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Taking A Pup Home ,what To Bring ?

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  • 09-03-2010 11:42pm
    #1
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭


    Ok so I am going to be looking at some pups on (Thursday ready to go) and I am wondering what is the thing to bring whit me for transporting him/her home (apart from the car) I was thinking of either getting one of those car harnesses or putting the foldable cage in the back of the car (it’s the large one so I might have to put down the seats to fit it in) and as for the harness idea what size would I need for a thirteen week old Akita ?? (the only ones I have seen are in small medium and large (I think there was extra large as well )


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    #2
    RALL!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 23 ✭RALL!


    I would suggest a crate - bringing a pup home can be messy - pee, poop, puke.

    get a puppy pee pad, a blanket, a toy and ask the breeder for a blanket or something that the pups and mother have been sleeping on - it will comfort the puppy when he has been taken away from his litter mates and mum. All of that goes in the crate:)
    maybe get a bowl that can attach onto the crate door for water aswell if your journey is long.


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    #3
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    Puppy pee pads are handy for journeys but I found they slipped and gather up in a corner, they can be handy to have though not for toilet training but just for putting over newspaper, the newspaper gives it a better grip.


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    #4
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    Guineapigrescue wrote: »
    Puppy pee pads are handy .

    I picked up a few packs when they where on sale in Lidl's :D


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    #5
    tk123
    Registered Users Posts: 14,024 ✭✭✭✭tk123


    crotalus667 wrote: »
    I picked up a few packs when they where on sale in Lidl's :D

    Be careful with them because puppys like to eat them (along with everything else!):D


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    #6
    boodlesdoodles
    Registered Users Posts: 569 ✭✭✭boodlesdoodles


    I would recommend having someone to sit with the puppy in the back of the car as well. Its so stressful for them and having someone to rub them and comfort them can be helpful. Important thing is to keep everything calm around them that first night. I also go against conventional wisdom and don't leave them alone on the first night. When I brought home my dog, he spent the first couple of nights upstairs in the bedroom in his crate. That way I could get up a couple of times during the night for pee duty. I then gradually moved the crate out the door and downstairs, took nearly 2 weeks. My belief is that first night is so traumatising for them adding to it is pointless as they'll cry all night long. They need the company and I also believe it strenghtens the bond between dog and owner. Other people will disagree but its worked for me. Hope it all goes well for you.


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    #7
    peasant
    Registered Users Posts: 17,819 ✭✭✭✭peasant


    Being taken from the mother and littermates by strangers is going to be the most traumatic event in the pups life so far.

    You can add to or subtract from that trauma.

    You can either stash it into a crate in the back of the car all on its own and leave it to fret (and soil itself) in there until you get home

    or

    You can have someone sit with it on the back seat, looking after it, keeping it calm and wiping both ends gently every now and then.

    In the second case, bring lots of wiping materials, plastic bags for disposal and a blanket for the back seat (and the lap of the carer). On a longer journey some water and a bowl also would be good.

    I'd also second the advice above about what to do during the first few nights.


    Lastly, something of which you should bring as little as possible and that's excitement. The calmer and more orderly the first day(s) pass, the easier it will be for your pup to be calm and find its way.


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    #8
    dooner
    Registered Users Posts: 28 ✭dooner


    If possible ask the breeder if you can have a blanket or old jumper that smells of mum and litter mates to use in crate or bed this can some times help with some of the stress
    Good luck with your new friend


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    #9
    PaulB91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 257 ✭✭PaulB91


    plus one for Peasant's comments

    would also (prior to picking pup up) find out what food they are using and get some in stock, or ask for some from the breeder.


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    #10
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    boodlesdoodles wrote: »
    I would recommend having someone to sit with the puppy in the back of the car as well.
    Unfortunately there is no one that can come with me (plus the crate cover the whole of the back seat) on the positive side the googlemaps have the journey at about 30 mins most of which is smooth motorway and dual carriage way

    boodlesdoodles wrote: »
    I also go against conventional wisdom and don't leave them alone on the first night. When I brought home my dog, he spent the first couple of nights upstairs in the bedroom in his crate..
    the plan for the start is that he/she will sleep in my room (i had not even considered otherwise :D )


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    #11
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    PaulB91 wrote: »
    would also (prior to picking pup up) find out what food they are using and get some in stock, or ask for some from the breeder.
    I could see from the pics what they where being fed so i have a few day's worth of that


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    #12
    PaulB91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 257 ✭✭PaulB91


    crotalus667 wrote: »
    Unfortunately there is no one that can come with me (plus the crate cover the whole of the back seat) on the positive side the googlemaps have the journey at about 30 mins most of which is smooth motorway and dual carriage way


    the plan for the start is that he/she will sleep in my room (i had not even considered otherwise :D )

    not sure if keeping him/her in the bedroom to start is a good idea unless he/she is to be sleeping there permanent, it will cause more distress when the pup has to go to where he/she will sleep full time, although i would check on him/her through the night, especially to leave outside to the toilet (if you have secured garden)


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    #13
    PaulB91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 257 ✭✭PaulB91


    crotalus667 wrote: »
    I could see from the pics what they where being fed so i have a few day's worth of that

    just make sure it's the same thought, they may have changed the feed or had it in different containers to what the food is - be worth having a few weeks worth


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    #14
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    PaulB91 wrote: »
    not sure if keeping him/her in the bedroom to start is a good idea unless he/she is to be sleeping there permanent,
    he/she is to be sleeping there permanently , (is that not a common thing ?? grandmother used to have one of hers that slept in the bedroom with her:D)


    PaulB91 wrote: »
    just make sure it's the same thought, they may have changed the feed or had it in different containers to what the food is - be worth having a few weeks worth
    I'll ask them when i am there (there are a few pet shops close by so getting another brand the same day should not be a prob)


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    #15
    PaulB91
    Closed Accounts Posts: 257 ✭✭PaulB91


    crotalus667 wrote: »
    he/she is to be sleeping there permanently , (is that not a common thing ?? grandmother used to have one of hers that slept in the bedroom with her:D)



    I'll ask them when i am there (there are a few pet shops close by so getting another brand the same day should not be a prob)

    coolio - my old dog when i was in the UK at my mums used to sleep on my bed, till i went to uni, then she slept on my mums bed (Lab/collie) only problem came when she dislocated her hip running upstairs to my room one day (was a bend in the stairs) then my mum slept on the sofa downstairs for two months until she was able (the dog) to get back upstairs :D

    i'd have mine in the bedroom if i could - but with a Lab/boxer, GSD, and two 6 month old GSD/Newfie pups it might be a bit crowded ;)


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    #16
    crotalus667
    Registered Users Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭crotalus667


    PaulB91 wrote: »
    then my mum slept on the sofa downstairs for two months until she was able (the dog) to get back upstairs :D
    Awwwww your mum is a star :D


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    #17
    Gone With The W
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21 ✭Gone With The W


    When we were rehoming pups we used to give the new family a few days supply of the food that they had been eating and a small blanket that had been with mum. what we used to suggest was to wrap the blanket in a hot water bottle with a ticking clock so that the pup wouldnt feel alone.


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