There are basically three ways you can get your Silver Paw Puppy.

You can come to our home, meet us with your vehicle, or have your puppy shipped, which can include the puppy shipping in cargo, or you flying with the puppy in the cabin.

 

COMING TO OUR HOME

We love when people pick up their puppy in person! We are happy to have visitors if you are willing to brave the drive out to our place! We are 320 miles from Seattle and 80 miles from Spokane! We live in the top northeast corner of Washington state, in the wilderness.

Your vehicle needs to be ready for our 2 ½ miles of gravel road in the summer, or chain worthy snow and ice in the winter! If you are coming from the Seattle area, you should plan to make it a road trip, with an overnight stay in Spokane. The next day, you can come out to our place, pick up your puppy, and make your way home. You should be well prepared for traveling with your puppy in your vehicle.

 

TRAVELING WITH YOUR PUPPY IN THE CAR

We have met many people on the road to deliver their puppy. We often will meet Seattle families in Moses Lake, and we have met people all along the route from WA to our family in California. If you plan to travel with your puppy in the car, you should be prepared with a few things.

First, you will want to have a travel crate. When we travel with the puppies, they are always in a crate. You will want to put something absorbant in the crate for the trip. This can be shredded newspaper, a potty pad, a towel, or a dog bed. Plan to have at least 1-2 fresh changes of bedding, depending on how long your trip is. You mostly want something that is easy to clean or replace if your puppy does have an accident in the crate.

Molly

Winston

I flew with Molly and Winston to CA, and met their new families at a local Arco Station. They were both prepared with a crate for their drives home.

Ideally, you will bring your UGODOG and set it up in the back of your vehicle or in the trunk. Your puppy will most likely let you know if he needs to potty, and you can quickly pull over, take him out of the crate, and set him on the UGODOG litter box.

I delivered these two puppies locally. I brought a UGODOG Litter Box and set it up in the back of my vehicle for them.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT YOU CANNOT LET YOUR PUPPY DOWN ON THE GROUND ON YOUR WAY HOME.

If he is less than 13 weeks old, he has not had all of his shots and he is NOT SAFE from puppy diseases. We do not want your puppy to pick up anything on his trip home, so he must eliminate inside of your vehicle. Having the UGODOG Litter Box will make this process the easiest because your puppy is familiar with this as his toilet. If you do not have a UGODOG, then you must have some potty pads for this purpose.

You will also want to have some baby wipes, paper towels, an extra bath towel, and a water dish for your puppy. We like having a small stainless steel crate cup attached inside the door of the crate. This is very handy for traveling as you can use it for food or water. We usually don’t recommend that you feed your puppy until you get home, but you can offer him a small drink of water.

 

HAVING YOUR PUPPY SHIPPED

We use Alaska Airlines to ship your puppy.

Please check the Alaska Airlines Destinations Page to let us know which airport is closest to your home. Most of the puppies will ship out of Spokane, WA, and route through Seattle, WA, and on to their final destination. For some puppies going to the East Coast, we are unable to make the connection in Seattle, and this requires us to drive to Seattle with your puppy. In a very few cases, we will consider using a different airline if the Alaska Airlines Destination is more than 3 hours from your home. We will discuss these details when appropriate. We have found Alaska Airlines to be safe and reliable, and competetively priced.

Your puppy will come in a Petmate Travel Crate that is bolted on each corner. There will be a very small food/water dish attached to the inside of the crate door. The puppy will travel on shredded paper and will have a small fleece throw with the smells of home to snuggle in. You will want to bring something to put inside the crate once your puppy arrives. He may have eliminated in the paper and you will want to clean that out before driving home. Remember to hold the puppy and do not put him down on the ground at the airport, or anywhere else while you freshen up his crate.

A well marked crate with bolts and zip ties for extra safety.

On the top of the crate, you will find a ziplock bag taped with packing tape. This will have your puppy’s food and the Lupine Collar & Leash. There will also be a large envelope taped to the outside of the crate which will have your puppy’s Health Certificate, Shot Record, and any other paperwork, including paperwork from Alaska Airlines.

Dropping off my puppy in Spokane

The puppies have to be checked in at the airport two hours prior to the plane taking off. They are checked by TSA and then loaded onto the airplane shortly before it takes off. Alaska Airlines has a special cargo hold for the animals. This space is heated or cooled the same as the passenger cabin, the only difference is that once the doors are closed, there are no lights on.

Here is a video I took while traveling with two puppies. This was during our transfer in Portland. I thought things went very smoothly getting them off the plane!

Once your puppy has landed, it will usually take 30 minutes to 1 hour to get him off the plane. Depending on the airport, you may pick up your puppy at the ticket counter, or more likely, you will be picking him up at the cargo facility for Alaska Airlines. You will have already received the Airway Bill Number, and the telephone number to call to get details about picking up your puppy. They will require a photo I.D. and the Airway Bill Number before they will release the puppy to you.

You can take your puppy out of the crate to freshen it up, give him hugs, and receive his puppy kisses!

These are puppies that I purchased and picked up in Spokane. They were happy when they arrived, tails wagging, bodies wiggling!

 

TRAVELING WITH YOUR PUPPY IN THE CABIN

We have had several families that chose to fly into Spokane so their puppy could ride back with them in the cabin. We are happy to meet you at the airport to make this happen. It is often a two day adventure, flying in one day, staying in a local hotel, and then flying back the next day with the puppy. In some cases, families have been able to do both legs of the trip on the same day.

You should make arrangements with your airlines to have a pet in the cabin. There is a fee for this service. Your puppy will need to be in a soft sided crate that will fit under the seat in front of you. You will want to have a potty pad inside the crate in case your puppy needs to eliminate during the trip. They will not allow you to take the puppy out of the crate while on the airplane.

I have flown with puppies in the cabin several times and it has always gone smoothly. They generally curl up and sleep the entire trip until the plane lands. This usually wakes the puppy up, and he will need to go potty. This is the toughest part of the trip because you will not be able to let him out of his carrier. He may be noisy until he finally does his business. You will want to have extra potty pads and baby wipes to clean up any messes. It’s handy to bring a plastic grocery bag for quick disposal as well. You should have a UGODOG in your vehicle for your drive home, and refer to the section above about driving with your puppy.