Traveling by car with kids and puppy

[Kim Fine]

Our puppy will be here in less than a week! We are sooo excited. Question for those of you who have traveled by car for more than a few hour with a young puppy. We will be home a few weeks with the new pup but then are planning to take a week long trip to my parent's house with the kids and dog. It is about a 5 hour drive and usually we stop 1-2 times for all of us to eat and use the bathroom. Typically my husband and I drive together but this time around we will have separate cars. I will be alone with my kids (9 and 7) and the puppy. How do you handle potty breaks (for humans and dogs) during a trip like this? Most of the drive is on 95 and much of it is the NJ turnpike. Just trying to figure out how to work this as usually we all go into a rest stop together, eat, use the bathroom and then leave. Obviously things will be different now with a puppy in the mix. Can I bring the puppy in? Wait right outside while kids use the bathroom? Leave the kids in the car with the dog while I run in? I'm just not sure what is the safest route. Thanks!

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

I got my 1st puppy back in September.   He was 7 weeks old.

I took Teddy after I had him only 4 days to the college where my nieces attend.  I think it was a 2 hour trip. The day before, he did 1 hr. 45 minutes to my parents.  I would say the first month I had him he travelled 2-3 times a week for an hour each way on average.

I'm not sure if the puppy can handle a 5 hour trip without a stop -- but if he is resting/napping, he might. You might want to just take a break at the 2 1/2 hour mark.  The rule of thumb is that a puppy can hold it in 1 hour for each month they are old, so if your puppy is 2-3 months old then that probably means 2-3 hours.

HOWEVER....I found that Teddy was able to handle at least DOUBLE that as I would leave him for 4-6 hours the first 2 months I had him.  A car is different because if the puppy is NOT sleeping/napping, then body functions continue and he might have to go sooner.

But if he sleeps most of the way, if the car ride puts him to sleep and is tranquil, I wouldn't be shocked if he made it all 5 hours without a problem.  Like sleeping at night.  But if he is just napping or resting, you'll probably either want to take a break at the 2 1/2 hour mark OR he'll let you know if he has to go.

You'll know more once you have the puppy in your own home a few weeks.  Teddy barked when he had to go out (even before learning how to ring potty bells) so I knew he was OK in his travelling cage when I took him on rides becaue he was quiet.  Never had an accident (except on the original air plane ride from the breeder to me ! LOL).

[Kim Fine]

Wow that is really lucky! I am assuming we will stop a few times because the kids and adults usually have to. I'm more worried about the logistics of it now that we will have the dog. Wasn't sure if people leave the dog in the car for any time at all even if its a few minutes. But it sounds like that is what we'll have to do. 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Don't leave the kids or dog alone at the rest stop.  Have an adult with them.  Lots of weirdos at these places.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Please do not leave the kids in the car.  If you are using a travel carrier or crate for the puppy it should be fine while you do your business, or if you like take the pup to do it's business and then take the kids. Once the pup is done it can be left in the locked car while you take the kids, may bark but people are used to hearing a dog bark. 

Just a thought, when my youngest doodle was a pup, actually until she was a bit over a year old, she got car sick.  If yours has a tendency to do that you may want to get some Dramamine, paper towels, Lysol and plastic bags to take along.  We had not thought of any of that and had to go miles to find a store to get supplies.

[Kim Fine]

Good to know! We will definitely get the supplies just in case. Thank you :)

[Lynda Kamrath]

We have done plenty of traveling with our dogs and they all love going in the car.  The puppy will adjust to your habits.  We currently have three dogs and have made the back of our car into a little kennel for them.  It is totally enclosed so that they cannot get into the front of the car.  They are loose back there, but we do use a crate when they are puppies for their own protection.  As soon as they understand their limits, they do just fine.  I usually take my sheepadoodle with me everywhere in the car and she can stay comfortably for over an hour while I am shopping, at a doctor's appointment, etc.  She gets in trouble if left at home (inside or outside) without supervision.  Don't leave a dog in a hot car for even a short time and make sure they have water and air when in a car alone.  We have a bed liner which cleans easily in case of accidents.  Bring some cleaning supplies with you.

About travel stops. You need to make frequent stops for everyone to stretch their legs and take a leak.  In California we have great roadside rest stops and we usually stop at most of them even if it is just to stretch our legs and walk the dogs.  I have halters that my dogs wear when we are traveling because it is just easier with a halter.  And you need to quickly get them used to commands like "stay" and "come".  We are moving up to Oregon next week and it is the first time we have made that long of a trip with three dogs.  My son and I are driving in the car with the three dogs. Wish us luck!  But I am confident it will all work out.

[Amy and Annabelle]

We used to do 4 total days round trip of travel with the 3 kids and a miniature schnauzer at least once a year to visit our extended family. That was just the travel, not the actual visit. I never did it by myself with just the kids, always had my husband with me. But if I did, depending on urgency, I would take either the kids into the bathroom first and leave the dog in his kennel, or the kids and I taking a walk with the dog first, then putting him back in his kennel and take the kids to the bathroom. I always left the windows cracked parked under a shade tree with a bowl of water in the kennel for the pup. A cooler took up too much valuable space, so in warm months we always went through a fast food drive thru for food and took it to a park and let kids and pup expend some energy. If we went back for Christmas, we just had a quick meal inside. Kids could always finish eating in the car if needed. Mind you this was 30 years ago, and things are different these days. Doing this for several years we knew the best places to stop. Which rest stops were more kid friendly with play grounds etc. Towns that had nice parks. Once my husband and I became empty nesters and made the trip by ourselves with no kids or dog, our travel time was just about cut in half.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Actually, the traveling in the car is going to be the easy part, as long as the pup doesn't get carsick.  :-)  Personally, I think that taking a very young pup that isn't yet potty trained into someone else's house for a week is going to be the most challenging part. I like traveling with my dogs, but it's a whole different ball game when they are super young. When I think back on all of the peeing, nipping, biting, etc. that Winnie did when she was a baby... yikes! Hopefully your pup will be very laid back. Plan on bringing a big jug of Nature's Miracle .... and a LOT of patience.... :-)

[Kim Fine]

I don't think I'd bring the puppy to anyone else's house except for my parents and they are excited to have us all there and see it when its so little. I might change my mind once the puppy is here and we see what its like! Definitely good to have all these tips though. Maybe in a few weeks I'll be saying we cancelled the trip! lol. We'll have to just take it day by day and see how we're doing.

[Amy and Annabelle]

Plus you have be careful with new puppies that aren't fully vaxed yet. Not sure how old your puppy will be when you go on this trip. Annabelle was 16 weeks I believe when she had her last puppy shot. Then I think there is a 2 week waiting period for the full protection to be in effect. You don't want your little pup to get sick. If not fully vaxed you may want to bring something from home for him to do his business on instead of letting him where the other dogs go.

[Kim Fine]

Yes, I plan on bringing the puppy pads and trying to use those. This is all making me kind of rethink the trip! We'll have a few weeks after we get the puppy and we'll have to just see how everything is going and how/if it will work. Thanks for all the tips!

[Wendy and Myla]

I think the trip itself will be fine - I would just stop often and let the puppy do his/her business, let him/her burn off some energy, put him/her back in the vehicle and then you guys do your stuff.   I would definitely "acclimatize" him/her to the car before you go!  When we picked up Myla at eight weeks, we had a six hour trip home - we did have our RV and stayed in it the first night.  We stopped a lot and let her run around - probably every hour just so she wouldn't hate going in a vehicle again which I think is important.  You always have to make travelling in a vehicle "fun" so that they want to go every time!  If you just plan to have a longer time period to get to your destination, I think it will be fun for all involved! 

I think that the hardest part of this trip will be the continuity of "potty training" in a different household.  Your puppy might be a bit overwhelmed and go backwards - as long as you realize that you might have to sort of start over when you get to your parents house and take out your puppy very often for breaks!  Treats and praise, treats and praise!!!!  It's definitely a great learning experience for your puppy and has to be done if this is in his/her future!!!!  Have fun!!!!!