How to bring a new puppy home?

[StillMedusa]

First dog and it's a 3 hour drive. I am planning on having a soft crate (with puppy pad, wipes , water etc) and obviously sitting with him, but would like to do a stop or two for the pup to wee if possible. He won't have had his vaccinations yet so how do wesafely take it for a wee? I'm guessing service stations are a bit too risky for un vaccinated dogs but would a random roadside patch be safer?
Thanks!

[PrayingandHoping]

I had a 3 hr drive with puppy no 2

I would recommend a deep cardboard box with blankets and paper in. If no used to a crate it may be a bad first association. I sat on back seat with pup.

I would not recommend stopping for a wee. Too risky and won't be reliably lead trained. Just take ample of kitchen paper and plastic bags. My pup had one wee in the box on way home.

[StillMedusa]

Ah good point, thank you :) We will do that. I will double check on the crate association...

[MissShapesMissStakes]

Some extra towels would be good as I read they can be car sick pretty easily.
We only had a half hour drive to bring ours home but he was clearly feeling sick and gagging a lot.

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

Our puppy slept the whole way home, in a small cat crate.

he'd come from breeder with a very busy household which was great for getting him used to noise etc but I think he was relieved to get out, we still say that sleep coming home was probably the best of his life.

[Witchonastick]

I wouldn’t risk taking him out on a roadside patch.
We will soon be doing the same. I’ll have pup on my lap and take a supply of old towels, kitchen roll, plastic bags, wipes to deal with any accidents. Plus water if needed
Don’t put him in a crate for that first trip he’ll be scared and alone for the first time.

[Booboostwo]

Will he fit in a small cat crate? That is ideal because you can secure it in the back seat with the seatbelt.

Of course you can stop for a wee, he won’t pick up illnesses unless he has contact with sick dogs or their poo. Make sure you have a safely fitted harness or collar and lead in the car before you open the door.

[Puddingmama2017]

booboo but that’s quite a risk to take when you don’t know what dog has been there before you.

Op, I wouldn’t stop for a wee, you will likely be surprised how little they do wee, I have been! And sleeps! Mine sleeps so much!

Soft crate will be fine, maybe break for a cuddle, but otherwise i’d Say head straight for home.

[HollyBollyBooBoo]

I thought it was the law now that dogs are restrained in cars? Is it legal to have him on your lap even as a passenger?

[Fudgecakes]

I would definitely recommend a crate. We had a 3hr trip home. Pup no 1 I had on my lap....wriggling, crying, peed, pooped, threw up on me....really stressful...I think she picked up on my stress which made her worse. 15 years later...pup no 2 with same breeder. Soft crate on back seat with me next to her stroking and reassuring. She was content and slept a lot. Lined with plenty of puppy pads. She did wee and was sick in the crate. I just gently moved her and covered the mess with a few layers of clean pads and wiped her as best I could with baby wipes...its all you can do tbh. Also took a little toy to distract her with in the crate.

[Booboostwo]

Puddingmama2017 if you are worried about the risk then will you confined yourself and your puppy to the inside of your house with no visitors until two weeks after the second vaccine? I doubt it and it would make for a problematically undersocialised dog. Yes a puppy could get Parvo because the virus is on the pavement or soil but equally you could walk the virus into your house yourself. You have to weigh the relative risks and the likelihood of certain risks actualising.

[Puddingmama2017]

My puppy comes with me everywhere, but never on the ground. I carry him in a soft crate, and so he can have socialisation experience that way until his next jabs in 2 weeks. Then walks and puppy parties. No need to risk anything.

[Pipandmum]

We stopped at a pub on our way home. Dog walked had a wee then we kept him close with no contact with other dogs. I wouldn’t worry about it.

[Booboostwo]

Puddingmama2017 can you imagine puppies larger than yours for whom this would not be a possibility? My last GSD weighed 13 kilos at 9 weeks, how far would you have liked to have carried him?

[Puddingmama2017]

I get what you’re saying, mine’s heavy enough at 5kg at 8 weeks. I can’t imagine lugging him around at 13kg. I personally just wouldn’t take the risk and advised the OP with that in mind. I’d rather take the 3 hour trip home and let him down in the garden where I can be as confident as possible that no other dogs have been there and the risk is at it’s lowest.

[Puddingmama2017]

That’s before you look at the fact that the poor thing has just been ripped from everything he knows and probably could do with minimal interference on the way home.

[StillMedusa]

Thank you everyone for your input.
I am so anxious to do the right thing by the puppy! I swear I've read more on raising a dog than I did when I was pregnant (and the kids turned out ok so I can't have been a disaster)

It's our first dog, much wanted and while I spent a year looking for a rescue, two cats and a an autistic adult son who needs a companion to love means a particular breed became our choice (before anyone leaps on me for getting a puppy)

Next question... how to socialise a large puppy before he is fully vaccinated. It's a large breed so not a pocket dog. Would a sling work? Or do I actually get a pushchair?!!?!

[Booboostwo]

Puddingmama2017 foxes will have been in your garden and anyone can bring Parvo into your house on their shoes...but it’s unlikely.

Socialization is the key OP. I have seen Parvo, it is around but it is quite controlled in the Uk so you need to decide which risk is greater, catching something while not fully vaccinated or missing out on the socialization window that closes at 14 weeks? I tend to compromise. All the dog clubs i’ve been involved with allow puppies to come to class after the first vaccination and keep them in a clean puppy room (adult dogs in the vicinity are fully vaccinated). I socialize my puppies with vaccinated dogs and walk them in quiet areas until the second vaccination, then I take more risks. A buggy is certainly an option and you’ll sometimes see breeders push a litter around in an enclosed buggy.

[Witchonastick]

Mine is also a large breed and will likely be around 10kg by 8wks when we bring him home.
With our last dog, same breed, I found I could carry but not far. So I’d drive to a cafe or garden centre and sit with pup on my lap.
Sit on benches outside the school when it’s busy. Train stations, sat on the platform.

Basically think of being in various places and watching the world go by, rather than actually carting him far. By 10/11wks it becomes a real struggle.

[Witchonastick]

He can meet any vaccinated dogs you know, that have a sound temperament.
But be wary of puppy parties, particularly if it’s just a large group of pups allowed to run amok.
A puppy training class is a better option.

[SlothMama]

We had a 5 hour journey with our puppy, make sure you pack plenty of wet wipes, spare blankets and bin bags! We forgot the bin bags but luckily a kind lady at the services gave us one.
We let her out on a patch of grass far away from other cars so she could toilet halfway through the journey. She slept most of the journey, apart from when she woke up to be sick.
She traveled in a soft crate as the breeder wouldn't allow us to leave with her without a crate. As it kept her safe and also was a den environment, which made the journey easier on her.

For socialisation before vaccines I carried her around everywhere, and she played with vaccinated dogs in my garden.

[Fucksandflowers]

Hmm, when we picked up our dog DH just carried her and we took her in a taxi and two trains.
So she was probably exposed to quite a few germs!