[Francl27]

I found a fantastic breeder and I'm extremely interested in her puppies... however, they live way too far and I would need to have the puppy shipped (she's herself not very fond of it, and I don't blame her).

Does anyone have any experience with this? The closest airport is still 1h away too, and how do you let a young puppy out to pee when he's not completely vaccinated yet? Obviously the puppy would probably need a bath on arrival too, which isn't really recommended for puppies that young...

Thoughts?

 

[ForTheLoveOfDogs]

I shipped in my BC. She was a bit stressed and a little disoriented upon arrival, but otherwise pretty unfazed? Other than her temporary possible deafness. Yeah that was a thing. We legit thought she was deaf because she wasn't responding to noises. Then the next day suddenly she started to "hear" again. No idea what that was and it was the first time the breeder had ever had that happen.. but it was a thing. Maybe it was loud in there or something and made her ears all wonky for a day.

I can't remember how long her flight was. Maybe 6-7 hours? The car drive was 2 hours from the airport. She did potty in her crate but she covered it up with the blanket that was with her. We had doggy wet wipes just in case but didn't end up needing them. First thing we did was put her in the car and take her to a small grass area kinda nearby that looked pretty secluded. Let her potty. Got in the car and kinda let her decide if she needed out again. She slept pretty much the full 2 hours.. probably exhausted from the plane ride. Never got sick.

She never had any negative associations from it though. Despite being a Border Collie and having other issues (boundries/dogs) she has NO issues with loud/scary noises and movement under her.

It really isn't ideal.. and it is kinda stressful. I wouldn't do it again unless I was getting a difficult to find breed. In your situation I would consider it because you seem to not have a lot of good breeders near you. You may get lucky and not need a bath either. Just wipe em' off and let them be stinky a day. I did end up washing Ember that night because she had a strong barn smell (she was from a farm) and I shouldn't have done that. I mean.. she wasn't traumatized and she is still good for baths and everything. But yeah try not to do that if you don't have to.

Sorry I'm rambling. Hope there's anything helpful in there.

 

[LeoRose]

If the puppy has a genetically sound temperament and good early socialization and exposure to lots of novel things, then shipping shouldn't be that big of a deal.

Another option might be for you to fly out, rent a car, and drive home with the pup.

I have a friend who's had two dogs shipped from the Pacific northwest to Texas as puppies, as well as shipped two of her puppies from Texas to Minnesota, with no problems whatsoever. Puppies all arrived unfazed and happy.

 

[Francl27]

It's a 30h drive, driving is definitely not going to be an option (cost is a consideration too, considering that it's one of the most expensive breeder I've seen, but for a reason).

Ok I feel better after reading this. We're still thinking about it, I have to hear back from the breeder and talk it through with my husband first anyway (there are closer breeders I'm looking at, but the only one that comes close in term of guarantee might be another year wait at least). I'm really picky about breeders...

 

[Shell]

I have never shipped a dog, but I used to work at an airport.

I would only consider shipping a puppy on a direct, non-stop flight. If a flight is delayed while breeder is still with puppy, then breeder can keep pup safe until flight is rescheduled or ready to load. But if a connection flight has a problem, then its the airline staff who have to get pup from place to place safely and while animals are well marked and loaded last/unloaded first, it still raises the chances of being delayed or misrouted.

The temporary deafness observed above was likely due to inner ear pressure changes. Like why people chew gum or give bottles to babies to "pop" the ear pressure from altitude changes.

If puppy is small enough to fly in-cabin, you could fly both ways to get him. Or, see about a courier type arrangement where someone going your direction flies with the dog

 

[Spicy1_VV]

Should be fine in general. I can't imagine why the pup would be too young to get a bath, airlines have minimum shipping ages.