# Long Car Ride Advice



## Naughtona (Dec 12, 2012)

Hi everyone! I will be bringing home my first V puppy at the beginning of March! I am very excited and anxious already, but I have a question about bringing the little girl home. I live in Duluth, Minnesota and the breeder lives in Iowa; about an 8 hour drive without stops. I'm not sure how a puppy will handle this long of a drive (much longer than 8 hours when factoring in potty and playtime stops). I have considered shipping but I heard it is very pricey and I'm really nervous about putting a small puppy on a plane alone. 

Any insight into this issue would be greatly appreciated! Also, any good puppy literature you recommend? I need to study up in the next seven weeks!


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

We did a 9 hour drive with our pup and she did just fine. I really prefer this over shipping. It gives you and the pup some good bonding time. 

Watch all the Ian Dunbar videos you can find on YouTube. He has excellent advice for puppy training.

Here is a link to some free literature from Ian Dunbar on puppies:

http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads

Oh, and read this thread so you can have an idea of what to expect from your "sweet" little pup  :

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,6693.0.html

Here is a link to a chart of your pup's developmental stages (very helpful for moments of "why is my puppy doing this???"):

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/developmentalstages.html


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

I only had a three hour drive with my puppy, and he did fine. I imagine yours will too, even though it's longer. Will you be driving it alone? Or with another person? There were two of us, and I held him while my friend drove. He was a little restless for the first five or so minutes, then quickly settled and fell into a pretty good sleep. It was the most adorable thing. He did wake up when we were 15 minutes away from home...the breeder thought he might be able to hold it. He was not, and he peed all over me! So I'd expect to stop every couple of hours for a potty break. But puppies that age mostly eat and sleep, with a little play thrown in. So I imagine she'd be fine. Even if it's just you, she'd probably be ok in her crate in the back. Have a nice comfy bed/blankets ready for her in there, and the breeder will probably give you toys and/or blankets that smell like her litter for comfort. Maybe throw in a piece of your recently worn clothing too, so she can get used to your smell. But again, I think it would be fine. She'll probably sleep most of the way! But definitely helpful if it's more than just you in the car. Get a friend and propose an awesome road trip! Go down the day before, stay the night, then pick up your pup and come home. I grew up in Iowa, but live in the Twin Cities now--depending on where your breeder is from, there could be awesome stuff to do. Or...not. : Also a possibility.

I personally wouldn't want to mess with shipping, especially on planes, in late winter/early spring, unless an absolute necessity. You would also have to take into account weather. For example, here are some of Delta's policies. The pet can be carry-on, but then you'd have to buy a transporter's ticket plus the fee, or you'd have to fly down yourself and then fly back. There aren't a lot of airports in Iowa, and most are small and regional. Is your breeder near a local airport? If not, would you have to pay for their travel to the airport? The pet can be checked and placed in baggage, or it can be shipped as cargo. Also, Delta will not accept animals as checked luggage (and I would assume also as cargo) if, at any point (origin/transit/destination, the high temperature is below 10F, though that might not be a problem in early March. Delta also has a winter embargo through March 31, though I think that only applies to certain hubs. 

Shipping by plane seems more trouble than it's worth to me in this situation, and as threefsh said, that long car ride is a great time to bond with your pup!


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## Naughtona (Dec 12, 2012)

Thank you guys! I was leaning towards driving but now I will definitely be going that route. My mom has volunteered to make the trip with me, so that is a definite plus! Asking for a blanket or toy from the breeder is a great idea, I will make sure to do that! And I'm going to get to work right now on those links


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## GarysApollo (Nov 27, 2012)

When we brought our first boy home he slept almost the whole ride. Stoped to force him to pee q couple times, and he did not care much to play.

Our second we flew to get, well my wife did. To fly the dog it is only 250. But we did not want him under the plain, so my wife bought a cheap round trip ticket and it was an additional 75 to carry on the puppy. She had no problems, other than the flight attendants wanting to pet him non stop! 

We to got our second boy from Iowa but we live in Maryland, would have been a 40 hour round trip drive. The flight on Frontier airlines was well worth it, for under 300 dollars she was there and back in 10 hours or so.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Just stop for 15 minutes every hour. Drink, pee, poo, eat, play then back in the car and pup will normally fall asleep. Try to have pup on your lap if your able. It's a great opportunity for you both to fall in love with each other and form the beginnings of a tight and lifelong bond. For me, the first few hours are important........... Be cool, be relaxed.......have a Valium if you need to.......but never get upset in those crucial hours. Even yelling at a stupid driver can hurt them.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

First, we tired him out a little... observed him carefully as they played among siblings, did a little bonding play training...

Then, breeder gave us a blanket, wrapped the little monster in it.
We did not place him on the seat alone would probably make him carsick and probably would pee as well... 
Instead, wife held him all the way home. Baby boy slept most of time. Stopped almost every two hours ...last stop at PetSmart for some last minute supplies and as soon as his little paws hit the grass, peed and pooped. 

Background info ... Breeder took each pup one by one and held them, usually they fell asleep. At the same time she taught them a little bit of bite inhibition. 
This is why Sammy (now, 23 months old) still falls asleep every time I hold him in my arms.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Yeah Data, you made a great point. First thing you do when arriving home is take pup IMMEDIATELY to the area where you want him to go toilet hence forth. I had forgotten about that....


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Me too...too tired, too excited, dog went on the carpet.


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

When you stop for potty breaks, try to avoid areas that are frequented by lots of unknown dogs. Your puppy still needs her shots. 

I had Savannah flown to the nearest airport (no problems), then we had a 2 hour drive home. The vet warned me that we had parvo in our area, so rather than stop, I put a potty pad in a clean cat litter box so she could pee (and I could clean it up easily) during the trip. No problems. When she got out of the car, she peed again. To this day, she still prefers to pee in that area of the yard.

One last thought; although, I can't imagine you'll have any concerns in the midwest. When Savannah and I drove to California last year, our vet said that the state of California can ask for health papers on a dog crossing the state line. We were never stopped, but I was glad he let me know and gave us the paperwork.

Enjoy the trip!


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