I have a large lab who I need to move about 800 miles by car/truck.
She roams free on the ranch and is not used to either a leash or crate.
I'm concerned about how best to move her, since I expect that she'll
become quite agitated and probably won't cooperate with leash or crate.
Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Greg

On 3 May 2005 13:14:09 -0700 whittled these words:
I have a large lab who I need to move about 800 miles by car/truck.
She roams free on the ranch and is not used to either a leash or crate.
I'm concerned about how best to move her, since I expect that she'll
become quite agitated and probably won't cooperate with leash or crate.
Any suggestions?

If you have time, spend some time getting her comfortable with a crate.
Feed her in it. A good quality crate is the safest way to confine a dog
when the dog is not used to either a tether or crate. Loose is a very bad
idea - chances are you will lose the dog. If the vehicle is yours I would
consider installing an eye bolt to the floor board so you have the option
of using a short cable tether. There are a lot of viable options
depending upon how agitated she actually is and what the vehicle set up is
like. For my dogs in the absence of a crate I like a plywood platform
that goes across the seats and prevents the dog from falling down into the
foot area. I make sure the tether is short so the dog cannot get tangled.
A swivel snap on both ends helps as well. Have an extra cable and bolt
cutters easily accessible just in case.

Do you have reason to believe she will be agitated other than her lack of
experience? does she tend to become agitated about new things? That
isn't normally a huge problem in labs, although I wouldn't go quite so far
as to call it "rare".

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/

Your advice to gently acclimate her sounds promising and I'll give that
a try. In the past when I tried to put a leash on her she behaved like
a bucking bronco when she felt the restraint of a leash.

She is older and mor mellow now so I may have more success.

Years ago I tried placing food in a dog house to entice another
retriever inside. He refused to enter the dog house for years until
the day he finally passed away. Wish me better luck with this dog!

Any suggestions regarding a mild sedative for the trip and how to
administer it?

Thank you for taking the time to write.

Greg Grosz

On 4 May 2005 08:19:13 -0700 whittled these words:

Years ago I tried placing food in a dog house to entice another
retriever inside. He refused to enter the dog house for years until
the day he finally passed away. Wish me better luck with this dog!

I had great success in encouraging entry by crawling into it myself. Even
if that doesn't work right away put something of yours (e.g. a used
t.shirt) in there to mark it as "home" and try again later.

Any suggestions regarding a mild sedative for the trip and how to
administer it?

No but I have a strong caution. What you need is not a sedative but an
anti-anxiety drug. Sedating the dog will often just scare the bejabbers
out of it because it will still feel the fear, but be unable to respond.
THis means that when the sedation wears off the dog may be in a bad state.
A much better alternative is to use a drug that will reduce the feeling of
fear and anxiety. Usually that means beginning a course of administration
in advance. See your vet for the appropriate information.

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/