Bringing puppy home - Car safety harness and parvo

[Katherine]

Hi,

I'm picking up my puppy in two weeks. Ahhh, so excited - can't wait!

The breeder is an 8 hour drive away, so I'm really keen on ensuring the home trip is as positive and safe as possible.

I'll be the only person on the drive, and I'll be keen to have her near me so I can see when she's upset or if she gets restless or unwell. So a crate in the back of the car is not something I'm considering.

My plan had been to build up the foot space on the passenger seat, insert a dog bed and secure the puppy with the best car harness. As always I googled this, and came across one comment that puppies are too young to use a car safety harness, and that they should be transported in crates. To me that seems odd - seems they would be and feel safer with a harness rather than slip-sliding around in a crate.

Would love to hear what you guys think.

The other thing I'd like input on is rest stops. She will be on her way to being potty trained, so the breeder says I probably only need to stop once, after 4 hours on the way home. Of course, more frequent stops reduces risk of an accident (and potential house training set-back) but increases risk of Parvo exposure. I think I'll probably land on stopping twice. Views?  More importantly, I keep trying to think of a good way to think of places to stop that have the lowest risk of Parvo exposure - something I can search for on a map or spot from the motorway, as I'm not familiar with the area. Shopping Mall parking area (of course not in front of Pet Smart)? A beach? Random roadside on a small rural side road? What is the one place where a dog can pee that is least likely to have ben visited by dogs or Parvo carrying wildlife? 

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

Hi Katherine,

The first picture below shows a Solvit brand booster seat, which we used to bring our puppy home.  She was eight pounds at the time, and we used it until she turned 20 pounds.  Since she was outgrowing the first seat, we purchased an Animals Matter brand booster like the largest one in the second photo.  I think it was their 3X model.  We also used a Puppia "Ritefit" soft harness, and still do.  Both booster seats come with a tether, which is easily attached to the harness.

There are lots of options for travelling safely with a puppy.  This is what we chose, and it has worked wonderfully.

I hope this helps!

Laurie

[Kathy, Atticus, and Kylie]

I had an XS harness (up to 15 lbs) and a S harness (15-30 lbs) and the S cinched as tight as it would go fit him perfectly and was very secure. My pup was 12-13 lbs when he came home, he's a little tank!

[Carrie]

My trainer recommended just putting my pup on the passenger seat as she was (and still is) prone to car sickness. I drove her an hour to the airport and then took her on the plane in a Sherpa carrier. I know that many people feel the passenger side seat us unsafe and I hope never to be in a car accident to find out. She never moves around though as she mostly lays in a sad heap, hoping the torture of the car will end soon. She is now 24 weeks and we drove 8 hours each way to Buffalo and back over the holidays.

[Missy]

So Katherine,

How did the pick up go?  I too have a long trip for a pickup: over 6 hours, and I am nervous about the car sickness and potty breaks. I have the option to stop for a sleepover halfway home, but would like to get the pup to the vet for the first visit as soon as possible.  I just wonder, if you  thought the 8 hour trip was too much?

Missy

[Gwyndolyn Morasko]

I know that I'm way too late to help the original question from Katherine, but maybe I can help Missy.  I was shocked and amazed at how well my Kona did both on his flight from Montana to California (I paid someone to fly with him on the plane), and since he did so well with her, I decided to take him back to Montana for Christmas.  After trying several other carriers approved for in-cabin pets that Kona rejected (barked and scratched), I got him this Sleepy Pod:  http://sleepypod.com/air   Wow!  It was a life saver for me.  Made for an expensive trip, but worth it, and he still fits in it (barely) for car trips to the vet and pet store.  

It was a 16 hour day of travel to Montana....LA to Salt Lake flight...layover for a few hours in the airport, then Salt lake to Billings Montana, then a 4 hour drive in the car.  The SleepyPod is designed both for the handle on your luggage and for the seat belt of a car.  Kona didn't make a peep until about the 12th hour when we stopped at a restaurant.  He started barking in the restaurant, so the manager came over and gave him a bowl of water.  But not a peep on the plane or in the car.  It is very cozy.  

Kona was the runt when he first flew down (3.5 pounds), then about 9 pounds for the flight at Christmas.  And now he's 16 pounds and long.  He amazingly still goes in on his own and somehow manages to turn around to get comfy to look at me through the mesh, but I know that he's on his last month with this wonderful travel carrier!  They LIKE to be in a small pod when they are young and without a lot of mesh so they can feel more secure and confined.  The all mesh ones give them too much to look at so they don't settle down and sleep as much.

[Missy]

Thank you for the information!!  Kona is so cute!!

I hope our trip is as successful.  At this point I don't know if I will be traveling alone or not, so something that will keep our pup cuddled is appealing. Wow, 16 hours is a long trip, and here I'm fussin over a 5 hour trip. lol

I used to have a cat that would get car sick for a trip to the vet-30 minutes away, so I really hope the new pup is a travel warrior.  Thanks for the information on the carrier,

missy

 

[Katherine]

All,

A big thank you for all the contributions! My reply is really late as life got hectic with a new baby (puppy) in the home.

After all the feedback, which was super, I decided to go for a Solvit booster. Went for one small enough to be in the passenger seat.

Also bought a Clix dog harness (size xs) as they're supposed to be very robust as they're made of real seat belt material and protect the important chest. Was shocked to see crash tests of dog harnesses (none measure up), and they said very often the harness itself is robust, but the buckles aren't. So I brought along a genuine mountain climbing Carabiner and looped that one through the material of the harness and the material of the Solvit strap. "Belts and braces" but rather safe than sorry.

Ended up stopping more times than planned - she apparently wouldn't pee in the seat so let me know every time she needed to stop. First stop was on a parking lot in front of a shopping mall (to reduce parvo exposure) but where I stopped had too many cars driving which stressed her. Next stops were all shops, but quieter corners.

Had brought bowls, food and water which she appreciated. Put some of the food directly in the seat when she was bored - she loved the hunt.

Think it was good I had her in the passenger seat as I could then pet her, and she was very calm. Since then her seat is consistently in the back seat, which she doesn't like. lol.

She slept almost the entire way - probably 7 of the 8 hours of driving. Unplanned effect was that when we got home I was dead tired after 16 hrs driving, while she was awake almost all night. Next day was tough. :-)

Thanks again for all the tips received here - so nice to undertake the journey knowing she was safe yet comfortable. Reduced my stress a lot.