Making plans for a Christmas pup

[c zoomer]

Hi Everyone!  I'm new...my first time writing, and I'm hoping you will share any tips on planning for a possible heavy snow day puppy Pick day and 2 weeks later puppy pick UP day in the Great Lakes snow belt.

It would be a 9+  hour drive in good weather (no stops), more than likely 12 hours, with stops. 17 hrs by train. Flying would eat up 2 hours in security, and 2 flight time, plus 1 for the rental car and 1.5 to drive to the breeder. (6.5)  The real concern would be heavy snow on pick UP day.  I would like to avoid a puppy nanny if possible and possibly take the train going To and then travel by air going home with the pup.  Amtrak told me that a dog cannot travel by train on any long trip since they're not allowed to leave their carrier to potty.

I would just love meeting all of the pups in the litter, which is why I'm thinking of making 2 trips. My breeder has not told me where I am in the picking order. The best part is I am very happy with the parent dogs.  They are lovely and just what I would like for my own pup, so picking one will be easy...or maybe not so easy grin>>

So, any snow stories and tips?  I almost wish pick day was the same as Pick Up day if we could visit with ALL the pups for a while.  Since they will be 9 weeks between Christmas and New Years, perhaps that would make it easier for the breeder.

My doodle will be my retirement companion.  I had promised myself a dog for so many years, but was not home enough.  My cats were great, but not really able to travel with me or go fishin'.  A doodle will enjoy the outdoors and will be a fishing buddy. I also look forward to doing some flyball and obedience work and hope the pup will too.  Please send stories of your puppy pick day and Pick Up day, especially if you were traveling long distances.

My special thanks,

Colleene

 

[Amy and Annabelle]

I live in mid Michigan, the biggest problem where I live would be icy roads. Not so much a lot of snow, unless you go way north. If you are inexperienced in winter weather driving, I would seriously go the route where you don't have to do any, or very little. Icy roads are bad enough when you are experienced. Western Michigan near the lake is even worse driving, you can get whiteout conditions and it is treacherous. I have been in my share of them. Semi trucks scare me to death in bad weather.

[Amy and Annabelle]

When I see UP in your post I am thinking upper peninsula, which we call the UP. You seriously don't want to drive up there in winter.

I never saw my puppy until the day I brought her home. I wanted a small girl and she was the smallest in her litter, so I felt like I got the one I would have chosen anyway. Mine is a mini and at 2 years old she only weighs 16lbs. My breeder was only 2 hours away, so it would have been easy for me to go twice if I had to. The day I picked her up there was one other puppy left that hadn't been shipped out yet to her new owner. Congratulations on your new puppy.

[Beth & Cheddar]

I don't have any tips for traveling in snow/ice. But I just wanted to chime in and say that I did not get a chance to visit the breeder in person until pickup day and we ended up with the perfect pup for our family. From talking to the breeder and seeing all the pictures and videos she posted I knew which pup I wanted. When my brother went to visit the breeder he said that our puppy was perfect and he would have chosen him if we hadn't already. So if you can't meet the puppies beforehand but trust your breeder, it is possible to get the right pup for you still.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Can one book a room on a train? If so, I'd sneak my puppy into my room and take a pee pad, soft crate and lots of clean up stuff.  :-}

[Amy and Annabelle]

What if the puppy starts crying and yelping. It is a long time on a train.Wouldn't want her to get in trouble and thrown off the train.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

True!

[c zoomer]

Thanks to those who have written with ideas and encouragement. I am over the top with this litter and have no worries about the right pup. I was hoping to hear from those of you who had weather issues when they picked up their pups, and had to travel long distances.  Did the breeder delay pick up?  One of the reasons I thought about the train was that they will go through ice storms!  You see, at first, the dam was expected to come into season a lot earlier, and have her litter in the Fall.  I thought I would be driving and everything was "no worries".  The Christmas date has thrown me for a loop.  But it does make an extra special Christmas present. Please write if you had weather problems when your pup was ready for pick up.  Hearing your stories will be comforting...knowing how everything worked out.

I'm curious about the Puppy Nannies--do they travel in coach with the pup under the seat, then after delivering the pup to you get right back on the next plane to go home?  or are they flight attendants who are working the flight and keeping an eye on the pup?  One breeder I talked to said she used a flight attendant, but didn't say if she was on duty or off duty when she did this. just wondering....

Thank you for your replies,

Colleene  PS - Looking forward to seeing videos that will show the pups at play so you can see their rank within the litter.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Colleene, Welcome to DK and congratulations on your puppy. I traveled approx. 550 miles to pick up our Fudge. I did not have bad weather and my daughter drove with me home. Fudge was so good in the car. I made her a bed next to me and she was perfect. When we got Vern, again it was not in bad weather, but I traveled another 400 plus miles to pick him up and a friend went with me. Again, Vern was a dream. I just made sure to stop often along the way home, but they both slept a lot of the time. I live in Michigan now and they handle snow so much better than Pennsylvania, where we moved from. Good luck. I get to stay home with my dogs and they are such great company for me.

[Amy and Annabelle]

I didn't know you were my neighbor. I come from Colorado, they weren't very good at handling snow and we would get 3ft every so often. Where I lived anyway we usually had to wait for the winds to come down out of the mountains to melt it. Michigan does handle it better.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We just moved last October. I knew Michigan was tough when I saw workmen shoveling the snow off a roof in our neighborhood on a house that was being renovated :) Nothing shuts down for snow. LOL We are really close to the Indiana line.

[Haley, Yeti, and Phin]

I totally agree with this! Would anyone drive with you?!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Good advice!