About Jeff Lutton Expertise My expertise is how to handle pets when you travel and can't take them with you. How to pick a good kennel, dog day care or overnight facility. Should I leave with friends or have a dog walker come into my home. How do I know that my pet will be taken care of properly?
Experience I have had a dog since I was 3 years old. In my professional life I was traveling quite a bit so my dog boarded more often that I would have liked. I got tired of the corporate world and now own a doggie day care and overnight facility. My expertise is in how to pick a kennel for your pet when you travel.
Question I have recently acquired a new puppy (Rottweiler currently 11 weeks) and I would like to take him to our beach house about 8 hours away.
Is there anyway to prevent to much stress on the puppy during the journey?, any tips etc.. to make it less stressfull on him? and how do you prevent him relieving himself in the car (How often should we stop for him to stretch)?
Thanks
Answer I always suggest to new parents to crate train their dog. By nature dogs are den dwellers and although the first day or two they will cry, very soon they will call it home. Assuming you are able to get a crate in your car, in my opinion, the best (and safest) place for the puppy to ride is in a crate. As they establish the crate as their bedroom, they typically won't go inside the crate and they will consider it home to relieve anxiety.
For a long trip like that I would take the puppy for a long (1 hour) walk before the trip, the goal is to get out as much energy. During the trip I would try to stop every 3 hours.
Dogs will react to your energy, so if you are nervous about riding in the car the dog will act nervous. If you treat it as no big deal, the dog will too.
