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Help! Picking up puppy out of state

4K views 22 replies 16 participants last post by  giebel 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi Folks,
I'm going to be picking up my pup from out of state at the end of June beginning of July. I'm trying to figure out the best option for the pup. I will be on summer break( I work at a school). Driving distance is 10 and 1/2 hours. Flying is doable with a 2 hour direct flight and a night stay over. Has anyone done this before? I'm trying to figure out if I should fly and bring the pup with me in the cabin/or cargo hold or rent a car and drive out and drive back ( sleep over or rent a camper van). Any suggestions are super super appreciated. Im nervous about puttin the pup in a cargo hold but I also think a 8 or 9 week old puppy could be way cray cray in a crate in a car for such a long time. This is in June/July and I would be picking up the puppy in Idaho and bringing it back to Nor Cal.
I have my heart set on this breeder because I know they are a sound and ethical breeder that would be right for me.

Thanks in advance for your posts.
 
#2 · (Edited)
We considered flying back with our pup in the cabin of the plane but glad we chose to drive back home because he would have never fit under the seat in the plane!

We flew to Montana and then rented a mini van to drive home so that one of us would be with him, able to lay on the floor to play and bond when he was awake.

When we picked him up, he was a disaster in the car whining and carrying on (I don't think he had ever been in a car). We stayed in town at a hotel that night getting to know him. We spent time in the car letting him sniff everything, front and back seat and also fed him his dinner in the car. We put windows up and down, played the radio, turned on air conditioner, open and shut doors, and
periodically turned the engine on so that he would be familiar with the sounds and vibration.

Next morning we repeated the same routine for about an hour before we left. At that time we also gave him some homeopathic's and herbals for calmness and to prevent car sickness, just in case!

We stopped in places off the highway where other dogs would not have been. No "rest stop" area's. Didn't want to take a chance.

The 1500 mile trip home went off without a hitch and he slept almost the whole time!

From then on he loved the car and when we travel, we don't even know he's in there!

Good luck with your pup and we'll expect pictures when you get him home!
Moms :)
 
#3 ·
Personally, I would drive and pick him up. To add to what you've already been given I bring an expen and a mat to potty on so they don't have to walk on ground that I don't know what's been there before my puppy. Also means I'm not trying to potty a puppy who likely isn't leash trained yet either.
 
#5 ·
Not a breeder pup, but we got Shelby from a shelter in KY when she was 8 weeks old. She was put on a paid transport van to MD. The transport to her delivery point in MD was about 9 hours (not counting stops to deliver other dogs). After getting her, we had to drive her another 1.5 or 2 hours home. She was perfect. Slept in my sons' lap all the way home.

No matter how you decide to get your pup home, it will be fine.
 
#7 ·
My first gs was out of state. I live in MD and drove about 7hrs to northern PA with a couple friends to pick him up. Then we drove straight back. It was nice cause I was able to bond and play with him in the back seat. He did do a lot of sleeping. We stopped a few times for potty breaks and to stretch our legs at shopping center parking lots in the back. Overall it was a nice trip for all of us. I will be getting my second GS from a breeder in NH hopefully August/September if all goes as planned. That's going to be between a 7-12 hr drive depending on the rt I take. And I'm fully looking forward to it! For you, its all going to come down to what you want really. There's pros n cons to driving or flying. Just narrow down your list with whats doable for you. I believe there are some older threads about flying pups. You can try looking them up to see what others experienced
 
#8 ·
Congratulations on your new puppy! How exciting!

Personally, I have always been fearful of flying a dog in cargo. I think if it were me, I'd drive back (regardless of how I got there).

The major benefit of driving back that I see is that you can stop to give the dog a potty break just about as often as needed, and as Momto2GSDs said, many pups sleep happily for most of the day.

My issue with cargo isn't that I don't think it's largely safe. I'm sure most dogs are safe and do well, and come home without issues. But the fact that some die, the horror stories I've heard about airlines giving the dog drugs or not giving them food (or even not allowing food, even when their policy states that you can have a ziplock of food attached to the top) are enough to make me distrust them, personally. Of course, I wouldn't judge/blame anyone if they decided they had to do this for one reason or another. I know I can sometimes be overly cautious, and this may be one of those times. :)
 
#9 ·
We've both shipped and driven. With Dena, we wanted to meet the breeder and the dam of the litter so we flew from the Bay Area to Portland Oregon, rented a car at the airport, and drove her home. My husband has relatives in the area, so we spent the night with them. We had time to play with Dena at the breeder's house the day we arrived, then we left and had dinner with Tom's aunt & uncle who live about a half hour away from the breeder. We picked Dena up the following morning and drove straight through. I had a crate shipped in advance so it would be there when we arrived. It was no problem to drop off the vehicle at the Oakland airport and were not even charged extra for a one way rental.

Keefer came from the same breeder and we had him shipped. Halo was shipped from the East Coast to San Francisco, which we were definitely worried about but she arrived just fine.
 
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#11 ·
I drove from NY to OH to pick up my pup, it was a good ride back she slept most of the time, only downside was she threw up 6 times on the way home. I wouldn't even attempt a flight with her, she was a complete mess for the first few hours. Luckily she rides in my truck to and from work every day now so she's become completely used to the car, but I'd recommend either shipping or driving, not a chance I'd try to fly with a puppy.
 
#14 ·
I have driven to pick up one puppy, flown to pick up two others, and have decided that unless the drive is super long, I really prefer driving. And even if the drive is long I might just make a road trip out of it, lol.

I would never fly with a puppy in cargo. One, if you're going to do that you might as well just have the puppy shipped, which is going to be in cargo. Two, I prefer not putting the puppy through that stress if possible. Getting the puppy is going to be stressful for them no matter what option you choose, but I feel like being in cargo is the worst.

When you fly with the puppy in cabin, you're stuck. The puppy will probably scream, you're worried about them going to the bathroom. You have to get to the airport a couple hours early, and delays can happen and suddenly a 2 hour flight turns into 5+ hours sitting on the plane, plus the two hours you already spent at the airport. I fly a lot and t's happened to me more than once, fortunately not when I had a puppy with me. When you drive, yeah you still have the same worries but at least then it's just you suffering through a screaming puppy and you can stop to let them potty whenever.

Also most underseat spaces are getting smaller and it can be difficult or impossible to get a GSD puppy under there. My most recent puppy I flew on Southwest and technically she did not fit, though we managed to sneak by. There aren't many airlines with larger underseat spaces anymore so that will limit your options.

So yeah, I definitely vote for driving. 10.5 hours one way is easy and well worth the hassle of not dealing with flying. That's one day there and one day back, which you'd be doing flying anyway.
 
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#16 ·
My ex gf had 2 dogs shipped and they were fine. Happy right out of the crate, if the breeder did the proper socializing to new environments and car rides and such then he shouldnt be stressed. What is stressful is being in a car for 11 hours with someone you don't know and have no idea where you're going. Flying is the same as driving to the pup, he's still crated in a strange place. 2 hours is better than 11.
 
#17 ·
IMO, a puppy with good genetics is probably not going to be bothered by much of anything, including car rides or airplane flights.
When we drove to pick up our Cowdog, we got there just in time to see all the puppies gathered around the food bowl. :(
They knew when we were coming, so I don't know why they didn't just separate her. Of course, she threw up a couple of times, I think, on the way home and to this day (she's 7) she really doesn't care for car rides. Maybe she wouldn't have anyway, but who knows...
 
#20 ·
Driving gives you a nice vacation and bonding with your pup and he is supervised 24/7. He wil learn that no matter where you are, you are the steady presence for him. I don't trust anything where a pup is not supervised too many things can and go wrong during animal transport (rough handling, sitting on a tarmac too long etc.). I know that it goes well often but I personally don't want to take a chance.
 
#22 ·
This, exactly. Yes cargo/shipping often goes well, but when it goes wrong it can go horribly wrong. I'd rather be in direct supervision of my puppy so I don't have to guess what experiences my puppy is being put through during transport.
 
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