Travelling with an 11 week old puppy

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splotchy1

Forums Novice
Hello,
I have a question because I'm not sure what to do. We have been looking for a puppy to bring home this Spring. We were lucky enough to find an amazing breeder only a few hours away and are going to pick him up this Saturday. He will be just 8 weeks old.
My question is...we already had a 3 day trip planned for the end of the month that we can't cancel. He will have only been home with us for 3 weeks. I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to have someone come and stay with him for a few days or try to take him with us. We would have to find a pet-friendly hotel, but I'm worried about pottying him so frequently in a hotel situation (with 2 kids that I can't leave alone in the hotel room to take the puppy out.) Plus...the reason we are taking the trip is to see a musical...so he would be alone for a few hours in the hotel in his crate, but I'm worried that he might cry or bark the whole time.
Any advice as to what to do? I don't want him to think we have abandoned him by leaving him home with someone else, but I'm worried about the logistics of the travel with such a young pup.
 
I would talk to the breeder. I definately don't think its a good idea to take a 10wk old pup to a dog hotel or to leave him for a couple of hours. His pottying schedule will be unpredictable, he is likely to bark and whine and it could be traumatic for him and you.

There is no problem bringing a pup home a little later. In many ways they are a little more mature and easier to manage when they are a little older, and the benefit to you is if its a good breeder she may have done a lot of work on his potty schedule already:wink2:.

If you really want to take him home this weekend ask the breeder if she could mind him those few days or knows someone who could. Looking after a piddling pup is a big ask for anyone.

But either way I would definately have a chat with the breeder - a good breeder will understand. Sometimes life happens.
 
If your breeder is close enough, maybe they could watch him. We have 1 of Diva's puppies coming back for a small time while their owner are on vacation. Same situation the trip was planned way before puppy and they had concerns and we volunteered to watch them. The pup will be 15 weeks. They were a great home and it would have been a shame for that to be the deal breaker.

Also when I was scheduled to pick up Ember, I had a trip to Canada plan the weekend after and ask her breeder if I could pick her up later because I really did not want to drag a 9 week old puppy to Canada. It was not a problem and I picked her up when I got back. We also held on to one of Diva's pups for a couple weeks because the other dog in the house needed surgery and it would have been hard having the little one around while the other recovered from surgery.

A good breeder would not be put out by either situation if they were able to with their schedule especially if you offered to pay them for their time. Who knows they may do it for nothing. I know I would rather then see the puppy stressed by a kennel.
 
I did the same thing that the previous posters mentioned. My husband and I went on our honeymoon right about the time that our puppy would be available. If we would have brought her home at 8 weeks, she would have been with us for a week or two, and then would have had to stay somewhere while we were gone.

The breeder was willing to keep her for a few more weeks, and we brought her home at 12 weeks. Honestly, she was SUCH an easy puppy. I think that the extra few weeks really played into that.

Definitely agree that the hotel isn't a good idea.
 
I'm doing the same thing as previous posters have advised. Missy is 8 weeks old as of 3/4, so I could have taken her home this past weekend. However, I'm going to be leaving this Saturday to go to Orlando for 6 days for a vacation with my family that has been planned since the fall. When I initially talked to the breeder, I told her my situation and she said it wouldn't be a problem. I feel bad because her littermates have all gone to their homes, and she's the only one left and no little dogs to play with. But then again, I know she's going to be sooo spoiled by the breeder. Also, she'll get to play with the other shelties and that will help with socialization. She'll be 2 days shy of 10 weeks when I pick her up next Friday. I guess it really depends on what your comfortable with. For me, it was leaving her with the breeder for an extra 2 weeks.
 
I agree, that the breeder idea is the way to go.. We looked into taking our puppy with us once and even though some hotels were dog friendly, they had a policy that stated your pet could not be left alone longer than 30 minutes at a time.
 
Ditto to all that was said. See if you can hold off another few weeks. You won't be able to do a pet hotel because your pup will not have had all his vaccinations yet anyway.

That being said, see if you can get your breeder to start on crate training away from Mom and the other pups. It just goes so much easier if its started at 8 weeks. My breeder actually started the crate training a few days shy of 8 weeks, just before I picked him up. So when I brought him home the first night, he slept right through until about 5 a.m.

The alternative is to have someone housesit, but those first few days are critical in house training and you want to be in control of that yourself.

If you breeder is a good breeder, he/she will get that and will be happy to keep the pup a few more days. If not, then I would question the breeder.
 
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