What shall I do post flight etc for Pepper?

[Michen]

I'm probably overthinking it! But Pepper lands in Texas of all places on Monday afternoon. By the time she's cleared customs it'll be 6pm and it's a 12 hour drive back to Colorado. I need to be back for lunchtime on the tuesday for calls.. it doesn't leave me much time to sleep to break up the journey or walk her etc.

Do you think she will be ok with a quick runaround somewhere after the flight before hitting the road for 6 hours to get half way, with a brief sleep in a hotel then a very early start for another 6 hours driving? She will have been in a crate for about 16 hours in total I think, which I hate. The whole situation isn't ideal but I can't do much about it...

The alternative is I find somewhere to work from that's quiet and we "rest" during the day tuesday, then get back on the road at 6pm. But this will mean probably having to pay for 2 nights of a hotel unless I can find a we works type space with private booths that also lets you bring your dog!

She will be fine doing a 12 hour journey with a 6 hour sleep half way, straight after her flight... right? Argh! It's so frustrating this has even happened, she was meant to fly to Denver (actually I was going to fly back with her at easter) but they changed the plane which meant the cost went from 1.6k to over 4k. So Dallas it is...

Am I being unreasonable to ask this of her travel time wise?

 

[Clodagh]

I think she’ll be tired after the flight. I flew my dog back from Australia, so a 22 hour flight including waiting to load and unload, and she was ok. Tbf she was picked up by the quarantine people for her 6 months quarantine but she was still ok.

 

[Nicnac]

Having looked after a dog for 5 weeks who arrived from California in November until her 'parents' moved back to the UK in January, Pepper will be fine. Poor Lulu was crated for far longer and then took 12 hours to clear Heathrow customs so wasn't delivered until 10pm that night. She was zonked for a few days anyway as exhausted after the flight along with the jet lag.

Make sure you get some rest too so if you can find a place to work it may be more sensible even if just a motel room. Lulu cost $10,000 to ship over so Pepper is cheap in comparison. Their cat has just arrived here too but not sure how much that was.

 

[Michen]

I think she’ll be tired after the flight. I flew my dog back from Australia, so a 22 hour flight including waiting to load and unload, and she was ok. Tbf she was picked up by the quarantine people for her 6 months quarantine but she was still ok.

Is it then unfair to expect her to travel in the car so long do you think? I mean it's smooth straight roads, she will be in the passenger footwell on her new plush bed! It some ways it may be better than all the stimulation of arriving at her new permanent home where it's going to be busy straight away with people around, IDK

 

[Michen]

Having looked after a dog for 5 weeks who arrived from California in November until her 'parents' moved back to the UK in January, Pepper will be fine. Poor Lulu was crated for far longer and then took 12 hours to clear Heathrow customs so wasn't delivered until 10pm that night. She was zonked for a few days anyway as exhausted after the flight along with the jet lag.

Make sure you get some rest too so if you can find a place to work it may be more sensible even if just a motel room. Lulu cost $10,000 to ship over so Pepper is cheap in comparison. Their cat has just arrived here too but not sure how much that was.

Thank you!

I'm ok with crazy drives! A 6 hour sleep half way to break it up will be fine. I'm going to drive half way sunday, stay over, drive the other half very early monday. Then work the day from Texas. Peppers flight lands at 3pm.

 

[Clodagh]

She’ll be knackered, honestly, don’t worry. Tbh she’s a dog and will just deal with it. They don’t clock watch like us and will be happy to be with you.
think how tired we get after a long flight, and we know what’s going on.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I've done Cherbourg to Modena with an hour or two kipping in service station car parks.
Got a hotel on the return leg as it was *a lot*.

My dogs are pretty well travelled over land and sea. If I'm driving I try to stop for a leg stretch and toilet break every 2-3 hours but there's one trip I do that I try to keep going for about 5.5hrs.
Hydration is the most important thing so on top of water I give them tinned or trayed food.

I reckon first option will be OK.

 

[Michen]

I've done Cherbourg to Modena with an hour or two kipping in service station car parks.
Got a hotel on the return leg as it was *a lot*.

My dogs are pretty well travelled over land and sea. If I'm driving I try to stop for a leg stretch and toilet break every 2-3 hours but there's one trip I do that I try to keep going for about 5.5hrs.
Hydration is the most important thing so on top of water I give them tinned or trayed food.

I reckon first option will be OK.

That's great advice thanks, good idea re food!

 

[Michen]

She’ll be knackered, honestly, don’t worry. Tbh she’s a dog and will just deal with it. They don’t clock watch like us and will be happy to be with you.
think how tired we get after a long flight, and we know what’s going on.

Seems awful doesn't it, as there's no way I'd accept that as an option for Boggle!!

 

[druid]

She will be fine - I've sent pups on longer journies with layovers etc. Some bone broth (available at every pet store in USA from what I can tell!), some canned food (hard to find anything decent quality, I usually resorted to chewy or similar to order) and a comfy place to sleep and she will be ok.

Oh and watch the diest formulations for dry food over there, the regulations aren't as stringent as in Europe. I'm sure you've thought of that all already!

 

[Michen]

She will be fine - I've sent pups on longer journies with layovers etc. Some bone broth (available at every pet store in USA from what I can tell!), some canned food (hard to find anything decent quality, I usually resorted to chewy or similar to order) and a comfy place to sleep and she will be ok.

Oh and watch the diest formulations for dry food over there, the regulations aren't as stringent as in Europe. I'm sure you've thought of that all already!

It’s also crazy expensive. Anything decent that I’d want to feed her is 250 dollars a month!

 

[Parrotperson]

And remember she’ll be very happy to see you so that’ll help her settle in the car

Sorry must’ve missed a thread somewhere. Has your job taken you stateside? Or is it a new one?

 

[Michen]

And remember she’ll be very happy to see you so that’ll help her settle in the car

Sorry must’ve missed a thread somewhere. Has your job taken you stateside? Or is it a new one?

Aha yes! It’s working for a company I have worked for in the UK but a long while ago. Rejoined them but this time stateside. Boggle and I moved over in October and Pepper has been with a friend for the last 4.5 months.

 

[Parrotperson]

Oh in that case she’ll be THRILLED to see you!!!!!!

 

[Michen]

Oh in that case she’ll be THRILLED to see you!!!!!!

I hope so. I’m feeling terrible about taking her away from my friend and her boyfriend. They adore her and she adores them just as much. In all honesty if it wasn’t for the fact they are moving abroad at some point in the next year for a stint I’m not sure I’d have take her from them. There’s going to be some broken hearts.

I am so lucky I haven’t had to worry about her for a second, knowing she’s been utterly loved in their care.

But I will be thrilled!

 

[druid]

It’s also crazy expensive. Anything decent that I’d want to feed her is 250 dollars a month!

Honestly I stuck with Purina Proplan Sport 30/20 Salmon and Rice. It worked for my guys and wasn't insanely priced. Starbucks pup cups though...if she doesn't recognise the drive thru before you leave you're doing it wrong

 

[Michen]

Honestly I stuck with Purina Proplan Sport 30/20 Salmon and Rice. It worked for my guys and wasn't insanely priced. Starbucks pup cups though...if she doesn't recognise the drive thru before you leave you're doing it wrong

Ok I'll have a look, I thought purina was meant to be terrible stuff!?

I was hoping to get her back on raw but it's just crazy money.

ETA she's super fussy, chances of her eating a non fancy kibble- slim to none haha.

 

[druid]

I worrried too much about the lack of proper regulation of pet food to feed msot of what I could find in Petstores, and like you say raw was stupidly expensive and not as well formulated as you get here. So I stuck with a "safe" option and they did fine on it. Chewy might give you more options? I added JustFoodForDogs and Instint raw when I was feeling flush but they are $$$

 

[Chucho]

We have flown various of our dogs a few times while moving back and forth between Canada and the UK, and had rescues flown up from the US. They have always recovered well and been in good spirits on landing, but also quite happy to go back in their travel crates and sleep! Longest end-to-end journey was London to Toronto, followed by a 4-day drive to Alberta (was not possible to fly direct for various reasons but we had to move at that time). We broke the driving journey every few hours for pee stops, they slept throughout, and were ready to go go go on arrival in Calgary.

Foodwise for that long journey we got some dehydrated food (e.g. Honest Kitchen) that was close to what they would have in the UK (raw/homemade) while we sourced our best food options. Raw food in Canada isn't unreasonably priced though.

A complete aside, two of our bitches developed UTIs after flying. One was a rescue coming to us in poorish condition (second and third time she flew on much longer flights she had no issues), the other a pup. I would not expect a healthy adult to have an issue, but I would probably now get a urine sample tested a week or so after arriving just to pre-empt anything. The boys have always been fine. Just something to keep an eye out for. I'm sure Pepper will be fine and just happy to be with you again!