Wondering if there are any suggestions for making the 6 week old vet trip easier. I always have large litters - 10 pups currently. In the past I have put them all in a crate and hauled it inside the vet office with help of teen son.

I use to have a vet come in the home but she's a horse vet and missed a heart murmur so I rather take pups out to my repro vet.

What do the rest of you do? Any carts you recommend, etc. Any ideas to ease the process appreciated!

Well, when we have to bring a big litter to the vets we put them all in the crate in the back of the car and bring a helper to carry the pups. My vet has wonderful techs who also help bring the pups into the exam room. We have carried the crate into the exam room full of pups, but when you have 7 or 8, it gets a little heavy, and when the pups move around when its in the air it tilts around and we didn't like the idea that some of the pups were quite frightened of the experience. I personally prefer to carry the pups into the exam, they feel comfortable in the arms of people and it makes the experience much better for them. Good luck!

My vet will come to the car and/or the house but when i take the litter to the acvo I usually put 4-5 pups in a wire 400 crate and bring my dog show 'wheels' and bungees and an extra empty crate. I transfer pups into an empty crate and stack another crate and fill it up and then wheel them right in. I don't need help to handle them and it reduces exposure to the staff's clothing if there have been sick patients in earlier that day.

When I have a large group, I crate everyone together and I make sure that they are marked somehow with ribbon.(whether or not I have needed to do ribbons prior to the visit) Then I go in and get my vet record folders all set with the appropriate color, sex, ribbon color. And they have my CC# so that I can just get in the car and leave when we are finished, don't have to wait for the billing/payment process.

And then I just go out to the car and get 2 puppies at a time. When those 2 are finished, I get 2 more etc. That way the puppies who are in getting shots/microchips are in there for a short period of time and the puppies out in the car are getting a little extra crate time with toys etc.

I am in the south so if it's wintertime, I schedule for mid day when the sun is nice and if it's the summer, I schedule for very early morning before it gets hot. Even then, sometimes I do have to leave the car running with the window down a bit. But once the process starts, my vet is very prompt and efficient as far as time goes.

This is what I do as well. I bought a crate dolly years ago online and use 1-2 large crates, depending on the litter size.

Same here, I put a big softsided crate on crate wheels and in we all go together.

I bring TWO large crates, one with pups in it ( and shavings as bedding, to keep them clean ), and one large empty crate with shavings.
My husband and I bring the pups in 2 at a time in our arms, then after their exam, return them to the vehicle and put into the empty crate.... (so no mix ups on who has been checked already )
this works well for us, and minimizes exposure to germs in the vet office.

My last litter of 7 I had to do on my own. Transported in two large crates. I had an additional fold down lighter crate, that I bungee corded to a wheeled cart. Transferred everyone to that cart when I got to the vet. Then grabbed my pop up crate with the zipper top-wheeled everyone into the exam room, put blanket on the table and then put up the pop up crate. After they were examined they were put in the pop up crate. Of course I had to transfer them back into the crate on wheels when we were done, but it was not as hard as it sounds. My vet helped me get the cart back to the car and even helped me get the pups settled back into the two crates. Worked out pretty well, pups were not stressed. I think I will be looking into 2 regular crates with a door on top, for this purpose, and maybe be able to cut down on a few steps. Laughingly I was thinking one of those dog strollers would be great for this, or the huge buggy I had 30 years ago for my son!

Load two crates in the back of the car, split litter between the two. When we get to the vets I move a pups over to one, I put the crate dolly down, put one wire crate with out a top on dolly, move all pups into dolly and roll into the vet. My pups go from my crate to the clean table back to my crate. never touch the floor works well even when I have no help.

Load two crates in the back of the car, split litter between the two.
When we get to the vets I move a pups over to one,
I put the crate dolly down, put one wire crate with out a top on dolly,
move all pups into dolly and roll into the vet.
My pups go from my crate to the clean table back to my crate. never touch the floor works well even when I have no help.

I have used two crates and a dollie. I have also set up a small x-pen in the exam room with tissue on the floor and used that to place pups that are all done, carrying them to the truck 2 at a time.

I get the vet to come out to me, doesan't cost much more perhaps a little traveling, but so much better less stressful for all concerned.