Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Hi! I'm new to the group and just signed up as we're getting a Boston terrier puppy in 2 weeks :D so excited!! I'm a bit worried though as we're picking her up interstate from the breeder and her first experience with us and (one of her first) in the car, her crate, etc. is going to be a 3 day drive back home it could be done in 2 long days but we're splitting it over 3 so we can stop earlier and take lots of rest breaks. I've been reading a bit about the importance of their new experiences being pleasant and I don't want her to end up hating driving. Also that you should slowly let them get used to their crate with the door closed for only 5min then 10mins at a time, and increase but we'll be pretty much straight on the road. Other than giving her toys and treats and stopping every hour or two, are there any other tips people might have for us in this scenario?? We're thinking of taking our cat's crate for the drive instead so she doesn't associate her own with the drive. We've also got a little harness and seat belt attachment so I can hold her out of the crate most of the time. Any tips or advice would be much appreciated! Thanks :) Edited October 15, 2015 by Maggiemoo89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salukifan Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Be VERY VERY careful that you have a collar that puppy cannot slip out of for this trip. With no bond to you, if she gets loose, she may not return to you. I'd be putting her in a martingale or limited slip collar. I'd use her crate. They aren't made of glass. Toilet her every couple of hours unless she is fast asleep and weather any tantrums - you may get some. What sort of vehicle do you have? I find they travel better forward of the real wheels until they are better seasoned as traveller. Avoid clearly popular rest stops for dogs. Without full vaccinations, its best not to take the risk of contact with dog poo. And watch the weather. She will get hot very quickly if left in the car on the journey. I'd have someone stay with her as rest stops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Can the pup not be flown to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph M Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Can the pup not be flown to you I was thinking the same. Few hours vs few days is usually easier and cheaper! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Can the pup not be flown to you I was thinking the same. Few hours vs few days is usually easier and cheaper! Definitely agree. Fly if at all possible. I did drive a pup half way to meet it's new owners but they were friends and it was a quicker way to get him to them on short notice (they couldn't decide which pup!) - 12 hours in total for the pup. I travelled him in a large crate with the pup I was keeping and they played the whole way - but they were VERY used to traveling in the car. I stopped regularly for toilet breaks but never in popular rest stops for reasons already pointed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Be VERY VERY careful that you have a collar that puppy cannot slip out of for this trip. With no bond to you, if she gets loose, she may not return to you. I'd be putting her in a martingale or limited slip collar. I'd use her crate. They aren't made of glass. Toilet her every couple of hours unless she is fast asleep and weather any tantrums - you may get some. What sort of vehicle do you have? I find they travel better forward of the real wheels until they are better seasoned as traveller. Avoid clearly popular rest stops for dogs. Without full vaccinations, its best not to take the risk of contact with dog poo. And watch the weather. She will get hot very quickly if left in the car on the journey. I'd have someone stay with her as rest stops. Thanks for the tips! All great points. We'll be in a Subaru Outback. Have to drive my parents car down for them (also why we didn't decide to fly the pup, as we're driving past her anyway) so will be flying up and can't fit her crate in the suitcase, even collapsed. May be able to get it as extra luggage separately if I wrap it or something though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Can the pup not be flown to you I was thinking the same. Few hours vs few days is usually easier and cheaper! Definitely agree. Fly if at all possible. I did drive a pup half way to meet it's new owners but they were friends and it was a quicker way to get him to them on short notice (they couldn't decide which pup!) - 12 hours in total for the pup. I travelled him in a large crate with the pup I was keeping and they played the whole way - but they were VERY used to traveling in the car. I stopped regularly for toilet breaks but never in popular rest stops for reasons already pointed out. My parents have moved onto a boat, sailing down to Syd and need me to get their car from North QLD for them.. So my partner and I are flying up to Cairns and making the drive down regardless (so won't cost to drive and pick her up). We did look into flying her but thought because we'll going past her on our way anyway we could get her and save $300. Want what's best for her of course so if it's a really bad idea we could get her flown down the week after! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 If you're driving, take something you can cover the crate with. My puppy got horribly car sick and reliably threw up everything. By the time she was six months old she figured out if she kept her head down and her eyes shut - it wasn't so bad. So I would not feed kibble during the journey. And I'd feed the night before. and not the morning or day of travel. Well maybe some yogurt water or watered down tinned food (ask the breeder). It's important the dog stays hydrated and mine wouldn't drink water. She would drink vegemite water or yogurt water - you only need a smidge like 1.4 teaspoon or less vegemite in a cup of water. Or maybe a stock cube. Make sure the water is cool before you let puppy drink it. Take lots of newspaper that you can put down in the up chuck zones - and then you can just fold up the vomit and put it in the bin. If puppy sits up and is drooling - emergency stop - imminent upchuck. Unfortunately some places there's no shoulder and I wasn't fast enough. But covering the crate should help. You can't use a fold up crate for flying. You can fly a fold up crate (without the dog in it) if you wrap it up in glad wrap or you have a crate bag for it (duct tape down the straps, if they're very long). Stop every couple of hours and do laps around the area or just stand around with dog on lead being boring until you get something. Don't be fooled into putting the puppy back in the car without getting something out of it. Well ok more newspaper and some paper towel and some clean up stuff. 1/4 teaspoon lavender oil in 1 litre of water in a spray bottle is good. Look up all the town football ovals - there's usually well watered grass on and around those, it's cooler. And not so many dogs as at the road side stops. There's really nice ones at Ouyen, Lammaroo, etc If you tell us the start and end towns we can suggest football/cricket ovals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 If you're driving, take something you can cover the crate with. My puppy got horribly car sick and reliably threw up everything. By the time she was six months old she figured out if she kept her head down and her eyes shut - it wasn't so bad. So I would not feed kibble during the journey. And I'd feed the night before. and not the morning or day of travel. Well maybe some yogurt water or watered down tinned food (ask the breeder). It's important the dog stays hydrated and mine wouldn't drink water. She would drink vegemite water or yogurt water - you only need a smidge like 1.4 teaspoon or less vegemite in a cup of water. Or maybe a stock cube. Make sure the water is cool before you let puppy drink it. Take lots of newspaper that you can put down in the up chuck zones - and then you can just fold up the vomit and put it in the bin. If puppy sits up and is drooling - emergency stop - imminent upchuck. Unfortunately some places there's no shoulder and I wasn't fast enough. But covering the crate should help. You can't use a fold up crate for flying. You can fly a fold up crate (without the dog in it) if you wrap it up in glad wrap or you have a crate bag for it (duct tape down the straps, if they're very long). Stop every couple of hours and do laps around the area or just stand around with dog on lead being boring until you get something. Don't be fooled into putting the puppy back in the car without getting something out of it. Well ok more newspaper and some paper towel and some clean up stuff. 1/4 teaspoon lavender oil in 1 litre of water in a spray bottle is good. Look up all the town football ovals - there's usually well watered grass on and around those, it's cooler. And not so many dogs as at the road side stops. There's really nice ones at Ouyen, Lammaroo, etc If you tell us the start and end towns we can suggest football/cricket ovals. Thank you! We have a crate cover for her own crate, no bag but could wrap it. We'll be travelling from Mackay to Newcastle with her.. 3 days of 6 hours driving each day (not including time taken for stops). Wouldn't it be too long to not feed her until we had finished driving for the day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Wouldn't it be too long to not feed her until we had finished driving for the day? That's why I said ask the breeder. It's a bit more difficult when the puppy is 8 weeks old than when the puppy is 6 months old. It's best for a very young puppy to have lots of small meals often but you're definitely going to increase the risk of an up chuck if you do that. I make my own dog's food a sort of mince and rice casserole with veges and that tended to stay down but the kibble came back up. So it does also depend what you feed. I'd feed as little fibre (kibble) and as much fast digest as possible. I would avoid the pacific highway if you can. Google says The Leichart and Newell highways then New England are easy options after Rockhampton. There are lots of lovely ovals along the New England. Armidale has a really nice parkland in the centre of town along the river. I stay at the Highlander Village inn when I'm going from Briz to Newcastle - I don't know if that's convenient. Ok probably not. You might want to avoid that bit. Armidale to Tamworth and Glenn Innis - there's some serious hills along that bit that my car really objected to climbing. And some ripper thunderstorms. Not fun driving when a storm dumps on you and there's nowhere to pull off. I really like Murrarindi as a stop - but it wasn't so good the week they top dressed the oval with pig manure. There's a really nice café across the road from it too. There's lots of bakeries at the northern end of the New England but not so many after Murrarindi. Singleton has a really nice bakery on John st between York and Gowrie - opposite a big shopping centre, the other side of the shopping centre is something called rose park - with lots of sports ovals near the hunter river. Can't really advise north of Murrarindi because I go Tamworth, Armidale to Brisbane from there. Try to avoid Maitland, tho the road as much improved going around it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayGee Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Our up flew from Perth to Brisbane, breeder put her on a very late flight, and we picked her up around 5.30 a.m. I think with her natural sleep patterns, it worked perfectly. I would be flying the pup, no matter the cost saving. It's an awfully long drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsfevr Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 It would not cost $300 to fly a Boston . Me i would fly as its quicker & easier on the pup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Another for a flight the following week!! that drive will be a stressful and risky time for all ....a tiny baby boston ..... awwwww..... use the drive to call in & meet her and the breeder .... then get ready :) and enjoy the rest of the trip!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 Thanks all for the advice! The pup will be 12 weeks when we get her and will have had 2nd vaccine on 19th Oct, and we pick up on 29th. I've had a read and she won't be completely covered but by then should be okay at places that aren't dog spots. I'm going to ask the breeder about her exposure with cars so far and see what she recommends :) she has a preferred dog transporter that I will enquire with too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggiemoo89 Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 It would not cost $300 to fly a Boston . Me i would fly as its quicker & easier on the pup We got a quote through dogtainers and it was $310 for their small size crate. I thought it seemed like a lot but I think it's extra because it's going from regional to regional and not direct flights? Have you had experience with another company you could recommend? Any tips are much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidley Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 We did a road trip to pick up one of our pups. Found that regular stops a little play and into the car she was fine. She travelled in the passenger footwell because she otherwise screamed the car down....didn't affect her crate training at all and she was a great traveller always. Was our opportunity to spend some quality one on one time. She didn't get car sick so we still gave her small meals when we stopped for a few hours rest to refuel, eat and stretch our legs. We were on the road for 2 days in total and made sure we split it up to be fair on everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjosa Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 When I fly puppies interstate I do not go through dogtainers or Jet Pets, I do the booking myself with the airline, cuts out the middle man, a small airline crate that you can purchase with the airlines you are going to use would not be more than $50,when you get her home you could advertise the crate on ebay or on here for sale, doing it this way would be about half of what you have been quoted. I would not, as a breeder, be wanting to see one of my puppies travelling for 3 days by car, in fact I would insist on the pup being flown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) Agree. The other consideration is where will puppy sleep at night? There are not many pet friendly motels that will allow a crated pup inside and pup will need to be toileted overnight. Edited October 15, 2015 by The Spotted Devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Rusty Bucket Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Maybe you could pick the puppy up from Sydney airport - tho I know driving from one side of Sydney to the other can seem like as long as Mackay to Newcastle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Fox Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 Fly the dog over when you get home. It shouldn't cost $300 - and even if it does it will be money well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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