leash
and i'll open the front door and say "get in the car".
out the door he goes and jumps in the car
and lays down.

my boy likes riding in the car.


----------



## Andrew (Jun 16, 2010)

My baby Katie used to get carsick and throw up a lot. 
I think she's better during car rides now.

She sits in the back, and almost always takes a nap until we reach our destination. I occasionally see her ears point up when my horrible singing skills reach a bad note.

I really need to get her used to a dog seatbelt, even though she's calm and never comes up to the front, you never know what may happen.


----------



## Kinmartin0789 (Aug 25, 2010)

Caesar (10 weeks) loves car rides, hes very calm and needs air on him but he loves to sit on our laps which wont be able to happen here soon. we're going to start putting him in the back seat with toys but i bet he'll try and climb up front


----------



## Helly (Mar 31, 2008)

Jasper is "OK" with car rides...but he tends to throw up...in my purse


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

ccl16rt said:


> My almost 6 month old puppy just lays down, he he gets sick easily. Definitly on long car rides (over an hour), and every now and then on shorter rides... I dont know what to do. I heard he will grow out of it, but next week he will be 6 months and he is still getting sick. I dont know....


 

unfortunately some dogs never grow out of it. my great grandparents had a GSD for 14 years. Car sick from day one. If he's not better by the time he's a year old, you can ask your vet for medications he can take. I know they can take benedryl and but i never remember the exact dose. its something like 25 milligrams for every 20 lbs. or close to it. we're having the same issue with our pup but she's been doing well as long as she doesnt eat 3-4 hours before a ride and we have my older female with us showing her its okay.


----------



## Jessiewessie99 (Mar 6, 2009)

Molly is ok if the windows are down she usually just lays down next to someone. Tanner loves car rides! Once we were drivng to dog park, and Tanner was in the front passanger seat. We came to a red light and the guy next to us said "He knows he is top dog!"lol


----------



## selzer (May 7, 2005)

All my dogs are good in the car. Hard not to be, as they are in airline crates in the back of the SUV. All LOVE to go for rides, none get sick, none make a fuss, though some will KNOW where we are going and get a little antsy when we are getting near the destination. Weird.


----------



## Myles (May 23, 2010)

Maxwell loves to just watch out the windows. He does the same thing at home hel just stare out the window and stare and stare and stare kinda freaks the neighbors out haha.


----------



## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

At 3 months mine hated car rides, tried to hide in the foot well and would throw up after 20 minutes or less. We persisted and took her daily to the park. Over time her natural curiousity took over and by 4 months she was comfortable and looking around, head out the window, etc. By 5 months she was perfectly OK and looked forward to rides.


----------



## Kela (Sep 1, 2010)

*Desi just loves the car He knows now that means park with other dogs He is so friendly *


----------



## paulag1955 (Jun 29, 2010)

If the ride is long enough, Shasta curls up and sleeps. It's so cute though, to see how her head pops up when she hears the parking brake go on.

On the other hand, we had a toy poodle when I was growing up that had to be tranquilized for a long car ride.


----------

