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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

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Original poster

4 hour drive to bring pup home..

53 replies

Jinnybean · 04/09/2021 19:48

Our girl is coming home in 2 weeks. We are SO excited. We drove to see her today and it took 4 hours to get there. We’ve stayed over in a local seaside area and will drive back tomorrow. But obviously it will be 4 hours home when we pick her up. I have a wash basket I’m
Going to use and sit in the back with her. What sort of things do I need to bring? What about if she needs the toilet?

Thank you!

Pic for attention ;)

OP posts:

girlmom21 · 04/09/2021 19:50

She needs to be properly secured - not in a wash basket.

Get some puppy pads and a safe car restraint. You'll need to do some water stops.

Datsandcogs · 04/09/2021 19:55

Absolutely not in a wash basket.

Please do your research. Puppy crate to come home in the car.

QueenBee52 · 04/09/2021 20:06

She is gorgeous 💕

Original poster

Jinnybean · 04/09/2021 20:06

I have actually ordered a travel crate off Amazon so I will use that. Can it go in the back?

OP posts:

pigsDOfly · 04/09/2021 20:07

Yes, agree with pp. Puppy absolutely must be secured properly in the car, preferably in a puppy sized travelling crate.

A loose puppy could be very badly injured or killed in the event of even a small shunt in a car.

It's illegal to travel in a car with an unrestrained dog for a very good reason.

The puppy is going to have to be restrained when she travels in your car anyway, so, just go with whatever method you're planning to use in future.

Get a portable dog bowl and take water with you. Or you can buy water bottles for dogs from any pet shop that have a little tray attached that the dog can drink out of.

Puppy pads for the journey on the bottom of the crate and take extras in case they need to be changed.

A few treats perhaps, although, giving a puppy treats during a long car journey might result in puppy being sick, so perhaps not a good idea.

Have you discussed the journey home with the breeder. I would have thought they would able to advise you.

pigsDOfly · 04/09/2021 20:08

Ah, see you're getting a crate. Good.

Brollypackedforscottishholiday · 04/09/2021 20:10

Police are advising (for unsecured ddogs) that 1k spot fines are coming soon!!
Ours has always had a harness and seat belt strap.

icedcoffees · 04/09/2021 20:39

All dogs must be secured by law - either by using a seatbelt/harness on the seat or in a crate in the boot.

I wouldn't feed her at all - the last thing you want is for her to vomit everywhere on the motorway.

I would bring puppy pads or old towels for her to use the toilet but you may find she just sleeps. We had a two hour journey home with ours and all he did was sleep on my lap after 5-10 minutes of crying.

When she gets home take her straight into the garden to use the toilet - if she goes indoors she'll just pee on the floor speaks from bitter experience

Hellocatshome · 04/09/2021 20:45

Personally I would get a harness (maybe send some.momey to the breeder to buy one that fits her properly) and a seat belt attachment so she can sit on your knee (on blankets and puppy pads) I imagine a puppy taken from her mum then shjt in a crate in the car for 4 hours would be very distressed.

Hoppinggreen · 04/09/2021 20:51

Goldies are the best, congratulations

Mindymomo · 04/09/2021 20:53

Tell breeder about your long journey and ask that puppy is not fed beforehand. We had a 2 hour journey and our boy was sick 4 times. We took water, but he didn’t want it, so just kept driving to get home.

QueenBee52 · 04/09/2021 21:10

Do you know what you are going to calm her yet @Jinnybean

She's just beautiful 🌸💕

QueenBee52 · 04/09/2021 21:11

Call not calm 🤣

SirVixofVixHall · 04/09/2021 21:15

I had absolutely no idea that dogs had to be restrained by law ! I am glad i read this thread. My dog is normally in the back of an estate car that has a netting guard, now I wonder if that is enough ?

tizwozliz · 04/09/2021 21:18

We had a 3.5 hour journey home with pup and it was the thing I was most stressed about beforehand. We took lots of kitchen roll, cleaning stuff, spare blankets etc. but pup was absolutely fine and slept more or less the whole way. We stayed overnight the night before so we could pick up first thing just in case we had to make lots of stops and so we could avoid morning and evening rush hour.

Brollypackedforscottishholiday · 04/09/2021 21:28

Netting isn't enough .. And no crate in the front or an air bag would crush it..

cheeseisthebest · 04/09/2021 21:30

We picked our puppy up four weeks, yes you definitely have to have a proper restraint! Illegal not too!

TerrierOrTerror · 04/09/2021 21:54

Our journey home took six hours, we had her in a travel crate on the back seat (secured to seat). I sat next to it to reassure her when needed.

We lined the crate with puppy pads, then just popped a soft blanket and the one from her breeder in the half closest to me, along with a snuggly toy. It went surprisingly well, she slept most of the journey apart from when we stopped. We didn't let her out but just had some play on the back seats. A couple of accidents on the pads which we changed at the next stop. No sick either, we asked she wasn't fed for a couple of hours before hand.

icedcoffees · 04/09/2021 22:35

@SirVixofVixHall

Nope, not enough.

They need to be in a crate, on the seat with a harness that's attached to the seat, or in the boot with boot guards up.

If you're in an accident a bit of mesh won't stop them flying forward - either into the seat or through the netting and into you or through the windscreen.

icedcoffees · 04/09/2021 22:37

I meant to add I was in an accident last summer. My car was totalled and I ended up with whiplash.

My dog survived as he was wearing his harness in the back seat. If he hadn't been he'd have been flung through the window and either badly injured, terrified or killed.

We were only going at 15mph when the other car hit us.

Congressdingo · 04/09/2021 22:42

@SirVixofVixHall

It's been law for a while. You can get a seatbelt clip thing that clips onto the harness if you have one. The harness also has to be the correct one for cars. Or if in the boot of an estate car, a metal grid rather than netting. Just for info, a Volvo generally has one that comes up out of the back seat, otherwise they are 20 quid or so. For those bringing new puppies home see if the breeder will give you a towel or something similar that has been on the mum/litter mates. Makes the puppy feel a bit less lonely if they can smell mum. Even take one with you and ask them to rub it on mum before you leave.

Restraining dogs and puppies is (sorry) less about their potential injuries and more about not having a dog flying around the inside of a car causing injuries to the people.

Congressdingo · 04/09/2021 22:46

www.amazon.co.uk/Ezee-Paws-Safety-Bungee-Harness/dp/B07G1YW9VT/ref=asc_df_B07G1YW9VT/?hvlocphy=9046323&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=309874391962&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-563381088925&hvrand=9751153173639481585

This is just a clue what your looking for, I make no statements on this particular item.

Brownlongearedbat · 05/09/2021 10:33

Cautionary tale. I knew of someone years ago who used to travel with her shihtzu sitting loose on the back seat. She had to brake suddenly, but from a low speed and not that harshly. However, it was enough for her dog to be flung forward into the back of her seat, breaking his neck.
They, and passengers, are so vulnerable if loose.

Brollypackedforscottishholiday · 05/09/2021 11:52

Once assisted a man driving with 4 loose ddogs in his car... He had pulled over, 1 ddog was making a blood curdling howling sound.. The man was sobbing.
The ddog had stepped on the middle auto console shutting the window on it's own neck.
I flagged down a council truck and the men managed to drag the window down releasing the ddog. The man was in a state.. He said he was going to sit for a few minutes before setting off... I left feeling very shook up tbh..

SirVixofVixHall · 05/09/2021 12:26

@Brollypackedforscottishholiday

Netting isn't enough .. And no crate in the front or an air bag would crush it..

Thank you for this, so would a metal dog guard be enough or must she be crated ? I stopped crating her as DH was in a crash, where if she had been crated in the boot she would have been crushed. Are dog seatbelts still a thing or not safe ?

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