When your going to pick up your puppy there is excitement there is the
expectation and of course there is the preparation.
No matter how far away you are an important aspect to consider is how
you are going to bring him home. Puppy/dog safety is as important
as people and you need to have considered this well before you embark
on the great puppy adventure. In our Little Vikings 300mile
journey home our prep happened a few weeks before,. We had to consider
our little man’s safety as well as his needs. One that is
important is what you pick him/her up in. Even if taking him home is a
short distance.
In terms of his safety we knew we would need something in which we
could place him. We knew he had to travel in the back and we knew
he needed to be in an enclosed space. It is amazing how
vulnerable we make our dogs by carrying them or leaving them loose
while we drive. Apart from the danger of them being flung out the
windshield from an accident and/or collision you have to consider that
they may be hurt from flying around the car. What is more if you
are hurt and/or knocked out they may run away having no one to look
after them. So as much as we wanted to be able to carry and
cuddle our little man, we looked for a carrier that had the following:
• Hard Plastic
• A door on the top as well as the side
• A good size for our new puppy
• Easy to carry
• Could have a water bottle attached.
The Budget Travel Carrier answered all our needs. It has hard
plastic making it secure and safe transporting small animals. The top
opens to give plenty of access to the whole travel carrier, which was
very useful for being able to calm and talk to our puppy as we traveled
while not having to take him out. There is a handle on the top
that enables the carrier to be easily maneuvered and carried. It is
important to ensure that the top door is securely closed before lifting
as the handle attached to the wire mesh. Also beware that
overweight animals may create a situation where the handle or the top
door latches may not hold. Above all it was not expensive and
this meant that it would enable us to get it for the time that he would
fit in it and we could got find a new home for it when he out grew it.
To make it more comfortable we invested in a pet water bottle that
could be attached to the front door and he would have water available
to him throughout the journey, with out us having to worry about it
making a mess. The Fatpet TM 400 ML Pet Dog Water Bottle with
Automatically Feeding Water was bought through Amazon, arrived promptly
and worked like a charm – in fact we now have several of them and he is
are still using it on his various crates now.
Along the bottom of the travel carrier we placed a PetGear mat, which
we got for a very reasonable price at the Range Cage Mat
We looked for a mat that was a good size and comfortable/soft and could
easily be washed and is well made. PetGear mat is easy to wash and
resilient to liquids and sold stains.
Towel
A simple towel used below to keep the crate dry should there be an
accident.
Summary
The simple investment of an inexemsive crate, gave our Litte Viking a
place to be in the car that did not risk his safety by being loose in
the car, the crate was secured by the cars seatbelts and he was able to
be reassured all the time by a passenger beside him.