Published in 
 The Retriever Journal
Apr./May 2011

New Pup?
If You Plan to Drive to Get Him - Think Again!

written by Butch Goodwin
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Northern Flight Retrievers  

You've done your homework. You’ve found a breeder who breeds the kind of dogs that you want to spend the next decade hunting with. The breeder has told you about the particular dogs he is breeding and sent along some references of others who have dogs from his previous litters. He sent you pictures and pedigrees of the dogs he is breeding, and you’ve pored over them and decided on a specific litter. You have the certification numbers or copies of the genetic health clearance certificates for the dogs that will be producing the litter. He also sent you some updates and pictures over the seven or eight weeks since the litter was born. And now, after months of e-mails, phone calls, and waiting, it is finally getting close to the time to bring your new puppy home — and you are ready!

  But are you really ready? How are you actually going to get your puppy from the breeder’s kennel to his new home? Is the breeder going to fly him to you, or are you going to drive and pick him up? What I am about to tell you may cause you think twice.

  Breeders expect that people will want to visit and see their dogs, and most appreciate meeting the people who will be getting their puppies; they relish showing off their dogs. A breeder can learn a lot more by visiting with someone in person rather than only through the impersonal medium of e-mail or phone calls. Similarly, someone looking for a pup can tell a lot about a breeder by visiting his kennel and meeting his dogs. Most breeders encourage visitors — but they try to discourage people from driving long distances to pick up their puppies. Let me explain why. 

  It is not uncommon for someone who is getting a puppy from a litter to tell the breeder that they would prefer to drive and pick up their new puppy and drive him home. Many use the excuse that they have heard horror stories about missed or delayed flights or dogs being put on the wrong plane, so they simply would feel safer driving to get their puppy. Now, I'm not going to tell you that I have never had a problem with missed airline connections or weather delays or whatever (and sometime I will tell you why I will never again send puppies to two guys named Phil in different parts of the country on the same day), but I will tell you that it is much safer for the breeder to fly your puppy to you than for you to drive and pick him up. From my experience, if I can talk the new owners into letting me fly their puppy to them, I feel much better about it.

  If someone insists on coming to my kennel to pick up their puppy and have to drive more than a few hours, I ask them to please consider flying rather than driving. And, even if they are driving for only a few hours, I ask that they not let their pup out of his crate until they get to their home - even if he messes in the crate, just keep driving. If you can’t stand the smell, make sure that you have some baby wipes and plenty of extra paper towels to clean everything up, but do not put the puppy down on the ground when you stop.

  My reasoning behind these requests is simple. First of all, puppies don’t get nearly as stressed in a few hours on an airplane or even changing flights as they do driving for a long period of time in a vehicle. And if you decide to fly and pick up your puppy and fly him home with you, check with the airline to see if they will allow you to take your pup onboard the airplane in a soft crate under your seat. That way you will have control of the pup throughout the duration of the trip — if the flight is delayed, you and your puppy are delayed together.

  Secondly, a seven- or eight-week-old puppy has generally had only one vaccination. It is possible that he no longer has the full level of immunity that he got from his mother and likely that he hasn’t had his full series of shots yet. So, when you drive for more than a few hours, where do you stop and let him out to relieve himself? Is there anyplace to stop along the route home where you can be absolutely positive that another dog hasn’t spread parvovirus or some other killer disease in that area? Certainly you can’t let your pup out at a gas station or truck stop — that’s where everybody stops to let their dogs out. Fast food places are just as bad. The “dog area” at highway rest areas is probably the worst. And, if you have to stop overnight, the grass areas or “dog only” areas surrounding the motel parking lot are likely extremely contaminated and often covered with - all manner of trash.

  In my column about pyometras in the August/September 2010 issue of The Retriever Journal, I introduced you to my veterinarian, Dr. Brent Varriale at Snake River Vet Clinic in Fruitland, Idaho. It was Dr. Varriale who, many years ago, first pointed out to me that I should suggest to people that if they are going to drive their pups home, almost anyplace they would stop and let their puppy out could likely be contaminated and potentially deadly. Dr. Varriale says, “Our goal is to minimize the exposure of young puppies to potentially deadly diseases, and parasites.  Parvovirus and Leptospirosis are the two diseases that they would most likely come in contact with from an infected area, and, of course, those areas are also probably rife with all forms of parasites.

  “If the puppy actually came into contact with another dog, there is always a chance of picking up canine influenza or kennel cough. And you know how people are: As soon as they see a little puppy, they immediately want to bring their dog over to ‘meet’ the puppy. On the other hand, dogs are pretty much isolated in their own crate on an airplane. If a dog on an airplane gets sick and has (diarrhea or throws up in his crate, the mess stays in his crate; that’s why the guidelines for flying call for solid bottom plastic crates with an absorbent material such as a towel on - the bottom. At least if it is contained in a crate it is not all over the ground like at a rest area along the highway, spreading disease for the next dog to stick his nose into or track around on his feet.”


If hearing a vet say that isn’t convincing enough, here is a personal story that reinforces the point.

  Several years ago, a friend who lives near Boise, Idaho, called me to tell me that his married daughter had come from her home in a neighboring state to buy a German shepherd puppy. Since she had been raised in the Boise area, she was familiar with someone who bred German shepherds near her parent’s home. So she drove the 10 or so hours to Boise, stayed with her parents, picked up her new puppy, and returned home. About two weeks or so after, her puppy got very sick and was diagnosed with parvo. Her dad called me, knowing that I bred Chesapeakes, to get my opinion as to whether I thought it was the breeder’s responsibility to foot the bills and to possibly replace the pup if it died. I told him that they should contact the breeder and find out if any of the other pups in the litter had developed parvo.

  I also asked my friend where his daughter had stopped on the way home to air and exercise her pup. Of course, he had no idea. So, I got her phone number and called her myself. To my absolute shock, she told me that she had stopped at a rest area along the Interstate on the way home to let her puppy out to relieve himself, and then she had stayed overnight in a motel along the highway where she let him out in the area behind the motel. Most people don’t even consider the fact that the fast food areas, rest areas, and motel parking lots are places where everyone with a sick dog stops while traveling down the highway. To me, it seemed totally careless of her to exercise her young puppy in places like this, but I’m sure, just like most people, she had stopped without any thought of the possible deadly consequences.

  As it turned out, the puppy survived the parvo. The breeder checked with several others who had puppies from the same litter and none had been sick. The breeder even gave my friend’s daughter the phone numbers of others who had puppies from the same litter so that she could check with them if she wanted. There is no question in my mind that one of the two places she let her puppy out is where he picked up the virus. But, perhaps more importantly, everyone learned a lesson, and I decided from that point forward that I wouldn’t let anyone pick up a puppy if they have to drive more than a few hours.

  So, remember this story and think about it before you want to drive to pick up your new puppy from the breeder. Yes, there can be hassles connected with flying puppies, and I am also quick to warn people that, even if the pup has been crated for several hours on a plane and is “begging” to get out, don’t let him out in the area right outside of the airport. Again, everyone lets their dogs out as soon as they pick them up at the counter! Just get him home and let him out in your yard, where you can play with him and feel confident that it is safe.

  The airlines fly lots of animals every day; they have federal and state rules to follow, and they know what is best because they are experienced at doing it. So, when you take everything into account, flying your new puppy home is unquestionably your best and safest option.