Well the time has come that we are finally getting our Dog from Cyprus flown over We left him with MIL & FIL and their dogs as we had to wait a certain amount of months before he could fly, then we couldnt afford it and we are still living at my Mums (moving soon hopefully)
So the inlaws are moving back (up north) in 3 weeks so all the dogs are being flown over (bless um, so horrible thinking of them on the plane ) They are being flown to Manchester and the inlaws are picking them up and taking them home to Northallerton.
So Luke has to drive up and collect him and bring him back......umm any advise on how to achieve a very long (between 6-9hours) car journey with a dog!?
How often should he stop, how and where? What about buying one of those cage things so he cant climb in the front?
He's trying to get a friend to go with him to help.
Any advise at all??

I would say definitely get a cage - mine have one and its safe - even in the safety harnesses they might move around and distract the driver.

My parents drive with the dogs from here to the south of france on over night ferries and the dogs are fine - just let them out every few hours for wees, they should just go to sleep most of it

Our dog has travelled to Cornwall and Isle of Skye both very long journeys. He had a crate when we went to Scotland, think we stopped every couple of hours so he and us could stretch our legs etc and have a drink x

Me personally - I would stop every couple of hours at a motorway station to give him a run around the car park, I'd get a dog seatbelt harness thingy and obviously make sure he has water when OH stops at the stations. I wouldn't bother with food just incase he gets carsick.

Ahh what a numpty of course he will be flying over in his cage/crate do you mean take him in that? Me thinks Luke will have trouble getting him back in it! I meant the cage that fixes in the car like a police car?

You could keep him in that cage yeh - you mean like a thing that goes over the back seat?

Yeh i think so, i dont even know what im talking about to me honest lol! The cage thingy that police cars have that go behind the drives seats or the back seats?
But i can imagine them being pricey so think we will stick with the cage!
Poor doggy going through all of this

My dogs travel either in their crate (cage) or in the back of the car with their car harnesses on. They are far more comfortable in the crate. I drive a Galaxy so the crate fits in the car (I have 2 lab crosses and they travel in one crate). You can get different size crates for different dogs.

Mine happily do 3 hours without a break.

My dogs can spend up to 10 hours in their crates in our garage during the day while we are at work and they are absolutely fine. Also think about police dogs in the back of a van for a whole shift. (A professional dog trainer with 30 years experience told us it was absolutely fine to crate them for that long).

Dogs don't need to pee that often.

I wouldn't stop too often because it will make the dog more stressed particularly at the side of a busy road.

Terri - Northallerton is 3 hours north of where I live so probably about 1/2 way for Luke. I live just off the A1 at the junction with the A14 and there are a couple of good places just off the A1 he can give your dog a quick walk away from the traffic if he needs to. PM nearer the time if you want more details.

I agree with what the other ladies have said. The only other thing I would do if possible is to take him for a long walk before the car journey. Hope it all goes well x

Thanks a lot Gill
Thats all very good to know! I have no idea what a dog harness is ive never seen these before? But i think we will just stick to the crate then, he has been measured for his already and MIL has them at hers.
So prob stop every 3 hours then? Thats good as thats prob how often Luke would stop anyway!
Can't wait to have him back ive missed him so much! Im quite worried about Tayla though, shes terrified of dogs now for some reason!? She loves them from a far but when they get close she really freaks out! I wonder if he will remember us??

I'm sure he will but that's another good reason for taking him on a walk. He will be going through one hell of a lot during this time and a long walk will allow him to burn off some of the nervous energy built up inside of him and also allow him to get re-aquainted with Luke.

Take things slowly with Tayla, if she seem scared try to play with her in the same room as the dog and then gradually move a bit nearer each day. Whatever you do, don't force it. What is your dog like with little 'uns? x

Thank you
I will tell Luke to 'get to know him' on a nice long walk before he sets off.
He was fine with Tayla when she was little, but we left when she was 9months so he hasnt been around and toddlers/kids. He is a very good dog though and im sure he will love her. Its just her loving him! We had my aunties dog over xmas and Tayla hated her, she would shake and cry when the dog came near. But as she was going back in a few days we didnt really try and get her used to her.
Im sure it will all work out in the end and they will be best friends!