Long car ride home with new puppy

[Ashley & Penny]

Hey all--

Any suggestions for a 9 hour drive with our 9 week old puppy? We are picking her up in Tennessee this weekend and live in Florida. I have my cat's travel carrier I was planning on bringing as well as a seatbelt/harness for the puppy. I was going to see which one worked better, but do you have any suggestions? How many potty breaks am I looking at here?

Thanks, Ashley & Penny :)

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Potty Breaks: Give one when you take yours.  This pup is not trained so you cant mess anything up.   This is a tiny tiny baby,  Expect accidents. Tiny tiny accidents.   Its all okay.  The dog will be trained in due time. 

I am a firm believer in harnessing your dog and my dog does wear a seat belt but...... shhh dont tell anyone I said this but my thoughts are to place that puppy inside your jacket, right next to your heart and keep it there as long as it wants to be there.

It should feel safe and warm and hear and feel your heart.  Ask the breeder to give you a blanket or a shirt or something with the scent of the pups mom.  Wrap the pup in a blanket and keep it really close

[Ashley & Penny]

:)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We brought a crate when we drove 5 hours to get our puppy and he hated it even though he was crate trained.  So we put a towel on the floor behind my seat and Ned either slept there or in my lap. Six years later his favorite place in our car is still on the floor behind the seat!   We made several stops but he only pottied once and he let us know he needed to go because he got all squirmy.  Ned has always had an iron bladder so he doesn't go as often as our other dogs.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

What Joanne said!

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Also, when you do take potty breaks for her...try to find out of the way spots where the chance of other dogs being there is not too great. Remember her immune system is not the strongest at this point and Parvovirus is out there.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We stopped at industrial buildings that had grassy parkways.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

I was driving alone so I put my pup in a crate secured on the passenger side, so I could put my fingers in and he could see me. He had a soft toy and blanket from "mom" and litter mates. He slept the whole way - 2-3 hours.  But if someone else was driving …I'd do what Joanne said :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

My drive was shorter but I also kept the puppies in a crate next to me as I drove.

[Jordan & Daisy]

We did a 10+ hour drive with Daisy at 9 weeks from Ohio to Massachusetts and honestly it was a lot easier than I had anticipated.

We bought a crate but she would howl and cry inside of it so (I shouldn't be admitting this to the harness folks) I held her in my arms the entire ride to comfort her- as Joanne said. I could tell it was a traumatic for her being so young and removed from her litter. She did get sick once or twice but our breeder hadn't fed them much for breakfast so it was only a little bit. I had a towel on my lap and I just held her the whole way. She slept 90% of the way, not even making a sound. We stopped twice to let her go potty, probably every 4 hours or so. We made sure NOT to stop on a rest stop or place where lots of dogs had been because of diseases. We would pull off at a residential exit and find some grass. I also gave her water and some food in her crate during these rests. Other than that I found that the highway travel soothed her to sleep and we really bonded because she had her little head nudged into my chest the whole way. Good luck to you! :)

[Sally S Miles]

Take an x-pen with you, or a playpen - then the little one can stretch a bit. I put newspaper under the x-pen - but cardboard would have been better with wind.  Each of our dogs was a long drive back - she was a bit older and larger, just held it - but he was tiny and every hour to hour and  a half he had to go, but he hollered like mad when it was time to pee. 

  Frankly by an hour and a half I have 'dead end syndrome', but he missed the mark twice.  Stopping at places that are not dog parks, not high traffic, not rest areas if possible. 

A pile of extra towels, for inside his crate as well as clean ups - chew toys - small amount of kibble - water. 

[Jordan & Daisy]

Oh yes!! Lots of towels and paper towels!

[Ashley & Penny]

Thanks for all the wonderful advice :)