Many years ago I had an Akita like this. She was so bad that just being in the car without it moving made her sick. Taking her on very short rides to places she enjoyed - as in a mile or less to a neighbor's where she got to visit - helped and she did get to where she could tolerate longer car rides. However, she never loved going in the car the way most do.
I wondered back then if a first car ride sets the expectations for the dog as Bear was very carsick on the way home from the breeder's (and she was 4 months old when I got her). It was a 6-hour trip, and she was sick the whole way. I stopped often and took her for walks, and she'd perk up and frolic, and then back in the car and miserable again.
However, since then I have brought puppies home on longer trips without a problem, including one that at 8 weeks I picked up in Michigan and brought home to Colorado - so breeder to motel the first day (2 hours, first experience in a crate), motel to vet for health exam the next day, motel to airport the day after that, plane ride stuffed in crate and under my seat, ride on mini-train and elevators, courtesy bus ride to parking lot in Denver's airport, then at last an hour home. She never was sick and loved going in cars all her life.
One of my current Rotties also rode over an hour home in an unfamiliar crate without signs of nausea. So I think it's like kids, some are prone to car sickness and some aren't. Probably some grow out of it and some don't also.
I wondered back then if a first car ride sets the expectations for the dog as Bear was very carsick on the way home from the breeder's (and she was 4 months old when I got her). It was a 6-hour trip, and she was sick the whole way. I stopped often and took her for walks, and she'd perk up and frolic, and then back in the car and miserable again.
However, since then I have brought puppies home on longer trips without a problem, including one that at 8 weeks I picked up in Michigan and brought home to Colorado - so breeder to motel the first day (2 hours, first experience in a crate), motel to vet for health exam the next day, motel to airport the day after that, plane ride stuffed in crate and under my seat, ride on mini-train and elevators, courtesy bus ride to parking lot in Denver's airport, then at last an hour home. She never was sick and loved going in cars all her life.
One of my current Rotties also rode over an hour home in an unfamiliar crate without signs of nausea. So I think it's like kids, some are prone to car sickness and some aren't. Probably some grow out of it and some don't also.
