So I leave tomorrow to pick up puppy.  I feel drastically underprepared!

What am I going to need that I probably forgot?


I have bowls, bedding, crate, treats, food, collar, leash, toys. Will I survive first impact?

Obviously I will fill in the blanks as they come up for the next few weeks.


Is going for short walks around my neighbourhood going to be okay? I'm sketched out about puppy being around other dogs until he is fully immunized.

Any last minute tips?



Thank you,

Ryan

Paper towels for spills, pee/poop, poop bags, maybe some wipes and a change of clothes for yourself - more than 1 person has reported new puppy peeing on them at pickup

I would NOT feed a whole lot on trip - just little bits. Car sick maybe. But as much water as pup wants.

Walking - rule of thumb: 5 minutes per month of age (2 months old = 10 minute walk, 3 mo old = 15 minute walk. This applies to structured walks - not playtime in the backyard etc.)

You will survive, and I suspect, thrive

First night alone - maybe a hot water bottle underneath bedding and some sort of white noise (ideal is old fashioned tick tock alarm clock.) However - you need to assess the risk of chewing and swallowing inappropriate objects...if puppy shares your bed first night, then comes the 2nd and you have set a precedent. Little pups can make some pretty awful, painful noises so be prepared (maybe ear plugs or white noise for you, too.) It can take a will of iron not to succumb to those plaintive wails.

Hey Ryan, don't be too shocked - no matter how well prepared you think you are, you'll still be woefully unprepared! << laughing >>

You've got an 8 hour trip - and figure it's going to take a couple more for pit stops for you, potty breaks for the puppy and a dew others just because.

I'm going to disagree with Amy, (just 'cause) I wouldn't feed anything on the trip or for a while before you start out. Okay, you'll have a hungry puppy when you get home but better a hungry puppy than barf all over the car ... better safe than sorry. The only exception I'd make to that might be a light treat (a few kibble - oops, you're feeding raw, aren't you?) and then stay put for an hour or so to let it "settle" but keep an eye open for the inevitable necessary stop later.

Good luck guy, you're in for the time of your life!!!

aljones wrote:

I'm going to disagree with Amy, (just 'cause) I wouldn't feed anything on the trip or for a while before you start out.  Okay, you'll have a hungry puppy when you get home but better a hungry puppy than barf all over the car ... better safe than sorry.  The only exception I'd make to that might be a light treat (a few kibble - oops, you're feeding raw, aren't you?) and then stay put for an hour or so to let it "settle" but keep an eye open for the inevitable necessary stop later.

Actually, that's not really disagreeing with me...that's sort of what I meant - as in "at the most a light treat..." And absolutely let it settle BEFORE you start up again. You might even want to ask the breeder to feed only a half ration in the morning at leasta couple of hours before you will be leaving with her/him(?) I hate throw-up so I would do ANYTHING to prevent it. (Throw-ujp...hey, I'll join you )

So exciting!!! I know I couldn't sleep (both times) the night before. Not good when you are having to drive such a long distance! But I had a friend with me, and I got to sleep on my way home, haha. My friend said Kohdi pretty much slept the entire way with me (he was on my lap) but every once in awhile he'd wake up and bite on my hat, haha. Mishka peed on me about 30 minutes in but other than that, she slept with me too pretty much all the way home. I'm pretty sure yours will do the same. It's a pretty busy day for them before you get there, the breeder gets them ready, and then there's the chaos of all the other dogs and puppies where they are, once they're in the car and it's quiet, they can finally relax. Congratulations and good luck to you!!

What a cutie! Congratulations!

That is indeed one cute pup! Is that blanket in your lap?? and how'd the trip go??

And, okay, I know about where you are; I got bored of running the US interstates east to west so one time I took the Trans Can ... All I really remember about that area is that I was going up a long incline ... hit the top of it and there were the Rockies! Also remember stopping for the night and pulling off the road behind this rock to avoid the lights from any traffic <what traffic?> ... foolish rock had to be about 30 - 40 feet tall and about as wide .... I'd sure hate to have been in the parking area when that bad boy came down!!

very cute, and congratulation on your new fur baby.

What a day. I had a relatively negative experience picking up the puppy, which I won't go over now but I will in a different post. Long story short, he was delivered to me by someone that was more or less collecting money and handing over dog and documents. No toys, no blankets, small bag of food, no collar, no leash. Hux was in a panic, losing his little mind, and had gone to the bathroom in the kennel that he travelled in with this dude. Was just generally very upset. I cleaned him up with fresh water and towels, ran to a petstore in the town and bought everything I was promised I would have... but anyways...


I have to say, that last night probably one of the hardest nights I've had in my life. It ended up being a 15 hour drive. It was 13 hours there but on the way back we hit a brutal storm. I had two co-pilots but I ended up doing majority of the driving. On the way there I drove 9 hours straight, couldn't sleep on my 'off shift' time, and then puppy came. He was great in the car, just chilled out, snuggled up against my leg, whined to pee and what not and we would stop. He ate and drank every few hours and was honestly a dream. I took over driving around 7PM last night and drove us all the way home..

We got home this morning around 5AM - I had gotten about 45 minutes of sleep in the last two days. Tried to move the crate into my room where I had planned on keeping him - and lo and behold it cant fit through the door. Puppy running rampant in the living room while I deconstruct his crate and rebuild.. oh man. I got him setup and managed to keep him interested in staying inside with the door open... but he went bananas when I would close the door.

I tried to soothe him, forgetting everything I have learned/read because I was dead tired, but I eventually got my brain working again and ignored him when he howled (and man does he howl - the neighbours thought I brought home a wolf) and praised when he was quiet for periods of time.

This went on for 2 hours. I took him out  just to make sure he didnt have to use the facilities. After all was said and done I fell asleep, he fell asleep around 9 AM.

I woke up at 10:15 AM with him wagging his tail and 'talking' to me, I praised him and he laid down and relaxed. I got another 30 minutes of sleep. It sounds insane but that look he gave me meant everything. I feel like he understood finally that I wasn't doing anything to hurt him. It made me cry haha.

Anyways, we just jaunted around about town, ran some errands, got some puppy things. Seriously this puppy is the best car passenger I have ever seen. He got a little restless on the way home from the store, we'd been out for a couple hours. We got into the house and he circled the place once, helped me unpack all his toys, dragged them into his crate one at a time, and prompty laid down to sleep - he is still sleeping there now. I can't put into words how happy I am that he 'gets it' and hangs in his crate. I might cry again, or maybe im just running on zero sleep so I'm a big emotional sack of crap. Who knows!

After his nap we are off to collect his raw food for the month and start his transistion over from the kibble he was being fed. Vet checkup Thursday to make sure there are no shennigans.

Phew.

I made it.

Ryan.

That's awesome! Congratulations! A lot of the emotions part IS the lack of sleep...happened to me too, several times and my drive wasn't quite as long as yours. It'll take a few days to get back to normal, by then, puppy will feel at home more too

Again, congratulations!!! can't wait to see more pics, he is adorable!

Phew! is right! When I said earlier that no matter how prepared you were, you'd still be unprepared, I didn't mean for it to go that bad!!

I like that you've got a 'traveler', that makes it so much more enjoyable when you have to go someplace. I have one who'll stand on the console (in a Jeep) then he has to duck his head so he can see out the window, but he wants to see where we're going! My other one is a good traveler as well, but she's just as happy to crash in the back end and not worry about anything till we get to where we're going.

Sounds like ti's time to go get some shut-eye (if you can) but remember you still have a pup who's going to want out once in a while - uh, happy dreams!

Gabby is the best traveler. As soon as she gets in the car she sleeps. We thought she was going to be a nightmare in the car since the day we picked her up she whined the 3 hour drive home.

Glad to see your new pup is a good traveler as well.