Traveling To Texas
 

My family would like to go to Texas for the holidays. We plan on driving, but I hate to leave Kiki with anyone here. Driving to Texas from Michigan is at least a days drive.

How do you all think Kiki will do? He will be 12 weeks this coming Saturday.

Thanks for your advice!

Depends on how well KiKi does in acar....I took Reeses with me to San Antonio with me....which is not as far as you are going......but he did great. Just make sure to make frequent stops for those potty breaks....and bring toys and such. Reeses lie on my shoulder and look out the window.

So far, I have not had any problems with him traveling by car. He hasen't gotten sick at all, but we've never driven too far at all before. This will be our first major trip.

Thanks Reeses Mom for your response! :)

When Muffin was just a few months old, we took her on her first loooooong trip and she did fine. Actually, she slept most of the time, because she got tired of looking. :D

;) Anytime!

He will probably do just fine. We took Rowdy on a 3500 mile trip (over 4 weeks) when he was 4 months old and he did great. We took him on another 2000 mile trip a couple of months later and he did just as well. As another poster said, he slept most of the time. You just have to plan for potty breaks - watch for trash on the ground when you stop at a gas station or the like, there's way more trash in the grass than you can imagine and if your baby is like Rowdy, he wants to pick some of it up in his mouth (yuck!). Get him used to the leash before you go because he will have to be on it everywhere you stop. When Rowdy needs to go potty, he gets restless in the car - otherwise he plays for about 5 minutes and then konks out for hours. Be aware with the change of routine though, he might not eat very well, Rowdy doesn't, so I have to take special things that I know he will eat (toddler (human) chicken sticks, cottage cheese) and nutrical for those times when he REALLY doesn't want to eat. With planning, your baby should do fine.

Oh, we just got Rowdy a console car seat and he loves it, so i'm looking forward to the next trip with the carseat. On the other trips we just put him in the seat between my hubby and I.

Hi, we drove to Cuero, TX from Louisiana last Christmas........about an 8 hour drive with 5 yorkies ( 3 were 11 weeks and turned 12 while we were there, one was under a year and the other was 2 years ) and we had two 13 year old sons........the yorkies were better than them! Just make sure you bring bottle water and a dish for food and water, stop in a safe place for potty breaks and put a show lead or harness on him......the show leads are very quick to slip on them to let them potty and have a sip of water. Bring baby wipes, Nuti Cal, etc........ Have fun, we sure did!

Angie

Oh one more thing....if he has not had all his shots...I would just bring puppy pads for him to go on, because the pet areas at rest areas are used OFTEN and you can smell it....no telling what he could catch..... Might just be me though cause my baby never potties outside...only on puppy pads :D

Something happened to us once when we had stopped in the pullover lane on a two-lane highway. We pulled over so Muffin could eat and I wasn't paying any attention to what was around us. Just watching Muffin and making sure that she ate OK. All of a sudden someone appeared at the driver's side window and it scared me to death! It was a law enforcement officer, though, who was just checking to see if we had car trouble. When he saw what we were doing, he went on his way. But I said never, ever again would we be so oblivious to any vehicles pulling up behind us. It could very easily have been someone who meant us harm and it would have been too late by the time we noticed!

Thank you all for your great suggestions! I am making note of each one of them. My brother made Texas his home after playing professional football for the Dallas Cowboys. He played from 1995-2002. For those who follow football closely his name is Charlie Williams.

Thanks again!

WOW! I live in Texas and have watched the Cowboys for the past 30 years! They are MY team! Welcome to Texas - have a wonderful trip!!!

We purchased Ahia in Columbus, Ohio and Buckeye in Quincy , Ill. and drove with them each to S. Texas (3 day trip for us too) and they both did great. just remember pottyand exercise stops.

Biscuit was twelve weeks old when we had to evacuate from Houston to San Antonio and it took 22 hours.Becasue the traffic was so bad it was really hard to stop alot.Biscuit has also always been good in the car too, and the long ride really wasn't that bad.He slept a lot of the time.He only pooped on Daddy once :) We also took puppy pads with us and he would lay on those in case he had an accident.Just be sure to bring lots of toys for him! ;)

Long trips....
 

You have received some great advise.....We took a 12 hour trip when Magic was 12 weeks and she did wonderful.....in fact we actually were on the road for 12 straight days staying in hotels....she adjusted quickly each time there was a change in location and did good in the car. Enjoy your trip!

Dollar is fine in the car on short distance...he gets little ansy b/c I think he wants to see outside....If you stop a lot and let him pee/poop and walk around I think it will be fine!