Can you take a 6 month pup on holiday UK

[Isadora2007]

Just this really. We’ve booked a family holiday and now just been offered a pup. They’d be 6 months old when we go. We are intending to crate train and would have a crate there.
First time dog mum, be kind.

There’s no reason not to take your puppy, provided dogs are permitted. We took ours away for the first time, when she was 12 weeks.

Yes you can, but you'll need to adjust your expectations as at that age you definitely won't be able to leave them unsupervised and they will still need a lot of supervision and managing in a new environment. So think about getting takeaways or dog friendly pubs for meals etc. and days out that are dog friendly.

The way you say you've been offered a pup concerns me though - do you want a dog, and crucially, do you want this specific breed and from these specific parents? The first year of dog ownership is really hard. You'll cry. Probably quite a lot. It needs to be worth it in the long run.

I wouldn’t have done this, we were in hell at that age and it just would’ve been hell in a different location

I think it depends massively on the breed and their general temperament, ideally I’d play it by ear. Agree with PP that the first year is a lot of crying 😂 I’m not saying that to be negative but I was really shocked to learn about puppy blues

Agree with PPs. Perhaps poor phrasing but this 'and now just been offered a pup' is very odd.

More broadly, you should check with wherever you are staying. Lots of cottages, for example, allow dogs but quite a few don't allow dogs under one. The one I routinely use allows up to 8 dogs across three cottages (it's a complex) but no dogs under the age of two. I've had to get special permission to take younger dogs there.

Also, you can intend to crate train all you want - but it doesn't always work out like that.

So you're potentially looking at one very ruined holiday. Because if your pup isn't trained to the rafters by 6 months, that'll mean no pubs, no shops, no coffee shops. Why? Because a badly trained dog will be asked to leave.

We are on a breeders waiting list so have been offered a puppy. Yes I am quite aware of the puppy blues and terrified of them tbh. But what can you do if you want a family dog? If not now, when? Is there ever a good time to upend your life? I figure I have survived a lot in my long life so far- a dog won’t break me. But I am trying to do as much research and thinking..: and checking stuff out hence my post…

Being aware of puppy blues is a good thing, I’d never heard of them and thought I must be an evil dog hater. This was backed up by a MN pile on when I was struggling with him

I agree there’s probably not a perfect time, we got ours when daughter was 12 so it felt right. I now also have a baby so that’s made things interesting 😂

what breed of dog are you getting?

My dog goes to stay with my trainer when we go on holiday. She sleeps on his bed, he walks her twice a day and trains her, takes her to class etc. we intended to crate train but it went the same way as sleep training - I think it works for some people and not for other people. As you say it’s your first dog bear in mind it’s kind of like planning how you’ll parent your first kid - you don’t know really what you’ll do until it actually hits you!

My dog is a miniature poodle. I too dreaded the puppy phase but she’s been extremely easy. We started taking her away when she was 12 weeks and she was completely fine. When she was 15 months we drove to Spain with her in our campervan. She was no trouble at all.

I took mine away at 5 months. She was absolutely fine.
You could look into a dog pushchair/buggy, so the pup could accompany you on longer days out.

Yes you can. I took my puppy last year. She was house-trained but I did crate her over night in the room with me and she was not a problem. If course you can't leave it while you are out so your days will be different.

The only thing I'd say was we took ours away at a similar age and she ended up having her first season very young. Ended up having to book her into an emergency kennels

I’ve just come back from a holiday with my 14 week pup. He can only do shortish walks, so we walked a bit, drove a bit, walked a bit more. I was surprised how many “ dog friendly” places we found.

I took my 6 month old away last year because she was toilet trained. In fact that week was very effective in moving her training forward. On the first day I threatened to drive home and leave her as her on lead behaviour was awful. By the end of the week we ate out in a restaurant with friends while she lay quietly under the table

The breed will be important - some are harder than others as puppies.

You do just have to bite the bullet, but in the same way if I got pregnant and was due to give birth at the same time as a pre-booked holiday, if you get close and your dog isn't ready to go away then I'd suck up the loss of the holiday. You'll have other chances if it comes to it.

My younger pup went on holiday at 14 weeks, 4 months, 5 months, 7 months, 8 months....

As long as you accept that some aspects of the holiday might change, I don't think it's an issue.

I think it’s doable but likely be pretty full on! Though having said that it’s going to depend on how the pup and its training go!

I would make sure wherever you’re staying has a suitable space for the crate so you can make it as similar to home as possible. I wouldn’t just assume as photos can be misleading. I would also probably be looking for somewhere that’s got a big living kitchen or similar so the pup can be free but also contained a bit, and easy to clean floors. I loved taking my young dogs on holiday but they were a bit older, around a year.

We took our pup away last August when he was 6 months. Dog friendly lodge on a dog friendly campsite in Dorset.

It was fine - we had a great time. I was lucky that pup took to the crate immediately and so crate training was very straightforward for us and that made it a lot easier. This obviously won’t be the case for all puppies!!

What I would say is that you will have to be willing to adapt - I went away with DH, DSS and DS so whilst we did some activities and trips together, some we tag teamed so I would stay with pup and DH took the kids to the zoo - and vice versa - to make sure the kids got out but pup was never left alone. Might sound obvious but as a first time owner it was these kind of logistics that were new to me!

Pup visited Durdle door and Corfe castle and had the best time!

It’s a spaniel and we are staying in a country sort of area with family nearby. Several of them have their own dogs and would be happy to have visits with the dog. We are a large enough group that someone would be able to be doing a dog friendly activity each day even if others were going somewhere not so dog friendly. Age ranges from baby to older adults in a large group so we wouldn’t be doing anything wild. Home from home accommodation… Will check crate space etc

Thank you all

Of course, I have a 6 month old puppy atm and I would, no bother

Omg a spaniel! They’re bonkers aren’t they?! Not sure how easy they are to train either. One good thing is they tend to like water so if you’re going near a lake or the sea they should be fine. My childhood lab was scared of the sea as a puppy but liked it after the initial fear.

I’d do as others say, pup may get tired so tag team with it and use a crate and puppy buggy. Having said that when our lab pup was small and we went away a friend came to dog sit and took her to the local pub with a garden and she was fine apparently.

Depends on the dog though as no two are the same.

Other dogs and a dog friendly activity should be fine.

I’m just back from a long weekend away with my 4 month old puppy. Took his crate and it was all fine. Did shortish walks, cafe stops, pub lunches and ate in at the Airbnb in the evenings. It was great. I planned our days so he has some good periods of down time to nap during the day.

We took our dog camping at 6.5 months. He was fine (although did escape from under the tent one morning and ran to another tent where he had seen a dog the day before😳). I wouldn't have taken him a year later though as he was going through a phase of barking if he heard other dogs barking, noises etc.
I think would be fine in a cottage but I'd definitely take a bottle of urine remover enzymatic spray!

Just thought I would add I have a 6 month old puppy - also a spaniel and would definitely take her away on holiday, we have some holidays booked in for this year which all include her and we can’t wait!

We go away quite a lot and crate training our golden retriever was the best thing we ever did for that.

First time we took her away, she was 4 months.

She was in a crate over night/when we were out for short periods at home until she was about a year old, she’s not crated at home now, but we do use a create still when we stay in holiday homes. She’s never chewed a thing in her life, but I wouldn’t want to first time to be in a holiday homes!

Because she was used to a crate at home for so long, she can go months in-between using one on holiday and she’s completely fine, hops in happily.

I will add though that crate training was very easy as the breeder had lots of crates in the room the mum and pups were in. They didn’t have doors on, the pups could come and go from them as they pleased. As soon as she came home, she saw the crate we had set up for her and she went straight in and had a nap! Forever thankful to the breeder for getting the pups used to them.