i'm going to go out of state in july and I need to take my dog with me. I do not know anything about flying dogs. I have lots of ? about it. Like what about him going potty? or should I have them drug him? I just need some help with it please. thanks, Christi.

Christi,

How long/far will you and the dog be flying (hours)? What size/breed of dog do you have? And what is his general attitude towards traveling now - does he get motion sickness of any sort? Is he anxious to be without you or alone? Is he crate trained and comfortable in a crate for long periods?

Dogs of all sizes fly about the country frequently - the tricks are 1. making sure your dog is acclimated to the conditions beforehand (or as close as you can practice with) - like desensitizing to the sounds and activity of airports, airplanes, etc.; 2. making sure your purchase a high quality, travel approved crate/kennel; and 3. finding an airline that has experience and a good track record transporting animals. Not all airlines will fly pets, and actually, you may have some trouble in July because even some that do won't transport in the heat of summer (just to avoid any risk of heat stroke at any point in the trip). Have you looked into airlines and found one that will work with you during your chosen travel schedule?

Unless you have a highly anxious dog, you should not need to use sedatives. And unless the flight is extremely long (which continental travel probably wouldn't qualify as) your dog shouldn't need to use his crate as a bathroom, provided he is allowed to pee just before flying, and let out as soon as possible after landing. If you find a reputable airline to work with, they will probably make sure he's let out after landing (given your approval beforehand), in the event that it takes you some time to re-unite with him.

Sorry I answered your questions with a lot of OTHER questions... sometimes it's all in the details.

~Natalya

~Natalya

I have heard it is nuwise to sedate. In July you might have issues with the heat.

Could you drive?

Does your dog HAVE to go?

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back. My dog is a 4 1/2 month old male GSD. He is very good with his crate and is good in the car. He loves to go places and dose really well with it.

Yes he Must go with me. I'm flying from georgia to idaho. And I can't change when I'm going.

I will have at least one layover (in Denver, CO)so I hope that dose not make it to long for him to not go potty. Should I not feed him the day of or before the trip? W
What if he gose potty couse he's sick or afraid or somthing, what will thay do? And how would I walk a poopy dog in the airport? If the layover is long do you think thay will get him out (I am training him for PPD so he dose not get handled by other people, like, ever so I'm not sure what he would do.

Christi,

Is this a service dog? If not, I doubt they will allow him to fly with you in cabin. Even with the SAR dogs and other service dogs, there is some training involved as far as large crowded places, and riding quietly on the floor. They do not like dogs that are restless or that try and move around a lot on the plane.

If you are shipping him crated, you will not be allowed access to him until you arrive at your scheduled destination.

Also with the crate, I would feed him his morning meal the day before and an afternoon meal, skip the evening meal and withhold water after 7pm. I know the dogs I have shipped before have received water from the attendants in the dish that hangs on the door (which is required).

If you search the airline sites, you should be able to find what is required for shipping an animal.

You will need a health certificate, but it cannot be older than 10 days before the flight. The crate needs to have absorbent material in it in case of accidents (I use newspaper and sometimes even a bath towel but make sure he will not chew and eat chunks of the towel).

Also, not sure what your weather is like, but airlines also have temperature restrictions when shipping in the summer and winter.

Is it the pup in your signature picture? What a CUTIE!! Is he a mix, I guess I have never seen a GSD with a white chest before.

I would suggest you book "red eye" flights, it's a little cooler at night, the airports are less crowded and will be better overall for the dog. Most airlines require you have water/food dishes that hook on the front door of the crate. Fill them with water, freeze them, then attach to the door right before you leave. Water won't spill and the dog will be able to lick the ice if he gets thirsty. I never tranquilize a dog before flying, it's not a good idea, I don't want my dogs sytem compromised during the flight.

When you reach your destination, go immediately to the place your dog will be, usually oversized luggage. I have gotten off a plane and gone to oversized luggage only to find a strange woman with my dog in his crate on a luggage carrier with a porter helping her. I know other people this has happened to as well. The airlines will tell you they insist on baggage claim ticket before they will give the dog out - NOT ONCE HAS AN OFFICIAL ASKED ME FOR A CLAIM TICKET OR ANY VERIFICATION AT ALL.

I try never to change planes when I'm flying with my dog, I have changed planes once and I was really nervous about it. There is just no way I would change planes more than once.

Don't worry about him having to relieve himself, if he does, he does. I always lock the crate door with zip ties, and I also zip tie the whole crate. I don't ever want people taking my dog out of the crate.

Flying with a dog who has to travel as excess baggage is not a bad experience, you just have to be very careful and know the ins and outs.

http://www.petflight.com has all the reported incidences with pets and the different airlines.
I have been very happy with AA when I ship puppies through Priority Parcel. They have taken very good care of them.

A sedated dog on a flight is a good recipe for a dead dog, don't do it!!!!

Susan
If I were you I would be raising Cain with the airline every time you pick up your dog and aren't asked for proof of ownership. There is absolutely no excuse for them not to be taking precautions against theft.

It has occurred with multiple airlines, and it doesn't matter what I say. Interestingly enough, when I have picked up dogs that were sent to me, I always must present ID. Just not when a dog goes with me as excess baggage....weird!!

One more suggestion, once you board the plane, ask a flight attendant to verify your dog has been loaded before you take off. United attaches a boarding pass to the kennel when you check the dog in, and part of that tag with info that identifies the dog, is torn off off when the dog is loaded, and given to you. I wish the other airlines would do that.

I have shipped dogs to and from Europe. The dogs potty in the crates if they cant hold it, so line with newspapers for absorption. Just crate the dog, hand him off to the airline and dont worry about it. Dogs fly all the time. Domestic flights are alot shorter than international flights (when I shipped my 2 pups from Florida to Belgium they had a 40+ hour transit time because they were pulled from the flight in NYC and put on the flight 24 hours later). Customs paperwork also took all day because a vet inspection on this end is required. If my 4 month old puppies can survive that with zero issues, then your pup will do fine on a short domestic flight.

However, in mid summer you will have trouble finding flights. The rule as I understand it is that "if the temperature exceeds 85 degrees on a given day, then the dog will be unable to fly." This is stupid to me, because if its 80 degrees at 10am but 87 degrees at noon, they wont fly the dog even though the flight leaves at 10am. At least, thats what they did with my dogs. Also, my dogs couldnt go via Atlanta GA because it was too hot all summer, so they had to go from Orlando to NYC to Brussels to avoid the heat embargo. The day they left was literally the last day for the rest of the summer months that they were able to fly. I was very lucky. Short of having someone drive them to a northern airport for me, they woulda been stuck in Florida for another 4 months or so.

My dogs flew with Delta. They were my only choice. They lost the paperwork on the Belgian side, someone put them on the wrong pile. It took a long time to get the pups unloaded and into the cargo depot, and ofcourse, the 24 hour delay and the fact that all 4 of my dogs were sick as hell for 3-4 weeks after the pups arrived (the pups infected the older dogs) wasn't the greatest thing, but who knows what caused that. It could have been picked up at the airport, in one of the planes, or at the kennel of the person who they were boarding with.

Don't sedate. Flying is easy if you can avoid the heat embargo. I would just avoid connecting flights with a 10 hour layover. In future I will ship dogs from Miami to Germany and drive the 2 hours to pick them up in Dusseldorf. It'd be a direct flight and customs is alot easier. I cant imagine domestic flights would pose any problems. I was just really unlucky, and the first 2 dogs I flew over was painless, as was the trip from Holland to Florida when I got Lyka a few years ago.

My breeder uses cedar shavings instead of newspaper. I never saw this used before I got these 2 most recent dogs. Everyone uses newspaper. I'm sold on cedar shavings now. They are very absorbent, the dog stays dry and clean smelling.

Check with Continental Airlines. I seem to remember they don't have the same issues with heat embargo. Their cargo area is air conditioned if my memory is correct. Check it out I could be wrong.