Long Trip Ahead

[craigcom]

Hi All

We are going down to Warrnambool for a long weekend and have decided to take Ozzie with us. He is a 6.5 month old Autralian Terrier. We picked him up near Ballarat when he was 8 weeks old and the drive back to Melbourne was fine. We do short trips every now and then to the vet, parks, friends houses etc and he seems fine. If it is a short trip then often he wil go in the back seat of the Tarago with my kids but sometimes it is in his crate. Again we have had no isues thus far.

I am nervous though as this will be a 5 hour trip for him and he will be in his crate. Is this a crazy idea or should I just leave him in a kennel for the long weekend?

[persephone]

Where will you be staying? this is more important than the trip In my books, anyway..

Is it dog friendly accomodation?

Does he have a pen/secure yard?

Do you have a longl ine for walking him?- I don't believe a pup should be free run in a new and strange environment....

5 hrs.. he will be well exercised beforehand, and put in his crate ?

A break for a toilet walk onlead every 2 hrs... and a little drink maybe- he should be fine.

[craigcom]

Thanks for the advice.

He will stay with us the first night inside at a family's place but because they do not have a secure yard we will be placing him in a good kennel 5 minutes away for 3 nights. What is great is that it is only 5 minutes away and we are more than welcome to take him out during the day which we are going to do.

Yes I will ensure that he is well exercised before he is placed in his crate. At least 2 breaks are planned with a bit of a walk. I am also planning on raising his crate so he can see out of the windows as well.

Edited September 14, 2009 by craigcom

[Guest Pandii]

I am in Warrnambool and travel to Melbourne a bit with my dogs, they travel fine, let them out for a few pee stops and all is good.

You boy will probably sleep most of the way, mine do

[jerojath]

I am also in Warrnambool (Hi Pandii! ).

Depending on where abouts you are in Melbourne, it shouldn't take 5 hours.

I go to Melbourne from time to time and as long as peak-hour traffic between Geelong & the city is avoided, you can usually do the trip in about 3.5 hours - especially with the new Geelong by-pass.

If you are coming up on the Princes, Colac is a good place to stop. There is a big central park with toilet facilities right in the heart of town. Dogs are allowed there (leashed) so just bring some poop bags along in the car.

Enjoy Warrnambool!

*If you have any specific questions regarding Warrnambool, feel free to pop into the Warrnambool thread in the DOL social events section of this forum.

[Tim & Tanya]

Travel safely Craigcom... If you get bored while in Warrny jump on here and gives us Warrny people a bell, we will come and have a doggy date...

[bobchic]

Glen 20 for any smelly accidents in the car!!!

Make sure you pack a spare floor mat for the crate as well

Should be all good. Have fun!

[tlc]

Mmm seems all the Warrnambool peeps have popped in Im another one. I have 4 (as you can tell from my siggy) and we quite often travel from Warrnambool to Bairnsdale which is a long trip at least 8 hours with a few stops. I always stop at Winchelsea, there are toilets and a park below the swimming pool, it is great and usually deserted at this time of the year. So usually then I dont stop just strait through. Mine have all travelled long distances since they were tiny pups so very used to it. The longest trip we have done was 10 hours with one stop, they slept the whole way. I wouldnt worry sounds like you plan, your pup will probly sleep most of the way anyway. Just a quick question, where will he be in the car, I know with my lot I have a station wagon and my oldest doesnt like being hot I always know when it has warmed up as he crys. In the rear of the wagon if it is warm it can heat up quite quickly, something to keep in mind. On long trips mine are on seatbelt restraints in the back seat. For short trip when they in the very rear of the wagon I have the air con on. Have fun theres a bit to see in Warrnambool, Make sure you go see the whales there is a few about this year!! Have fun!!

Edited September 14, 2009 by tlc

[craigcom]

Warrnambool people, and you others, thank you for all the advice. You live in a great place and we get down there 2 or 3 times a year. This will be the first time with Ozzie though. Can you recommend great places for dogs to run and play like beaches, parks etc? Are any of them fenced off as Ozzie is only 6 months and being a little terror, I mean terrier, he can get so excited and distracted sometimes that the call back is not where we would like it to be at this point? Will also check the Warrnambool thread (thanks jerojath).

He will be in the middle seats of the Tarago next to the window and next to my 2 year old so they will chat away. He will be in his crate and I will bring extra blankets (thanks bobchic).

[Ravyk]

My OH and I are also travelling on the long weekend [coincidently through Warrnambool too] with our dogs. All up we are doing about a 2000k trip.

Our dogs are quite used to long trips [don't get car sick often]. We've travelled to Port Pirie and back numerous times with them, and all over SA. Normally they sit looking out the window for awhile, then just snooze until something interesting happens or we stop. Ours aren't crate trained so they lounge across the back seat.

Don't forget some toys to keep him occupied.

[persephone]

Are any of them fenced off as Ozzie is only 6 months and being a little terror, I mean terrier, he can get so excited and distracted sometimes that the call back is not where we would like it to be at this point?

As you will be in a totally foreign area to the pup, my advice would be to get him a long line... about 5 metres or so- and run him on that! A pup running off in a strange area can get into all sorts of trouble

[Scarlet]

I think he is ready for a drive of a few hours. It is good for dogs to get used to cars as you never know when they'll need to travel really long distances.

Maybe I've been lucky not to have a dog who gets car sick as many of them have travelled very long distances in the car and they usually just go to sleep.

[percyk]

you soon know when a dog is no good in the car

so if hes been fine

he should stay fine

we take all of ours plus kids on long drives up and down the coast

sometimese the dogs dont even want to get out - theyre all asleep!

we stop every three hours

and we dont travel for longer than six hours a day normally but i wouldnt think too much about the dogs in our case - only our fatigue and boredom lol

[craigcom]

Thanks all again for your help. The trip went great except for when we left Melbourne and got stuck in some terrible Friday afternoon traffic. The trip down took us 6 hours and I must say that Ozzie was a star. We stopped 3 times and gave him a run etc. and all was good. Had the crate raised up so he could see outside and took extra towels and blankets just in case but they were not needed. No dinner before we left but a few treats every now and then along the way.

Once down in Warrnambool, on the Saturday morning, I took Ozzie for a run along Logans Beach. His first time on the beach and he loved it. Tried to bite and the waves racing towards him. He has no fear and is such a great fantastic little guy. Loves meeting new people and can be an embarrasment sometimes as he gets so excited - any tips on how to control him would be great. I just do not want to break his spirit in the process. Someone once said,'Rather a friendly dog than a timid, shy and fearful dog or worse an aggressive dog!' I couldn't agree more.

He stayed at the Yangery Gums kennels for 3 nights and I am told he was great. No stress at all. Des and Debbie were wonderful and took great care of him. The place is very clean indeed and I love the fact that they have both hard floor and green grass for the dogs. Very happy. He was soooo excited to see me when I picked him up I thought he might wag himself to pieces.

Trip back only took 4 hours with 2 breaks.

Thanks again

[W Sibs]

oh that's awesome