Fear Of Riding

How could anyone be mean to this little puppy? It happened. We found Pylon the evening before we got our marriage license. She was wandering cold and hungry in a parking lot. The people in the surrounding building said she had been tossed out the window of a moving car by some college students early in the day.


She came home with us and grew into a wonderful gentle dog, but she was justifiably scared of cars. When we tried to take her for a ride she trembled, drooled and vomited, every single time.


She would try to hide when she realized we were going in the car and when we caught her and put her in the back seat, she would stand nervously in the center of the seat, as far from the windows as she could get. Our rides with her were no fun for any of us.


Here's Py in Myrtle Beach, a ten hour ride from our house. We had used a drug the vet gave us and it had mixed results. She continued to drool, but she finally collapsed on the seat, though she didn't shut her eyes. When we arrived at our destination, she was out of it. She was so wobbly she could barely walk and couldn't eat. She slept for about eight hours before she was able to be herself. This wasn't the answer.


We started leaving her home and felt bad that she was missing the fun of playing at the park. Then my friend Sue, who is from England, told me about a product they used in England. It was called Sea Legs and though it's made for people, it worked well for her dog Shadow.

She gave me a couple tablets from her stash and we tried one on Py.


It worked. There was no vomiting, no drooling and although she didn't sleep, she did manage to lie down on the back seat. There was no more heavy panting and the best part was that when we arrived at our destination, she was able to run and play and even eat. When it was time to come home she didn't need another tablet. One lasted all day.


Since I've been prone to car sickness my whole life, I tried Sea Legs and they worked well for me, too, no more queasy feeling. They weren't available in this country so Sue had her mother send me a supply and every time I ran low, she resupplied us. Pylon never learned to like the car. She always tried to hide, but at least she wasn't miserable on our trips and they were much more enjoyable for us.


The active ingredient in Sea Legs is meclozine hydrochloride BP 12.5 mg. I don't know if these are now available here. We haven't needed them for awhile. All my dogs are good riders and compete to go for rides. Morgan used to be a nervous rider and we used Sea Legs on her for her first two years, but now she's probably the dog that rides with us most often. She's not the least nervous about riding now. Perhaps her daily dose of valium helps. Sea Legs is available online.