Traveling to North Carolina from Massachusetts with two puppies and one young dog could be quite the experience but due to some prior training we made it without incidence. Edgar and Evie had been on several car trips but this trip would be 8 hours before we stopped for the night and that was only the first day.
Due to the possibility of car sickness (Ginger is usually sick, Evie sometimes, and Edgar so far never) each dog rode in their own crate. I crate train all my dogs. This way they are accepting of the confinement when traveling, staying at the vet , or whenever else it might prove necessary. Edgar, Evie, and Ginger have also been trained to walk calmly on leash with no pulling and to potty while on leash. Ginger knows and the puppies are learning that “Get Behind” means they need to walk behind me. This way they are not tripping me up with their leashes. Also I can go in and out of doorways or up and down stairs first so as not to have three dogs overwhelm unsuspecting strangers. The puppies are also learning “Hold” meaning – stand your ground, do not move until I tell you it is ok. This is useful to keep the puppy from running out of the crate or through a doorway, and prevents them from jumping out of the car. It will also be useful in farm work when I want them to stay in a gateway or stand in a pen. Another useful command is “Quiet”. Puppies barking incessantly while we are staying in the motel would probably cause us to be looking for another place to sleep. So with these commands in our repertoire we loaded into the van and headed south to North Carolina.
The dogs did great on the drive. Especially after I found a bottle of Homeopet Travel Anxiety and gave the two carsick dogs a dose. Edgar and Evie spent the night sharing a crate in the motel room and Ginger lay on her special quilt, brought along to cover the motel bedspread. There were a couple of barks when the puppies heard some loud people walk by the room but with a “Quiet” they settled back down. It was a lot of riding but the puppies did well guided by a few useful commands and we were all glad when we finally arrived at Maple Grove Farm in North Carolina.
