Long Distance Travel With A 17wo Golden

[GoldenGirl85]

My pup currently enjoys being in the car, but she has only been on short trips to the park, training, the vet, all have been positive experiences for her

Im going back to my home town for a visit, planning to leave really early on Saturday (like 2 or 3am) and its a 1400km journey, so it will take around 17 hours with stops, could be longer

My other dog wont be a worry, she is a terror in the car so she will be getting a sedative, but I dont want to sedate the pup for a few reasons, one being I want her to know that the car will be an adventure, and that its good, and the second being that she is a pup and I dont want to medicate her if its not necessary

I was planning on just giving her a light dinner the Friday night, then just offering her water throughout the trip, then no more food until we arrive, unsure if she will get car sick but so far there hasnt been any incidents so heres hoping

Does anyone have any advice? I was thinking about getting some of those window socks for the back windows so they wont get so much sunlight, it might also make her sleep longer if she thinks its still night time

How often should I stop? she is going well with her toilet training, but we havnt managed to associate the command to "Do wees" with the action yet. I dont plan on stopping for myself other than to get fuel, I just load the car with plenty of snacks for me so I dont need to stop for meals, I dont want to leave her in the car for too long without a break but I dont want to delay my arrival time any longer than I have to either, last thing I want is to hit skippy right at the end (Im heading out bush so its possible, hence the early leaving time)

[dancinbcs]

If she is happy to ride in the car, the distance shouldn't make any difference. Dogs that get car sick usually do it on short trips as well as long ones, so if she isn't getting sick on short trips she should be fine.

Make sure she has a collar and tag with your mobile number. Make sure she is confined when you open the door and that you have a lead on her before she gets out of the car. Enforce the stay command, until you give a command to get out of the car. Take some toys and chews to keep her amused so she doesn't get bored and eat the seatbelts or upholstery.

She should sleep until daybreak, then have a toilet stop every two hours (5-10 minutes) and offer her water that you take from home. Feed her at her normal meal times but just make the the meals are a bit smaller. If you haven't taught her to toilet on command work on this in the next few days. It is much easier to travel with a dog that will toilet when told. It saves multiple stops where the dog just sniffs, only to whine when it needs to go and you are back on the highway with no suitable place to pull up.

People travel all over the country with show dogs of all ages and most never have a problem.

Happy travelling.

Edited March 21, 2010 by dancinbcs

[GoldenGirl85]

She will have her favourite teddy, and Ill bring a couple of other toys to change around so she doesnt get bored with just the one

I think she is starting to learn to pee on command, I usually only catch her twice a day, the morning one and the before bed one, but I think it is *starting* to sink in

She has a collar and name tag, and she is restrained in the car with one of those seat belt connectors so she cant jump out unless I let her off, I also have a pet hammock on the back seat so it is protected from any misses...and she cant access the seatbelts to chew those lol (brand new car...I dont want dog hair everywhere lol)

Im still not sure on the feeding though, my parents recently made the trip with their dogs to bring my belongings up, and my JRT lol, and their Cav who doesnt usually get sick in the car did, and they didnt have much dinner the night before...maybe Ill just get a treat that she can eat slowly...do kangaroo tails usually go down slowly?

[tlc]

Wow you sure have a long trip ahead of you. I travel a bit with my lot, the furtherest we go is 8 hours away and they have all been doing this trip since they were pups. I don't stop often usually once now that they are a bit older but when they were pups I would stop a couple of times around 3 hourly. Mine all wee on command but before they learnt this I found that as soon as we stopped they would go which was great. I don't give mine treats or any kind of chew toys while I drive if Im on my own. and I just feed them thier normal food the night before. I think if they don't get car sick you would need to feed on the trip as they may be antsi if they get hungry. How come you have to medicate your older dog, doesn't he like the car? I'm not sure why mine are so good in the car, my mum thinks it is good managment, maybe it is just luck or the fact that we do spend a lot of time in the car and have done since they were young pups. They sleep all the way and are not much company really if I am on my own. I have one spot on our trip that is off lead so they can get out and have a really good stretch before we get on our way again. The last trip we did only last week, one stop there and that was it. 8 hours and they slept the whole way. Do you know if there is any spots along the way where you can let them have a good run? Hope your trip goes well, sounds like a great adventure!!

edited to add, I always have my lot with id on thier collars just incase god forbid they got out or we had an accident. Also they are strapped in with the seat belt clips.

Also with regards to tea I think you would be better to give them thier regular food, if you change it, it may upset tummys?? Do they usually get car sick??

Another good tip is have nappy wipes on hand for any accidents that may occur, I also find this handy if I am eating so I can wipe my hands!!

Edited March 21, 2010 by tlc

[GoldenGirl85]

Im packing their regular food for once we arrive and for the whole stay, and Ill be packing water from home for the trip

I didnt think about off leash areas, Ill have to take a look and see what I can find

Tess gets sedated for long trips because she stresses in the car, I got her when I was 16, too young to own a car and/or drive by myself, so she quickly learned that the car means she is going to the vet, because one of my parents had to drive us there, Ive never been able to get her out of that, she is happy to jump in the car, but as soon as we start moving she stresses out, although I am happy to try any suggestions you may have to offer

She already holds her bladder all night, so I know she can hold it, I just dont want to make her hold it for too long lol, she is such a good puppy

[Cazwah]

Best of luck for the trip! I hope it goes well for you. I give Chestnut a pig's ear when we travel in the car (Kangaroo tendons are good too, last a while). We recently did the 12hr brisbane to Syd trip and he slept as usual as soon as the engine turned on. We fed him small amounts of just his dry kibble through kongs on the journey- he didn't eat a lot because he slept so much. We found we had to stop about every three hours (He was 15 weeks at the time) for a pee and water break. Also found that after the first six hours he got really bored so we had to stop for a proper break and let him have a run around. But for the first chunk of driving we didn't need to stop for him for the first 4 hours. I reckon as your leaving so early she might sleep until daybreak so you can get a big chunk of the drive done. I hope your drive is safe, I'm sure your pup will let you know if something's wrong and she needs to stop. Maybe just have a contingency plan in case your trip does take much longer than you expected? (Without pup the bris to Syd trip takes 10hrs with minimal stops, but 12 with regular ones).

Oh, also, we don't have the 'go pee' as a command yet, I wish we did for that trip, would've saved much time encouraging a sniffing puppy to 'go pee!'.

And yes, some kind of wipe or old towel for the worst case scenario would be a good idea. We always carry puppy towels in the car- just in case!

[GoldenGirl85]

Well we survived the trip today, Lexi was very good, she slept most of the way, it was only when I pulled up for a sleep she decided she wanted to play...silly girl

[minpinmum]

fantastic news goldengirl