Hello all! We get to bring our new black lab puppy home this weekend. The problem is that the breeder is a just under 4 hour car ride from our house. Any tips on traveling with a wee one that long? It's a one time thing, so we aren't really worried about creating habits, but on the flip side, we don't want this to be a bad memory for the little guy as well. Thanks in advance!
Hi there. We had to travel 4 hours with ours, too. I prepared by lining the foot well with a bin bag, then plenty of newspaper and then a towel, so any accidents were caught. We took a big roll of kitchen paper and lots of wet wipes, prepared for either toileting or car sickness. But we didn't need any of it. Willow was awake for about half an hour, on my lap, then popped herself into the foot well and slept the whole way. We made sure that she hadn't been fed or watered for a couple of hours before the trip, to avoid car sickness. As soon as we got home, she needed a wee, so we let her outside immediately. Plenty of people here have travelled the same distance or longer and all seem to have been pretty uneventful. Do you have a name for your new pup yet?
I had towels, wipes, kitchen roll, bottles of water all available in the car together with the crate. Juno spent our 4 hour journey snuggled up on my lap in the back of car with no problems. Any good breeder will ensure that puppy hasn't been fed for a few hours before being collected.
Thank you both! I hadn't even thought of car sickness; I'll be sure to ask her not to feed him before the big trip. We are going to name him Mouse (he's a dog in a book series we love). I'll be sure to post lots of pictures when we get him. I can't wait!
Look forward to seeing some photos of Mouse. Have to say U loved our journey home with OH driving and me cuddling Juno in the back of the car. I think it was the foundation of our bond - and there's nothing quite like sleepy puppy cuddles, apart from licky puppy cuddles
Mouse, what a lovely name. Mabel was a 3 hour car journey away. We did precisely as @snowbunny with the added extra of an old fleece jacket of mine rubbed with the scent of Mabel's furry mum. She settled beautifully slept most of the way and has always been an excellent traveller since. Exciting times ahead for you. Enjoy.
I like to have puppy on my knee, cuddled up in a thick blanket. I feel this is an important time to bond, puppy has just been wrenched from Mum and siblings. Took the crate and lots of other supplies for just in case of course. Our expected 1.5 hour drive became 3 due to snow. Oban stood up on my lap nearly the whole time so he could look out the window. Shades of things to come. We never did it but I've heard of people leaving a blanket at the breeder's on a puppy visit so when that same blanket comes back home with you it smells like Mum and siblings so is a comfort. We also heard of taking some of the breeder's water home with you so there is not a big change in that, didn't do that either.
We had a 2 hour journey that turned into a 3 or 4 hour journey because of traffic. We had towels, newspaper and a bit of vetbed fleece. I had little Pongo on my lap, and then in the footwell in a box lined with newspapers and towel. I'm afraid the poor little boy didn't have a good journey - he was sick, pee-ed and poo-ed in the course of the journey and really didn't enjoy it at all. I think he had a bad attack of travel sickness and was feeling pretty rough. He didn't really want a cuddle, and was pretty miserable despite all our efforts to comfort him. BUT - as soon as we reached journey's end, he perked up, trotted around, explored everywhere with big waggy tail...and certainly didn't seem traumatised by it. He has no trouble with cars now! So, on the principle of "hope for the best but prepare for the worst", my advice would be: take lots of newspaper / towel, and also a plastic bag where you can put any soiled bits so you can replace with fresh as soon as accidents happen; give her as much comfort as you can, be calm and happy for her; and focus on just getting the journey over with as fast as possible (check the road reports!). And if it is not a good journey, don't feel too bad about it - just get her home and make a fuss of her there, and she'll get over it very quickly. But of course I really hope your journey is a pleasure, like most!
Ah good luck with your journey, all excellent bits of advice. A friend of mine has a cat called Mouse. Great name!
