Dog Trip

[BillK]

My daughter is moving from Seattle to Dallas and has a rather large Great Dane/Louisiana Catahoula mix (80-85 pounds) dog.

She will be travelling with the dog in the back of her jeep.

She has had recommendations to give the dog BENADRYL/diphenhydramine should the dog become agitated or car sick etc. Can you tell me - what would you recommend should this happen?

Thanks in advance...

[Brad Buckley, D.V.M.]

As you know, diphenhydramine can have a mild sedative effect and this can help some dogs with travel related anxiety and motion sickness. Unfortunately, the sedation is not as predictable in dogs as it is in people (yours truly cannot operate heavy machinery while taking Benadryl!!!!!) but it is safe and effective for most. The key to efficacy in my opinion is to dose the med about 45 minutes prior to travel before the dog has the opportunity to ramp up the anxiety. This will typically cause the dog to relax some and thus become more comfortable with travel. The dose for an 80-85 pound dog would be about 50mg (2 capsules) 45 minutes prior to travel then repeat every 8 hours as needed.

We also prescribe the good ol' fashioned tranq, Acepromazine, and have similar success. Additionally, I have also prescribed Alprazolam and it works really well.

The key to successful use, IMO, regardless of the drug is to dose BEFORE travel and give drug time to take affect. I hope this helps and safe travels to your daughter!

BB

[BillK]

As you know, diphenhydramine can have a mild sedative effect and this can help some dogs with travel related anxiety and motion sickness. Unfortunately, the sedation is not as predictable in dogs as it is in people (yours truly cannot operate heavy machinery while taking Benadryl!!!!!) but it is safe and effective for most. The key to efficacy in my opinion is to dose the med about 45 minutes prior to travel before the dog has the opportunity to ramp up the anxiety. This will typically cause the dog to relax some and thus become more comfortable with travel. The dose for an 80-85 pound dog would be about 50mg (2 capsules) 45 minutes prior to travel then repeat every 8 hours as needed.

We also prescribe the good ol' fashioned tranq, Acepromazine, and have similar success. Additionally, I have also prescribed Alprazolam and it works really well.

The key to successful use, IMO, regardless of the drug is to dose BEFORE travel and give drug time to take affect. I hope this helps and safe travels to your daughter!

BB

Thank you sir! She travels REGULARLY with this dog. The dog LOVES to travel. No anxiety at all. The longest trip she has done though is about two hours. This trip is going to be across country.

The dog has never been car sick. She is simply worried that if this occurs, what could she do. My statement to her was the following:

1. once the dog is getting sick (you should try and catch it as quickly as possible) stop , medicate the dog and then wait for up to an hour so that the medication is taking effect before you continue
2. I recommended that she NOT pre-medicate the dog since the dog has never gotten sick before and most likely on straight aways (highway driving) would not get sick.
3. I recommended that she try 25 mg of Benedryl before she leaves so that she knows the effect that this has on the dog since from everything I read it actually can make some dogs more hyper... <grin> Not something you want in an 80 pound great dane.

Thank you for responding.