Hi, I wonder if anyone has any advice on bringing a puppy on a long train journey, my worry is toileting really. I want to make it as comfortable as possible for my new baby. Would have been good if i could drive but i dont, so train is my only option really. Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks

When I've done it I took some newspaper - puppy pads would be ideal nowadays - and took the pup into the toilet every half hour or so and put it on the paper on the floor. :-) Soiled paper went into a carrier bag for disposal later.

How long would it be?

We have had 3-31/2 hour car journeys and just took a box with some newspapers in plus towels for any sickness or wee - pups have just slept really the whole journey or been awake watching the goings on.

It's probably no different to bringing a pup a long way in a car journey. What I do is take a crate for safety, take a large shoulder bag with a black sack and plenty of newspaper and some wipes.

I have the crate sat next to me if pup is quiet I'll leave him/ her to sleep there or sit nicely, if crying I'll take out for a cuddle, hopefully you can do the same on a train, people probably would not appreciate a crying pup on their journey, if your pup cries a lot and you can't have him/her out much to sleep on your lap also take a cover to put over the crate, it will help the pup to sleep and stop crying.

I put plenty of newspaper in the crate and if pup goes, just quickly take it out and replace with fresh from your bag and put the dirty in the black sack, which you can either put in a bin on the train or as you get off or just squish it in your bag. :-) The wipes a must, you can use to clean your hands and if needed wipe pups feet.

Hopefully the movement of the train will rock pup to sleep and you will have a nice peaceful journey.

Best of luck! :-)

Journey will be roughly 6 and a half hours, did think of puppy pads but wasnt sure what people would think of me disappearing into toilet all the time, thought maybe someone would complain, but I am prepared in the sense that i will take scented bags with me and a good disinfectant and baby wipes to make sure there are no smells left behind, and will dispose of any messes in correct bags etc. I have a good carrier for the puppy but hopefully he will be on my knee except when he is tired and I will let him rest. It is such a long journey for the wee chap but im trying to cover all bases. Did ask vets advice and he said not to feed him on journey and just a very light breakfast, dont want the wee soul to be starving but also dont want upset tummy with the motion of the train. Im sure it will go fine and Im worrying needlessly but as I say I want him to be comfy and make it as least stressful as possible for him. Cant wait to get him though, another new member to my increasing family lol

good idea about a cover for his crate, never thought of that. x

Most passengers are thrilled at the sight of a puppy; you'll probably be deafened with the "Aaaahhhh, he's so sweeeeeet!" remarks! I was. :-)

Friend recently had a pup go to Scotland by train.  They took a small soft crate (so no need for a cover as it had roll up side covers), lined with puppy pads.

Im hoping that jeanjeanie, but you never know if you are going to sit beside a real grump. I will take chocolates with me as well and offer them to others sitting nearby and hopefully they will be won over then lol

sorry about spelling jeangenie

it is a softcrate I have so heres hoping all goes well, will be bringing him home next thursday

dont want the wee soul to be starving but also dont want upset tummy with the motion of the train

Trouble is the journey is 6.5 hours for me way too long even with breakfast to leave a pup.

I would take some dry puppy complete and offer say 5-10 pieces twice throughout the journey depending on breed, it is not enough to cause problems but enough to just keep off hunger along with a water bottle. This kind of thing if you don't already have: http://www.muddypaws.co.uk/portable-pet-water-bottle?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=GoogleShopping&utm_campaign=GoogleShopFeed&gclid=CIKAr5C9kbECFUdvfAodLn2zeg

If pup sleeps it's fine you may well get away with it, but if alert and active he will get hungry and that may well make him cry. Just have everything covered just in case. :-)

So excited for you.

I sat next to a man on a train taking a large breed puppy- Bouvier I think -from the South coast to north of Glasgow. That journey would be 12 hours I guess. It was in a soft crate and sat on his knee when it was awake. It never cried. He took it into the toilet now and again for a wee. It seemed fine. After all one day of stress is not too bad. I would think that slight starving would be better than overdoing the food.

I drove a puppy back from Devon (7 hours trip) and the only thing she did was throw up her breakfast (breeder had fed her before I arrived), no wees or poos. Maybe take some moist food along in a tupperware dish but she might be sick from the motion of the train so I wouldn't feed her unless I really thought she was hungry.

Would it be worth giving pup a little ginger biscuit with the small feeds ? Helped my BT pup through travel sickness.

Not a problem ! I'm not a super confident driver and nor do I have a reliable car so I frequently travel by train with dogs and puppies. For the latter, baby wipes, poop bags, a few pieces of kitchen roll , newspaper and a nice towel to lie puppy on seat or on  knee. A small bottle of water and bowl. Have puppy wear a collar and lead for extra 'hold' . Great for socialisation ! Everyone will be charmed by puppy and make a fuss of him/her. On London Underground it is a sure way to secure a seat at rush hour and a talking point with commuters and tourists. Adult dogs are a problem on escalators. I learned the hard way when my Megan tore a claw on an escalator in Budapest. She was a seasoned underground traveller in London but stepped back to accomodate someone pushing ahead and suffered the consequences of her good manners. She recovered but I didn't. As regards toileting, I've found they can go for up to 4 hours without needing to poo. Ask breeder not to give meal before you set off. I had one puppy wee all over my jeans so I was a bit smelly. So what !

Perhaps a change of pants might be a good idea too, then! LOL

Right On !

For any southerners... I meant 'trousers' and not 'pants'.. someone kindly pointed out that down south 'pants' are underwear!!

Haha thought u had gone all american on us :)

I'm a northener living down south , so nomenclature not a problem Both were soaked anyway !

Hey... you could get REALLY excited about your new pup, and then you would definitely need a change of pants- both the southern kind and the northern kind ;)

Thanks for all the great information and advice, I will take it all onboard and let you all know how it goes. xx

> so train is my only option really.

Where are you going from and to Weim? Train may not be your only option, there may be someone that would be willing to drive you down and back if you pay expenses?

Is there any way you could break the journey without paying a fortune in tickets?  Probably not, but sometimes there are pleasant surprises to be had with rail tickets

Im going from Birmingham to Glasgow, don't really know anyone who would be willing to drive such a long way and I have already booked train ticket so think im too late to break up the journey, but im sure we will get by hopefully.

This is not far! Don't worry about it. Get it over with in one go and then a good rest at the other end.
Louise

That's not far at all.

Most tickets are valid for a full day at least and some for a month so if you wanted to get off at a station you could get back on another train later in the day.  However, I'd agree with the others that it's easier to stay on board - also I see that the shortest travel time is only 4 hours, so should be pretty easy.  I've certainly had longer car journeys with a puppy.

Sounds like fun actually!!  Hope it all goes smoothly for you :)

**Edited to say I've just re read an earlier post where you mention travel time of 6.5 hours.  Have a look at thetrainllne.com and change your outgoing train to the shorter travel time - there are plenty of faster trains with a duration of just under 4 hours...

> I have already booked train ticket so think im too late to break up the journey

It depends on what kind of tickets you have booked, and the train company as well... I know there are some which limit you to That Train at That Time Only, and if you missed it or had to get off at an intermediate station, you'd be expected to pay an excess or a new fare.

When travelling with my dog I've not booked ahead, mainly because I don't have a debit/credit card to do so, but a ticket bought on the day or on the train does give you more flexibility and occasionally I have had to alight at a station along the way and wait for the next one.

If you don't leave the station it's not counted as breaking the journey; however with a dog, you can sometimes sweet-talk the platform inspectors into letting you go out the front of the station for a few minutes if you say your dog needs to relieve itself! After all neither they, nor you, nor any fellow travellers want to see a yellow river of pee snaking across the platform... or even worse a highly public dump!

On a few occasions I have had to break the journey for welfare issues - one notable time was when my expected train arrived packed with people standing like sardines and crammed into every crevice because a whole carriage had been closed due to an exploding toilet. It was a very hot day, neither me nor my dog were happy with that, so I got off at the next stop 10 mins down the line... where we enjoyed  a relaxed and comfortable hour's wait and picnic in a grassy park adjoining the station before getting the next train on. It's always worth seeing if these options are available to you when travelling with animals.

>Most tickets are valid for a full day at least and some for a month so if you wanted to get off at a station you could get back on another train later in the day.

Many tickets - especially the less extortionately expensive ones - are only valid for a particular train; there have been cases where people who broke the journey had to pay for another ticket for the rest of their journey.

> Im going from Birmingham to Glasgow, don't really know anyone who would be willing to drive such a long way

Ach that's only a 12 hour round trip, I could have driven you :-)

I wouldn't worry about breaking up the train journey, just stay on the train and get it over with. You might ask the breeder to get some cerenia from the vets and give it with a light meal a couple of hours before you collect puppy, that will guarantee she's not sick?

Yeah, if you break the journey you'll just end up hanging out at a train station with a tiny puppy for hours, till the next train - better to get it over and done with in one go!