Collecting new puppy next weekend, but its a 3 hour drive back. Any suggestions to minimise stress on puppy? Sam.

Put puppy in a cage and sit as close as you can (if you aren't driving ;-) ) that way it can see you. It will probably sleep most of the way anyway :-) Don't make too much of a thing about being in the car or you may be creating a problem without realising it. Don't attempt to feed it, or give it a drink whilst on the move. It will probably be sick. If the breeder can make sure that it isn't fed before leaving that will help as well. If there isn't any food then it is less likely to regurgitate it :-) When you get it home I wouldn't feed it at first. Let it get used to the house and sounds first.

That's all I can think of just now :-D

When I picked up my new pup I had a 6 hour drive home.
I put him in a cardboard box next to me, he had a couple of accidents but they were easy to clean up.

Although I had really worried about it before we collected him, it went without a hitch and my boy slept most of the way.

That is what I did with my last pup and she coped very well with the 5 hour drive, in fact she slept most of the way :)

I got my pup from Scotland, it took 3 days and an overnight stay, she was fine, slept on my lap all the way.

I too have travelled for 3 days with a pup and he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience, I was able to use it for some training ( although he is a very confident pup) and bonding with the girls and us etc and even some lead work socialisation etc. He still loves going out now and thinks everyone he meets should fuss him and say hello to him and sometimes he looks like he is fit to burst whilst waiting in a sit for someone to say hello as he would love to jump up on them, but he is not allowed as he is a big boy. :)

All of mine have had to travel a fair distance though, I would probably not be used to going a couple of hours that would be wierd for me, we happily travel 8 + hours regularly to a show so they really do have to get used to it. Although when we do travel the dogs welfare is paramount hence why we have air con etc in the back for them, and would never make them travel if they were not happy, they would be left with a babysitter ie eldest son if in season or travel sick etc.

and thinks everyone he meets should fuss him and say hello to him and sometimes he looks like he is fit to burst whilst waiting in a sit for someone to say hello as he would love to jump up on them,)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
lol my pup is the same she wants to kiss everyone and cant understand when some people just walk past. i wonder if meeting lots of people on her long trip home had anything to do with it?

All of my dogs have experienced a long car rides when being brought home, we don't feed or water, stop occasionally to wipe sick off faces or poo off bodies :) Don't fuss them.

My elder Sheltie became a caravan doggie at the age of 12 weeks as we had to make a 4hrs trip to see the new grandson, in her first year she had 6 caravan holidays, we have done exactly the same with the two new pups, they are 6 and 7 months now and have already done 7 caravan trips, making their first trip to Cornwall at 12 and 16 weeks.

Now car rides represent fun so we have no problem at all, in fact as soon as they see the caravan move from it's pitch up the garden they all go and sit at the back of the car :)

My pup slept when I picked him up, we faced a two hour ride collecting my OH border. He howled, scratched and squinneyed the whole time. He acted as you would have expected a feral cat to!! I was covered in scratches and puppy bites.
Nightmare. Now he goes out everywhere with OH, visits sites, offices and sits on the back seat (with seat belt) and is fantastic!!!
The cage idea is a good one wish I had one on the first trip, he had definately no idea what a car was, smelt like or anything.
Cocker was a model curled up on my lap OH driving and went to sleep bliss!!

Make sure he's gone to the toilet before you put him in the crate and that he is safe (ie. don't let him wear a collar in the crate or have any toys he could swallow) and then ignore ALL cries and whimpers. This is probably his first time away from mum and he will be stressed out, but after 30 mins or so, he will calm down.

Throw a blanket over the crate, so he can't see out of the windows. This will help him to calm down and may also stop him being travel sick (as apparently watching the trees and lamp-posts flashing by may make them sick). If you want to, you can leave a gap so he can see you, but to be honest I wouldn't. He's more likely to sleep in the dark and he can hear and smell you. Keep talking so he can hear your voice.

We picked our youngest up about eight weeks ago and had a five hour drive. He went in a crate on the back seat, with a towel that smelt of mum. For the first 20 mins he screamed and then went to sleep. The hardest thing was not checking he was alright when he went to sleep as I kept having panics that something was wrong, but he was fine.