Puppy courier/ transport

[luckypenny]

Hi there,

Just doing a bit of research on behalf of a friend who is hoping to pick up a puppy (not a cocker!!) in early December, then transport him from near Cardiff to Edinburgh.

She doesn't drive, and isn't keen an having her OH drive as it's quite a journey and will be well into the winter nights - the problem is she isn't sure what other options she has. Flybe go from Edinburgh to Cardiff and she's wondering if they will let a pup travel, in a carrier, on a seat beside her if she buys him a ticket. She really does not fancy him going in the hold. A colleague says she saw a family with a dog fly from Spain to Edinburgh with the dog in a carrier at their feet, but that may have been an assistance dog(?).

She has also been looking at pet couriers websites, but would ideally want to travel up with the pup in the courier van rather than just leave it to the courier on their own.

Not sure if this makes things more problematic, but the pup will be 8 weeks old so may not have had first injection.

Does anyone have any experience of this sort of thing, or know someone who does?

[wendall]

When I got my previous puppy, she was in Stoke on Trent and I live in Brighton. I got the train to London, the underground and then another train and the breeder collected me from the station and then did the reverse journey with my 8 week old puppy. I had a pet holdall carrier with a blanket inside and had food water treats nappy sacks a small towel and training pads in another bag. Whilst on the trains I was able to give her lots of cuddles. Suffice to say I had a lot of attention from other passengers.....

[Joules]

If she is thinking of flying with the pup, she will need to speak to the airline to see what their policy is on having animals in the cabin.  I know some do allow it. 

Does she not have anyone else who could drive them as that would be by far the best and least stressful for all concerned? 

[luckypenny]

Thanks for the replies - she has looked at the train, but that is 7 1/2 hours or so, assuming it's on time - that might be do-able if the pup slept, but would it be ok (if not vaccinated) to take it to the loo and put down puppy pads for it to toilet on, if she was careful he didn't step on actual floor? It all sound a bit of a handful - she will probably need someone else with her as well.

She has been trying to think of someone who could drive her, but no luck so far. 

[BobnDot]

There is a pet courier company that takes owners as well……...http://www.pets2go2.co.uk/owner-pet-transport/

I've no idea of the cost and haven't used them myself but came across their site some time ago in one of the dog magazines and the name seemed to stick in my brain 

We came back just a few weeks ago from our annual trip down to visit friends in Cwmsyfiog, just up the valleys from Cardiff. Although we used to do the run from Aberdeen (525 miles) in one day when we were younger we now stop overnight half way as well as sharing the driving.
We'll be going down next summer as well but unfortunately the timing doesn't help you although on the few occasions we've made the trip over the Christmas period we've been lucky with the weather.

Have you considered making the journey by bus?
There is/was a direct daily service from Cardiff to Edinburgh by National Express (Service NX536) which takes about twelve hours. One of our daughters used to use this service fairly regularly and, although they say that only assistance dogs will be carried, they could possibly be less strict than an airline in this regard. It's amazing the amount of luggage that students manage to transport by bus and our daughter tells us that she's seen cats carried on several occasions. 

If all else fails you could try arguing that the puppy is an "Assistance dog under training" 

Bob.

[luckypenny]

Thanks very much for the - I'll pass the info on to her.

I did say she should get an old hi viz vest and cut it down for the pup - say that he's a seizure alert dog or something!!

[Blueberry]

I just did a quick Google search for Pet Taxi UK and it brought up a number of possibilities.  I hope she can find a way - the thought of 12 hours on a bus, even on my own, is enough to make me throw up!

[Jaysmumagain]

Years ago I flew from Amsterdam to USA and a little girl and her Dad had a cat in the carrier in front of her seat.  Not sure what the rule is now.
Do think that Flybe would allow the puppy in hold of flight if friend was on the plane and traveling - but you really do need to speak to someone at Flybe.  Also there is restrictions on temperature, although the captain will heat the area if animal travels, sometimes if very cold they will not allow animals to fly.

Just an idea if friend get to cardiff and arranges pet transport company to meet her might they let her travel up with her.

Julie

[twiceover2]

Could she not travel down the day before, stay overnight and then pick him up the next morning?  Then they should be home well before dark.

[Mudmagnets]

Could she not travel down the day before, stay overnight and then pick him up the next morning?  Then they should be home well before dark.

I did this when I picked up Branston, (from Suffolk to Scunthorpe, via overnight stop in Skegness so not so far as OP's friend is intending) and it worked really well, I picked him up in December so knew it was going to long dark journey home for all of us if attempted in one day.

[Jane S]

I don't think internal UK flights allow animals to be transported (none of the low cost airlines that mainly cover the internal routes take animals anyway). A long train journey might be do-able but expecting a baby puppy to use puppy pads in such a strange environment would not work - maybe a pet carrier like you would use to transport a puppy via a plane could work (depends on the size of puppy of course) This could be well lined with paper/pads to absorb the inevitable... Not easy though!

[BobnDot]

Even though your friend isn't keen on having her OH drive that distance it may well be the best solution available for her and the puppy.

400 miles each way and nearly all of it on the M6 motorway so there's very little chance of getting lost. We tend to use Travel Lodge Lancaster for our overnight stops as they're dog friendly and, although there's officially a £20 per night charge for pets in the room, we've only been charged this once as cocker spaniels have the knack of melting most receptionist's hearts    Rooms for two people at Travel Lodge are about £40-£50 per night with meals being available at the adjoining service area.
The round trip will then be split into four more manageable sections of four to five hours a day, dependent on your speed, which will allow plenty of time for more comfort breaks for humans and puppy at other service areas along the way.

As I said previously we've done this trip a few times in December and haven't had any weather problems except for one year when there was some fog around the Birmingham area. Nothing to worry about though and, if I remember correctly, the traffic was still moving at 40 for half an hour or so until it cleared.

Your friend could even make the trip into a sort of mini-holiday and it would be a great way of starting the bonding process with the new puppy.

Bob.