Bringing home baby!!

[Phury]

Hello All! I hope everyone is having a lovely New Years eve!
We joined a while ago and have lurked and enjoyed all of your posts. We've spent lot's of time soaking up all of the information provided here while we awaited the birth of our Newfie baby. Saturday is the day we get to pick up our new baby! It's a long trip. Almost 5 hours each way and we are nervous about how he will do in the car for such a long trip and making the transition as easy as possible for him. We were hoping for any tips and advice to make our little ones first days the best we can for him. We Have an appointment with the vet first thing Monday morning to get him all checked over and the first of the 2 Bordatella vaccines he needs to start obedience school and we are hoping to have him settled in by then so at least we are a comfort to him. Also, we were hoping to change his food and his breeder said that would be fine as well but she prefer we kept him on a grain free quality food. He is currently on TOTW Pacific Stream Puppy and we want to change to Wellness Core. Is when we bring him home too soon to start transitioning him from his food to the new food or should we wait until after he is good and settled in before we add yet another new thing to his little life? Any advice or tips anyone can give for our first days would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much and it's wonderful to finally say hello to all of you!!

 

[Darwinsnewfie@1855]

Congrats, I'm so excited for you. I got my pup from a breeder that was 3 1/2 hours away and the ride home went great. I'm no expert, but my advice would be to spend some time at the breeders with the pup prior to going home. I spent 4-5 hours playing and caring for my pup before we left. We had a chance to get to know each other a bit and got an exercise session in before the long ride. She slept the entire way home. There is a product called rescue remedy, but I do not know if it is safe for very young puppies. The breeder will know best about food. My breeder sent me home with enough food so I could very slowly make the transition. I wouldn't want to be house training a brand new puppy with gi upset. This is such an exciting time for you so don't worry too much and I hope you enjoy it!

 

[mcme]

With our last two Newfs it was a 10 hour drive home from the breeder. They both did fine One piece of advice I remember reading before we got our Dublin five years ago, was not to stop for potty breaks at rest areas that would be frequented by other dogs, since your pup won't be fully vaccinated. Your pup is adorable!

 

[victoria1140]

Should be fine,l would wait a few days before transitioning his food as dont forget he will be on different water so keep things as stable as possible.

Also start training now and get the best insurance you can afford now.

Car training just take a towel you can rub over mum before leaving so he has a familiar smell.

Enjoy and take loads of photos as they grow so fast

 

[Phury]

Thank you so much for the replies and great advice. I had a feeling we have been overthinking things. We are in that terrified we have forgotten something yet so excited we are bouncing off the walls stage lol. I don't think we will sleep at all tonight. We have the vet insurance all lined up and our puppy classes scheduled for after his second set of vaccines and the 2nd Bordatella. It was a bit tricky timing it all. His school even offers puppy play dates based on dog size so we will be able to get him additional socialization. We also were worried about stopping with him at rest stops due to him not being fully vaccinated. Is there a good alternative? We also weren't sure if we should take his crate along or if I should just hold him. We bought gallons of nursery water to ease his switch from the water where he is in Pennsylvania to ours. We also didn't want to assume our breeder would have extra food so we bought a 15 pound bag of his current food along with the food we plan to switch to. I will hold off a few days before starting the transition so he is more comfortable. I love, love, love the towel ideal!! We have a small blue snuggly blankie for him so I will try to get mommies scent for him before we go. Our breeder was wonderful about getting us photos every week so we started a photo book for him. As soon as we get him comfortable we will get some more pictures of him to show everyone! Thank you again!

 

[Mitchell]

We drove 1500 km to get Bailey home at 10 weeks. She liked to sit between my boys on the bench for a while and then go to the kennel (large). Her breeder gave a blanket and stuffed dog that smelt like her mom and siblings. I placed these two items in the kennel. We stopped at regular intervals and let her get out to stretch/relieve herself. When we stayed in hotel rooms, I covered the bed with a full-sized blanket and she slept beside me. If she woke up, I knew and took her outside immediately. We tried getting her to sleep in the kennel but she whined and we did not want to wake up other guests. Once we got home, she happily slept in the kennel. We also brought 2 plastic milk jugs filled with water from home and filled another 2 jugs with water from the breeder's place. We slowly moved her from the breeder's water to ours over the course of 4 days travelling home. Thankfully, she did not suffer any ill effects. Good luck on bringing your fur baby home.

 

[mcme]

As far as where to stop, we just got off at a freeway exit and tried to find some grass in an out of the way place. You're never going to guarantee no other dog has been there, but those dog exercise areas at rest stops are like going to a dog park! The only other advice I can think of is to expose your pup to lots of different types of people when he's young: young, old, people with beards, glasses, people of different races. This gets them used to all kinds of people and keeps them from developing weird fears. For example, when I was a kid we had a little terrier that hated bald people. When Dublin was a pup we took him to visit our daughter at college. Sitting outside with a cute puppy at a big state university is like a magnet for a vast array of people. The same goes with exposing him to bikes, scooters, etc. Our first Newf hated bikes, which was a problem. I made sure the next two got used to all wheeled vehicles at an early age. Have fun. Puppies are great!

 

[Jager's Mom]

Congrats!