We are collecting our 8 week old pup this weekend and have bought a crate for crate training that can also be used in the car. We are planning to put her in the crate for the car journey home (45 minutes). I was thinking of putting some small treats in there too and a toy. She will have a blanket with mum and littermates’ scent on it.
It has occurred to me that she won’t have had any chance to get used to the crate and so putting her in there could add to her anxiety (strange car, strange people, etc) and undermine future crate training, making it harder for her to view it as a place of safety.
Do you think this will be a problem and are there any better ways you would recommend to keep her as safe and unstressed as possible during the car journey?
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
How to transport puppy home
RolandBark · 18/05/2020 13:46
Personally I would get a passenger to hold her on a blanket with the thing that smells of her mum. Make sure it’s someone who can cope with a wriggler escape artist though. We have always done this . Our puppies have always fidgeted then had a sleep 
have fun with your puppy.
I would not suggest to use crate on the first trip home as the pup might associate it with that first stress/fear and would not be settling into it in the future.
I have used my cat's carrier (he is a really large cat so it was perfect for a pup as he was very small) and removed mum's blanket as he would have soiled (wee/poo/vomit) it on the first ever car trip. I have strapped it on the passenger seat and deactivated airbag.
When we arrived home (30 minutes trip), I had to wash him as his back legs and bum were covered in wee and poo, his chest had vomit on it 
I then dried him with towel and placed him into his new crate with mum's blanket.
He kept using his mum's blanket as potty area 
until I could not stand it anymore and disposed of it (replaced with my pj 
).
I would suggest to hang mum's blanket on one side of the crate.
That was my experience of bringing a pup home
cream thank you for the reassurance - I’m glad it didn’t hinder crate training for him.
user the DC are too young to be left home alone, so either one adult has to stay with them or we all go (given current restrictions mean no one can look after the children while we go). With us all in the car it will be noisy, but maybe that is still less stressful for pup than being alone in the crate...
Happy I had wondered whether putting the blanket in rather than near the crate (or lap, if we go with that option) would risk it being soiled - you’ve helped make up my mind on that one
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