Congratulations are in order for you because you’ve just reserved your new puppy! How does it feel to be a Pawrent? You’ve asked yourself, “Am I ready for a new puppy?” You’ve carefully listened to seasoned owners who have pondered, “What do I wish I had known before getting a puppy?” You’ve prepared your home for a new puppy in anticipation. You’ve got all your squeaky duck toys in a row!
We know you are extremely excited to meet your new best friend, but there’s still one important detail to consider – how will you get your pup in your arms to smell that first whiff of puppy breath and get absolutely showered in sweet puppy kisses?
When you reserve a puppy at Pawrade, we offer a variety of travel options for how to receive your puppy. From a local meet-up with your breeder to utilizing the pampered services of a flight nanny, we have a huge range of options to bring home your newest family member. Learn about our travel options to get your puppy home, the advantages of each to choose the best method for you, at what age your puppy can leave your breeder to become a beloved member of your family, and how Pawrade puppy travel options fight puppy scams.
Pawrade Puppy Travel Options
After you reserve your puppy, you’ll be able to view your puppy travel options. Carefully consider which travel option is the best fit for your location, schedule, and budget. All puppies arrive with a health certificate, relevant paperwork, and may have a travel carrier when available. We offer up to five puppy transportation options:
- Air travel with a puppy flight nanny
- Air travel with standard delivery
- Home delivery ground transportation
- Breeder-delivered meet-up (when available)
- Local pick-up
What are your air travel options for puppies?
Opting for air travel is a cost-effective, reliable, and fast way to get your puppy into your loving arms. There are two air travel options for your puppy: using the services of a puppy flight nanny or standard delivery.
Flight nanny services
A flight nanny is a professional that accompanies your puppy from the minute they leave their breeders’ arms to when they’re delivered directly into yours. A breeder’s employee, one of our team members, or an off-duty airline flight attendant can serve as a flight nanny and will never leave your puppy’s side.
There are several benefits of using a puppy flight nanny as a delivery method. They are prepared for any situation and use their expertise to ensure a smooth, comfortable experience for your puppy. You can rest assured knowing that your puppy will get 1-on-1 personalized care. A huge perk is receiving constant updates via texts, videos, and calls to keep you informed every step of the way.
You’ll be able to choose your preferred airport. It’s important to be flexible on the day of your flight due to flight nannies flying standby and other unexpected circumstances that may affect air travel.
To get a better feel for what the process is like from airport to airport, read about the day in the life of a flight nanny from our team member, Peter.
Flying standard delivery
When you select standard delivery, we will handle all logistics beginning with coordinating American Airlines flights with you and your breeder. We’ll book the flight as well for you. We can advise which airports are pet-friendly and if the temperature during the journey is above 20 degrees or below 85 degrees at the time to determine the safest, most comfortable flight.
Once your flight is booked, we will receive flight details back 7-9 days prior to the departure date. We’ll send pick-up instructions via the secure payment platform PetPay, the same one you used to safely reserve your puppy.
Because there are factors that are not within our control when selecting a flight option, we will keep you informed if there are any wrinkles in our otherwise smooth flight process, such as weather or mechanical issues. We may even need to rebook and will do everything we can to get your puppy to you on the safest and quickest route available.
However, not all breeds can fly standard delivery. Certain snub-nosed breeds and tiny breeds not meeting age or weight standards will not be allowed to fly standard delivery due to possible health concerns. Likewise, additional dog breeds are not able to fly, so it's important to check with your Travel Concierge if you have questions. In these situations, our ground transportation or local pick-up options are great choices.
Ground transportation for puppies
Your puppy has the opportunity to ride in style with our trusted ground transportation partners, whether you choose a home delivery service or a breeder-operated puppy delivery meet-up.
We partner with trusted third-party puppy ground transportation partners and have even debuted our own fleet of puppy transportation vans to ensure the most comfortable, safest ground travel for your puppy to be delivered right to your door. Puppies usually leave 2-4 days after arrangements are made with the delivery partner.
Puppies traveling via ground transportation option will ride in comfort in air-controlled cabins and specially designed crates to ensure a smooth ride. Frequent stops will allow stretch breaks, watering, and feeding if necessary. In addition, every effort will be made to keep your puppy clean although accidents may happen. GPS tracking may even be available depending on the partner.
Breeder-delivered meet-ups
Depending on your breeder, he or she may offer delivery services within a certain radius. If your breeder offers this option, you and your breeder will determine a public meet-up spot that makes sense for both of your needs, locations, and schedules.
This radius may include an airport that you choose to fly into where your breeder meets you at the airport with your puppy. Then you can go on your first adventure and fly home with your puppy! You'll clear all puppy travel with your preferred airline before booking tickets.
All dates for either ground transportation option are tentative, as there are circumstances beyond anyone’s control, such as the health of the puppy, mechanical issues, or extreme weather events. Just like air travel, we keep you in the loop with the most up-to-date information we have available and will work with you to rebook for another time as soon as it is safe to do so.
Free local puppy pick-up
The final option we have for you to meet your puppy is to meet your breeder and puppy at a public, local pick-up meeting spot. We’ll work with both you and your breeder to choose the best time and date for all involved.
Will I go directly to my breeder’s location?
If you’re wondering if you will be visiting a breeder’s location, whether that is their home or place of business, the answer is simply that it is not safe and puts the puppies’ health at risk, not to mention the breeder and even your health as well. Pawrade breeders do not offer onsite pick-ups for a few important reasons:
- Puppies are extremely vulnerable to health threats and have not finished their core vaccinations.
- Any introduction of a destructive, deadly parasite, virus, or bacteria in puppies could potentially wipe out an entire kennel.
- Puppy scammers or dishonest thieves contribute to the rise in dognapping, which can be devastating to the parents, puppies, and the breeder’s livelihood. Breeders must keep their location secure to protect their dogs.
- In a post-pandemic era, human safety and health cannot be compromised onsite.
Because of the potential personal, business, and health risks to the breeder, their family, and their puppies, meeting in a public, convenient location is the best way to conduct a local Pawrade puppy pick-up due to these potentially costly risks.
When Can My Puppy Leave the Breeder For My Home?
As part of our puppy-first approach, we make all decisions based on keeping your puppy’s health and well-being as our top priority. We follow professional guidelines and evidence-based research to determine the best time to bring home your new puppy.
You may have seen other puppies for sale that are allowed to leave home at just a few weeks old without a puppy contract in place or any other documented information. If you do, you are most likely encountering a puppy scam!
We will never send a puppy home to you before 8 weeks old – nor should anyone else do so because it’s irresponsible! Puppies are very vulnerable and need to be ready to leave their mama and littermates. Puppies before 8 weeks old are not even eligible to complete necessary vaccinations or be independent enough to leave the comforts of their environment and the expertise of their breeder.
The earliest we will ever send a puppy to you to travel is only after they have met a few necessary criteria. A Pawrade puppy must have already reached 8 weeks of age (see our criteria below) and have received and completed their core puppy vaccinations with a clean bill of health from a USDA-licensed veterinarian. This exam will be scheduled for 5-7 days (or longer in some cases) after you have selected your puppy's method of travel and secured all details from the relevant parties involved. Only after these components have been achieved will your puppy be cleared for travel. After that, the timeframe of when they leave the breeder depends on the transportation method you selected and the scheduling coordination of all involved.
However, there are some circumstances where your puppy will not be scheduled for travel right away. These situations would be weather events that are beyond anyone's control, a minor health need for the puppy that needs to be addressed, scheduling and availability of the breeder and the veterinarian, and scheduling and availability of our select transportation partners. We also give extra time for tiny breeds before they travel, waiting until they are at least 2 lbs. or 12 weeks old, whichever occurs first.
How Pawrade Travel Options Fight Puppy Scams
When you reserve a Pawrade puppy, you know you’re getting a living, breathing being that has had the absolute best care beginning before birth with a healthy mother and responsible breeding practices, not to mention the loving care your puppies receive while at the breeder’s learning how to be good fluffy boys and girls.
All of our breeders are hand-selected and pre-screened and are required to follow rigorous standards. Both you and your breeder agree to uphold a comprehensive puppy contract that will state stipulations and guidelines for raising a happy & healthy puppy that includes a health guarantee, information about parents, documented required puppy vaccinations, a bill of sale, a health certificate from a licensed veterinarian, and other pertinent paperwork.
No contract and no paperwork offered are surefire signs of a puppy scam! If there’s a lack of thorough paperwork and sketchy travel options, go with your gut feeling and trust your own instincts before you give any money to anyone.
In addition to the puppy contract and health guarantee for each Pawrade puppy, we only partner with trusted transportation options and may even have some in-house options for travel for your particular dates. Each of our methods includes protections and guidelines known to all parties involved before travel begins, all with your puppy’s health at the forefront. Scams will usually just take your money, often at a price that seems too good to be true, and you may end up with the incorrect puppy or even worse – no puppy at all with no recourse.
Pawrade Puppies Love an Adventure
Our breeders and our team members partner to create the safest, best travel arrangements to cater to your particular puppy to begin its amazing journey straight to your arms. We put your puppy’s health and well-being above everything else and ensure we will do everything in our power to provide a smooth travel experience.
If you’ve browsed our puppies for sale, you know you’ll be receiving the cutest, healthiest, spunkiest four-legged friend after you choose your delivery method. Now get those puppy treats and brand-new toys ready because here comes your new furball!
