1. I can fold the back seats of my car down, to give a decent sized flat area (for inside a car), about 5x5 feet or 1.5 x 1.5 m. Sitting back there, I could play with puppy. Ideas for what's best to tire and entertain a puppy are welcomed!
2. In the back, I could put down a puppy pad, but I think I'd rather either clearly designate where he can potty in the car and where he shouldn't. My main ideas are either to put the potty pad on the ground outside, so he's not walking right on where unknown dogs have been, or make a sort of litter box - box base, puppy pad, with maybe a square of sod if I can find it - for inside the car. Which would be best?
He'll be in a crate while I'm driving. I think it'll be best to keep him on the seat next to me, rather than in the back seat where I can't see. This way I can easily tell when he wakes up or is getting restless and will need a potty break. I'll be aiming to get to a parking lot before he needs to get out, though - every 45 minutes or so? Depending on how well he sleeps. It's a very flexible plan in that it's just vague guesses with plenty of room for changes.
3. Additionally, should I wash all harnesses and beds and such bought from a pet store where dogs are allowed (and might have licked or rubbed against the things), or is that not terribly necessary? I know infected urine and feces are the main vector for Parvo, so that shouldn't really have come in contact with the things I've bought.
4. How worried should I be about shoes? Dr. Dunbar says to leave all outside shoes outside until puppy's had the all-clear from the vets, but I'm wondering if that might be going a bit far - rather hoping that it is because we've got many pairs of outdoor shoes and it's storm season...could we just keep puppy away from shoe storage area?
5. I think this might be more a training question. The room I'm planning to keep him in has wooden floors, but they've already been fairly damaged by our old cat's incontinence. This was a couple years ago, but will the smell of cat urine be an issue in housetraining the same way dog urine would be? We always cleaned up with enzyme cleaners but we probably didn't manage to get all of it.
I think that's all the questions I have for now!
Edit: Haha, here's another one:
6. I'd like for puppy to sleep on my bed, if he's okay with that. Someone said that they just started out with puppy sleeping on their bed, and would set an alarm for every 2 hours to take their puppy outside at night. Is this an acceptable idea or should I keep him in a crate until he's fairly solid on housetraining? Breeder does do some housetraining with pups but obviously it's not complete by 8 weeks old.
