Traveling with Newborn Puppies

[Beah10]

Okay long story short, I’m moving to a new property that is 24hrs driving or 4hrs flying. While driving is cheaper, flying is faster and I want to make this trip easiest for my female dog and her puppies. This was not a planned litter, the puppies will be about 2-3 weeks old when the house is ready. The mother dog has never flown on a plane before and she gets very anxious/scared traveling in the car. Unfortunately I cannot postpone the move as we won’t have a house to stay at, so I need to find the easiest way to move with them.

Does anyone have any advice on making this trip? The mother dog uses pee pads, so I can set up a kennel in the truck so she doesn’t have to get out to potty. We will only be stopping once to sleep if we travel by car. There will be no stops if by plane. Any advice appreciated!!

 

[HenHouse4Life]

If you travel by car I would still make stops so mommy can stretch her legs, and you also. IMO flying would be hard on those babies.... that's very young. At least with traveling by car you can see mommy and babies and keep an eye on everyone.

 

[cassie]

I don't think the airline will accept 3 week old puppies. If you travel by car, you should make stops so everyone, including you, can stretch their legs. I would put the mother dog in a crate and take her out every few hours so she can relieve herself. She is not going to want to relieve herself in the crate, pee pads or not. If she is nervous, I would consider putting the puppies in a box or crate separate from her but where she can hear and smell them. Put them with her every few hours so they can nurse. One way to relieve her anxiety is to put her in the crate and take her for VERY short drives, like around the block, so she can get used to the experience several days before you leave. Maybe throw a hot dog in the crate before you put her in it and give her treats when you get home.

I used to show dairy goats, and sometimes that would involve fairly long hauls. We would drink plenty of water or soda, which meant we had to stop to pee. At every pee stop we checked the livestock. Trying to make a marathon run isn't good for anyone.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Personally I would never ever put my dog on a plane. In truth they will not let you take your dog with pups aboard. So your car is the best option all the way around. I don’t know your dog but one of my concerns would be that mom would stress and accidentally step on or hurt the pups. I would call the vet and ask if there’s any type of tranquilizers appropriate for Nursing Mothers. Or you could keep the
Pups in separate box (near mom) and take breaks for her to nurse. Having the area where you keep them darkened would help to. Who knows she might be like my dogs....all excited at first but the
Minute we hit 55mph they go to sleep. Crazy but that’s what they do. Best wishes

 

[chickens really]

Drive and just make sure she is comfortable. Asking your Vet is the best advisor...

 

[Tortoise]

DO NOT FLY! If they were to even let you fly them, I can almost guarantee they all won't make it.
The pups will travel in a car no problem as long as you have the room for them to be with mom and to move/walk around a bit. I would put a pee pad down but you should stop every 8-10 hours at least to let her walk around a bit.
Just so you know that I'm not just throwing out an opinion. I have flown a pup. I have worked in the vet, grooming, training, showing, boarding raising fields of dogs. I know many that have flown them. Puppies don't do well.
Dogs don't do well being confined for more then 8-10 hours 12 hours tops but not often is okay. However, seeing it's in a car, with her pups and the stress of it, the shorter 8-10 hours should be the limit.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Definitely ask your vet if there's any tranquilizers they could prescribe that would be safe for a nursing mom. The last time I had to move a long distance, it was a 2 day drive with a dog that had massive anxiety issues in cars (he'd scream continuously). The tranquilizers worked wonderfully, he was dopey and relaxed the whole trip.

 

[Abriana]

My family got our collie from a breeder who would help her dogs with car anxiety by taking them for short drives and would get them a tiny bit of vanilla ice cream. You don't have to take them to get ice cream, the idea is to take them to a place so that they associate great fun things with a car ride. Take them to play with a doggy friend, to a park, or to buy treats or a special toy you know your dog likes (my dog loves stuffed animals that squeak!). It really really helps. When Beau was a puppy, we got him to enjoy car rides, but then he went to the vet and got vaccines and slipped on the stainless steel tabele and almost fell off. We had to re-train him, and luckily he now is very comfortable during car rides. If you are going to be somewhere like the vets office before the big car ride, take treats with you and try to make everything associated with the car ride a very positive experience. Also make sure the treats are small (about half to a fourth of the size of your thumbnail) because you will be using them often, and you down want her to get sick! Hopefully this helps and that everything goes smoothly!

 

[Tortoise]

I would not drug the dog unless your dog acts like a maniac when in the car and you don't have time to work with her. However, I would only get the pills to have on hand and would not use them unless you have too. Chances are, because she has her pups, she will be in protection mode and she will act totally different then when she didn't have them. If you do drug her then the pups need to be in a box or cage that they can see each other but that mother can't get too them to walk on.

 

[Beah10]

Thank you everyone. I will definitely drive then. I really didn’t want to fly but thought maybe a short trip would be easier on her, but since it seems like that’s too dangerous we won’t go that route.

I’ll make more stops for her, I was just concerned about her bringing back germs/parvo/chemicals etc to her puppies if I let her walk around on grass or pavement in new areas. That’s why I was thinking I could have her use the pee pads. I will keep the puppies separated from mom during the trip and just stop for feedings.

I don’t think I will do a sedative. Normally I take her in the car to go hiking or to parks. She pants heavily and shakes the whole time there as well as having her eyes incredibly wide. 9/10 times on our way home, she is tired enough that she sleeps on the way back.

How should I setup the puppies box? I have small soft sided kennels and small-ish wire kennels. Should I include hot water bottles or just keep the heat high enough in the car?