8-10 hour car ride HELP

[MissNicole]

I pick my puppy up in March which is a few days away . The drive from Virginia to New York will be approx. 8-10 hours. Thing is there will be three of us 1 driver 1 passenger 1 puppy. I will be the passsenger and I'm concerned about his well being. Should I get a traveling crate with a soft cushion pad inside for comfort or a soft carrier/traveling bag or a one of those puppy seat belts contraptions and is it safe to hold in my lap occasionally. We will probably make 2-4 stops on the way back to New York and I plan to take him out and have him go pee-pee at the rest stops, but what should I do if he goes inside? I was considering a doggie 'diaper'. What other things should I be taking into consideration involving this long road trip? Please help.


Update! The drive will no longer be 8-10hrs instead will be 6 1/2 -7hrs. What a relief ! The breeder suggested another way to prevent car sickness. here's what she said "The long drive home is going to be tough. I usually withhold food and water a few hours before leaving here so they want get carsick. With an empty stomach they are not as likely to get sick. Some puppies do and some don't and it is hard to second guess. The problem is this. Small puppies must eat often even several feedings a day while young because of sugar depletion. On short trips and for the first 2 weeks home, the solution we, my Vet and I, came up with is good old Gatoraide, any flavor. It has electrolites(sp) and sugar. " just wanted to add that to the discussion. Has anyone ever tried this method?

[orinskye]

what i do with toby in the car is put one of his pee pee pads on teh floor of the car, and just let him down to pee..... i USED to bring his carrier with me, but that was a hassel because it was so big..... so ..... now i attach his leash to the harness pull the seatbelt across and clasp it and then attach his leash.... it is just as good as a car seat in my opinion because he is secure and not bouncing all over the place....... BUT my toby is 5 months old, and yours is going to be a baby... when toby was a baby (and when he just got neutered) i held him in my lap (i was the passenger) and let him snuggle, let me just remind you that this is the "imprinting" period of puppyhood... if you want him bonded to you than i suggest you be his person completely for the next couple weeks.... (my fiance is nwo realizing that when mommy comes home there is no one else in teh world but mommy (to toby) and he is out of teh picture)......

[aimee]

I just did this with my puppy. We made a 6 hour drive home from the breeder's and I held Tia the whole way. She slept the whole way home

[jogi37]

If I can add a question to the discussion......my pup Tini tends to get carsick whenever I take her in the car for more than 15 minutes. I have tried everything, car seat etc. Has anyone else had this issue? If so what did you do to get them over this?

[orinskye]

you might want to limit her food before you go on a ride...... toby has never gotten sick because of teh car....... but you might want to "work up" to longer rides.... you might try opening the window a bit and letting her have some fresh air while you drive too (strapped in of course)..... toby did almost get sick once, but we opened the window and he was fine

[myfirstyorkie]

Amber use to do good in the car. Until about 3 months ago when she was three months old she started to get carsick . We took a trip from Ohio to Long Island New York that took about 10 hours to drive (making several stops of course). I was the driver and I had my two kids in the backseat. I put Amber in the passenger seat with blankets and chew toys. She got so sick. I felt so bad for her. Now she hates the car and will get sick every time she is in it. I am not sure how things will be when we have to drive to Orlando Florida in March. That is even a longer drive like an extra 8 hours longer ! I do not know how to make her like the car again. But I need to think of something fast .

If I were you and I were the passenger I would hold the puppy. Take that opportunity to be able to love and cuddle with him

[Chester]

since you have a very long drive back home.
buy a small cate cat size... they are still big for small dogs anyway.
the new cates not come with some latch on top to hook to seat bealts, it nothing to fancy but it will help. If two of you will be in the car then one can sit in the back with puppy. You may want to bring a lot of paper towles platic bag for mess just in case puppy goes durring the ride home. Air fresner.. i kid you not. If it is number too , you won't enjoy that ride home at all with a bad smell in the car. Blanket for puppy , some bottle water and food. The breeder should give you some of the water that the puppy has been drinking to take home with you. Bring a snug toy and maybe a t-shirt with your sent to put in the crate with puppy. oh yeah the wee, wee pad thing .. good idea..

You also may want to bring a large towel to cover the back seat just incase puppy wants out... but best to kept them in the creat until you get home.

you can get the puppy seat thing later when training starts.
Have fun

[milliecorrales]

My Garrett used to get carsick going the 1 mile to Petsmart, my vet told me to feed him a little gingersnap prior to any trip, it works. About 1/2 hour prior to our car trip, I feed him a gingersnap cookie, if it is to be a long trip, I will carry some broke up to give him. He no longer tries to run when we head for the car. Also, a firiend of mine travels alot with her yorkie and gives hers a prescription called Temaril P, like doggie dramamine.

[shireyak]

First things first......make sure you get your breeder to give you a receiving blanket or something with the mama's scent on it. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!Buy a carrier crate.....not the metal or cardboard ones........cost about 25-35 dollars..........your baby will use this for life, it is his den and "safe" place. Gracies is small, she is 7.4 pounds now at 9 months(must put her on a diet ) but I digress........Next buy a carrier mat(mine is fleece)under 10 at walmart, and place in carrier.

When you pick her up, hold and love her a while and then place her in the carrier with the receiving blanket . Seat belt the carrier. Sit by her and stick your fingers thru the front grating so she can smell you. Keep towels handy, bottled water and a bowl for pit stops....If she whines, stop the car for a pee, offer a little water, love her, then back in carrier..and belt. If you were to have an accident, she would be SAFE. You never know when an accident may happen........and that way she, and her carrier would not be thrown.

My ride to my breeder was 2 1/2 hours away.........by the way your breeder is in VA. so is mine.........same breeder I wonder??????? Gracie slept very well, only cried once, we stopped, she peed and walked around a bit.... so did my husband and I, we loved her up and moved on.

I realize your drive is much longer than mine.......but you will just have to make more stops, I feel its to risky to have her out of the carrier while driving, unless it is an emergency such as vomiting or such....but then I would pull over as soon as possible.

Your receiving blanket will be a great comfort to her in her "den' when she gets home. When ever she needs a "Mom fix" she will run to her crate and go to sleep.........before long your scent will be all she needs.........

hope this helps.............and let me know who your breeder is, wouldn't it be something if we had the same breeder?

[MissNicole]

Thanks for all the advice, please continue I love all the feedback!...o my breeder's name is Ms. Morell she's 40min outside of Lexington I believe.

[schatzie]

Originally Posted by MissNicole

Thanks for all the advice, please continue I love all the feedback!...o my breeder's name is Ms. Morell she's 40min outside of Lexington I believe.

You have received some really great advise from the above posts, and if I may Id like to suggest something too.

You mentioned stopping along the way at rest stops etc for pee-pee breaks for your pup. Im not sure how old the pup is that you are adopting but I find it very unsafe to allow your pup if she/he is not fully vaccinated to stroll around grassy/dirt areas at any public place. Most likely there have been MANY dogs or other animals on that same rest area and some might not be as healthy or vaccinated. It is just way too easy for your little pup I think to be exposed to some pretty bad stuff.

I would use the puppy pads in your vehicle as the other post suggested.

I guess I learned early on to be too over protective, not knowing if this was a good thing or not. I wouldn't even allow my first Yorkie Half-Pint (RIP) or Schatzie to touch outside grounds at public places or even the floors of the vet's office until fully vaccinated. Even now I am pretty peticular on what Schatzie's 4 paws touch when we are out. Most times I keep her in her doggie purse or I carry her in my arms.

[MissNicole]

For all of you who haven't read the update here it is

Update! The drive will no longer be 8-10hrs instead will be 6 1/2 -7hrs. What a relief ! The breeder suggested another way to prevent car sickness. here's what she said "The long drive home is going to be tough. I usually withhold food and water a few hours before leaving here so they want get carsick. With an empty stomach they are not as likely to get sick. Some puppies do and some don't and it is hard to second guess. The problem is this. Small puppies must eat often even several feedings a day while young because of sugar depletion. On short trips and for the first 2 weeks home, the solution we, my Vet and I, came up with is good old Gatoraide, any flavor. It has electrolites(sp) and sugar. "

just wanted to add that to the discussion. Has anyone ever tried this method?

[debi_s]

I agree with Schatzies mom...be sure to avoid 'foreign' grassy areas!!!!! Until the pup is fully vaccinated.....Our car ride was only 2 hours. I carried lots of puppy pads (cut in half) and my hubby held her the whole way.....She did great.
I do agree about the safety of the crate...I just didn't think and left home without it.....(was I excited..or what???)
When we stopped for a rest....and so I could hold her for a while...I placed some puppy pads in the back end of my SUV and she went pee once. If you don't have a vehicle with a large back end you could put some in your trunk.
My chihuahua gets sick every single time she rides in the crate.....I have even left the vet when she was perfectly fine and returned when she threw up b/c I thought something in the vaccine made her sick!!! She now rides well in a "booster car-seat" ....never thrown up again!!!
My little yorkie has only gone back and forth to the vet so far....but those trips she rides in her crate and curls up and sleeps!
Good Luck...hope you can sleep the next few nights!!!!!!

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

We have taken Magic on a long road trip before...but unlike the rest we let her have access to all parts of the car...we put a pillow to use to lay on in the middle of the back seat and brought some toys...she loved it...it made the 10 hour trip easy on her...she sleep alot of the time but we made several stops to potty...we don't let her under the sits in order to keep her safe but she is allowed to move around some, in order to not get scared...this may not be the best advice but it is what we choose to do...on shorter trips we just hold them and let them sit in the seat by themsleves...they love to watch out the window!!!