[babydoll]

Any advice on making this trip easier on all of us?

My parents are non-dog people.

My husband and I live several hundred miles away and are planning our first trip home with our 6 month old puppy. The ground rules have been set - she must be crated at all times unless under strict supervision and she must be leashed at all times when outdoors. They would prefer that she stay in her crate the entire visit I am sure.

Sienna is really a sweet and very mellow puppy (indoors). I am hoping that she can win them over but I am nervous. It is a new environment. We are going to work on training like crazy for the next few weeks before the trip and just hope that she is good.

Any advice to calm my nerves? Anyone else dealt with this before?

 

[Guest]

My mom is not a big dog person and loves to have knick knacks and things galore. She had strict rules about having Maya around too. Esp at christmas when the tree was up and she had pine cones piles in a basket (why I don't know...that's Mom). She told me she better not touch one of the pine cones. I said put them up b/c we live in a place with tons of pine trees and pine cones are one of her favorite things to play with!!!
My point is there will be alot of rules up front but most slide after the dog is there and well behaved. I just made sure I was extra diligent in watching Maya to make sure she pottied outside and didn't get into things.

 

[lmtoth2]

My parents aren't dog people either - they have come to better tolerate our dogs as time goes on

I would bring lots of bones and toys so she is extra quiet in the crate. I would take her for a super long walk every morning so she is extra tired. Is there a dog park near by? That could help - remember a tired doodle is a good doodle

When we take ours to my parents we try to play for good weather days so they can stay outside

Just curious - does she have to be leashed outside because there is no fence? If there is a fence, I would think some fetch will help tire her out.

Good luck

 

[MaxandMe]

my parents aren't big dog people so they come visit me instead as they know to drive down for a weekend I won't kennel them just yet
I'd go thru anxiety attacks if i did
they enjoy them once here but i can't bring them to their house
it'd be too crazy and their house is bigger than mine with a pond=mud
hahhahaaa

I am thinking ...can you keep your doodle on a leash inside ?

 

[babydoll]

They want her leashed outside because they do not want her going into their neighbors' yards (there is no fence). The thing is... they have a HUGE yard and they are located in the country....it is backed up to a farm and a forest. If we can work on recall - I think it will be fine. The only problem is that the neighbors on either side are kind of close (for the country) and they both have dogs. The other issue is the vegetable garden - I don't trust Sienna to be behaved around it - I've seen the damage she has done to our backyard!

Once we are off the property we can abide by our own rules..... (feel like a teenager again!!)

 

[blueteal]

Vanessa is on the money..............
Expect her to be well behaved and she will follow your lead.
Do not worry and use the leashes...........

 

[Natalie]

My parents are NOT dog people! They live in Maine and we are in Idaho, so when them come to visit they stay for awhile. They visited when Puddles was 3 1/2 months. We had a few issues, but it helped that I kept him leashed at all times and tethered to me in the house and tethered to something in the yard. Plus, I wore him out with exercise. Also, he does great out and about, so I took him everywhere with us and my parents got a kick out of how much attention Puddles would get in public. It was a long 2 weeks, but we survived. I tried to make a concerted effort not to take anything they said to heart. Good luck and try not to worry too much!

 

[sdrudge]

Well for your trip to them stop every two to two and a half hours for a good run on leash and potty break. When we went to NY it was a 8.5 hour drive one way so we stopped a lot.

And like Annmarie said Leash while inside and long leash outside. Tons of play.

Hope it all goes well.

 

[Cinsmom]

My S-I-L isn't a dog person either, he's always had allergies. His brother has a Pekingese and overnight visits a lot. My DD tells me that "Housh" is always after their cats (Cinnamon ignores them), is a "yapper" (Cinnamon rarely barks), and SIL tolerates her (Housh not DD). He loves to have Cinnamon around. She's well behaved, never bothers the cats (unless they get to racing around the house), and does what she's told (surprise!!).

That being said, we make sure she's well exercised in the morning and evenings. A tired dog is a good dog!

 

[babydoll]

Thanks for all the advice!! I feel very confident in Sienna's behavior but can't help to be a little nervous. I think using the leash inside and a long lead outside will calm my parents fears. We can just take Sienna to a park for some off-leash fun an exhaustion. She is quite good at recall as long as she is not distracted by other dogs.

Great advice about stopping during the trip. We will have to plan out some places to stop for some short walks. This will be her first long car ride too.

 

[lmtoth2]

Great advice about stopping during the trip. We will have to plan out some places to stop for some short walks. This will be her first long car ride too.

You can see if there are any dog parks along your travel route too. We stopped at a park in Chesapeake, VA on our way to NC last week and it worked out well.

What direction are you driving in? If you are going through NJ I can give you the scoop on our dog parks

 

[babydoll]

We will be following 90 west from Boston to western NY. It is mainly toll roads, so it may be difficult to find places to stop. Albany, NY is about the halfway point...Anyone live near there recommend a park close to the highway?

 

[lmtoth2]

Albany, NY is about the halfway point...Anyone live near there recommend a park close to the highway?

There is a dog park right in Albany (we stopped there on our way to get Kirby last year). I will look it up and PM it to you later on

 

[babydoll]

That would be fantastic! Thanks.

 

[MaxandMe]

I think SYRACUSE has dog parks which is 1 to 1.5hours BEFORE rochester.

I'm not help even though i live in rochester hahahaaa
but hey i have a 6acre yard which is a big reason why :wink:

 

[lmtoth2]

I think SYRACUSE has dog parks which is 1 to 1.5hours BEFORE rochester.

I'm not help even though i live in rochester hahahaaa
but hey i have a 6acre yard which is a big reason why

haha...yeah I realized I got my cities confused...I looked at a map and realized we never went to Albany I did just have my hair dyed to a slightly lighter brown - maybe there are some blonde highlights in there

 

[sdrudge]

Another thing is some rest stops have some doggie areas. And on 80/90 in New York has really nice doggie areas. Don't forget to pack poo pick up bags. I almost forgot. But remember right before we left the house.