Puppy Pickup & Delivery
Drive
You are welcome to come pickup your puppy in-person! While this can often be a strenuous experience for your puppy, we do have some recommendations on how to make the trip home a little easier!
Fly
If you are located internationally, this may be the best option for you! Our delivery couriers can deliver within the the contiguous U.S. and Internationally. Details about flying with your puppy can be found below.
Delivery
This is the option we most recommend to get your puppy home. Our couriers are trained and familiar with how to make your puppy’s trip as comfortable as possible. Please read below for rates and details.
Driving to Pickup Your Puppy
Often, many of our puppies have a long car ride home. With much excitement exerted upon meeting their forever family, it’s common to sleep on the way back. Below are some important reminders for the trip home!
The Car Ride Home:
Items for Traveling
A crate or carrier can come in handy. Some clients like to hold their new puppy in a blanket or towel and others like to put them in a crate as they travel. Most of the time, the puppy will just fall asleep either way.
A water & food bowl. We’ll have food recommendations depending upon how long you will be driving with your puppy, but please consider carrying bottles of water.
Stopping in places unfamiliar to you can be a dangerous situation for your new puppy. Parasites can be an invisible enemy ready to attack! Avoid grassy areas where diseases can be picked up, from wild animals or unvaccinated animals. These are areas that should be avoided at all costs. Consider traveling with puppy pads where you can allow the pup to potty in a controlled environment with safety as the first priority.
We recommend not feeding your puppy during travel unless it’s a very long trip home.
Flying to Pickup Your Puppy
If you’re planning on flying to pick up your puppy, and take it home with you, please consider the following:
Domestic flights have restrictions on what age a puppy has to be to fly. Most domestic flights require a puppy to be at least 8-10 weeks of age to fly. They also require a USDA veterinarian certified and signed travel document that we acquire from our vet with vaccinations records and information regarding your new puppy.
Most International flights require the puppy to have received the rabies vaccination which they generally receive around 16 weeks old. Your puppy will be current on de-worming and vaccinations at 8 weeks of age. If your flight is scheduled after that, additional charges for necessary vaccines and boarding may apply.
*You will be responsible for purchasing an approved Pet Carrier/Sky Kennel for you puppy for storage on the plan ride home.
Delivery
Smoky Mtn Labradors is certified under the United States Department of Agriculture to transport puppies across state lines. Once you have decided that our delivery service is what best suites your circumstance, you can expect to be placed in direct contact with your courier. Smoky Mtn. Labradors is proud to have an ongoing relationship with our new pet owners during the transition from breeder to forever home as we strive to give our customers the least stressful and most supportive experience possible.
Please note, that for a delivery, our puppy couriers will likely have been driving long distances so they will need to get back on the road and head home. A delivery is not a lengthy process and will likely take 10-15 minutes to introduce the puppy to its new owner and to ensure any questions or concerns from the puppy owner are addressed.
VERY IMPORTANT: Smoky Mtn Labradors has 9 Satellite Kennels around the United States, it is important that you understand that in each state there are specific sales tax laws that can be applied. When purchasing a puppy, your puppy could come from a Kennel in any of these states: Tennessee, Texas, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia or Florida. You are always welcome to come and pickup your puppy at that specific satellite kennel, but different sales tax laws may apply. If your puppy is being delivered by one of our Smoky Mtn Couriers, the delivery charges are from that particular Kennel to your home.
We are proud to offer delivery to anywhere in the contiguous U.S. See the map provided for rates based on your region. Please call us for specific details and quotes for your delivery. Puppies picked up in the state of Tennessee will be subject to state sales tax (9.75%). Puppies that are delivered or flown by couriers are required to have an Intrastate Health Certificate acquired from a license veterinarian. This is a charge above and beyond your courier fees; this requires Smoky Mtn Labradors to take your puppy back to our veterinarian. Also, thru the years we have learned to bring the first bag of food that the puppy is currently eating with delivery; this is an additional charge.
