Well, I've been sloooowly shipping my puppies out from my last litter and a forum member here purchased one. Here's my impression of how puppy shipping went:

First off, Continental has a pretty good website with a clear explanation of the rules and requirements for live animal shipping:
http://www.continental.com/travel/policies/animals/rates.asp

For those of us in hot climates, Continental is the way to go - not only are the animals kept in a climate controlled and pressured area during shipping in-flight ( that's the industry standard, by the way ) but Continental also removes the animal for cargo and places it into a climate controlled area if a stop over is over 30 mins. in length.

Shipping from Tallahassee, Fl meant that I had to go to the actual ticket counter to ship the dog ( larger airports will use the Air Cargo region of the airport, that's where i always did drop off's for the Atlanta airport ). Now taking a 12 week old fearless puppy on leash through the fairly crowded airport while carrying a new 300 airline crate for shipping was interesting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> He thought he was just the king of the place....
The puppy made *a lot* of friends, put it that way. It was a great temperament test, I'm glad I leash train my pups at an early age.

Make sure you arrive an hour early as directed and have your conformation number handy. You also needs the purchaser's address and phone number, so make sure you have that written down and with you.
The airline will provide "LIVE ANIMAL" stickers fior the crate and instruct you on their placement.
I write the dogs name and his new onwer's phone number directly on his collar with an indelible marking pen, it provides you with a little back-up if the animal escapes.

Thanks to TSA requirements now, a TSA inspector will come to the airline counter and inspect the pup, it's bedding and the crate and then seal the dog into the crate with plastic ties - say good bye now, because you won't be able to handle him from here on out. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

And of course, then come the delays....
This flight ended up being delayed *Three* times..sheesh! The puppy arrived four hours later than planned but none the worse for wear, apparently. Some things you just can't plan for.
I will say that Continental kept me nicely informed of where the puppy was during the entire trip ( including the delays ) and overall they made it a great experience.

What a great change from previous shipping disasters when I was forced to use the airline from h*ll, ie, North West Airlines, aka "We don't give a d*mn about you or your dog Airlines" <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />

If you really want to make the TSA agent nervous, put the cardboard inside of a paper towel roll inside the crate.




Duh. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> What was I thinking. I use a roll of bounty as bedding and knew pups love that tube. Security people do not. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

I would agree on the comments made about Continental and Northwest.

Although I will say this, sometimes there are joint cargo locations set up with multiple airlines (i.e. Delta, United, Continental)

I know I was rather pissed last time when I picked up a dog coming through Continental because at least an hour went by in when my dog was due to be picked up and they turned around and said "Oh, she's back here. We didn't even notice her" What the &%$($(*$!!!!

But it was not Continental to blame. It was the huge rhino (I mean lady) behind the counter that was hired by a third party company to represent all (3) companies during cargo pickup

I say that only to let those know my experience with Continental has been great. Her incompetence was not indicative of what you typically get from Continental <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Things I have learned *not* to say with ear shot of the TSA folks:

Will speaking to the guy behind the airline ticket counter:

"Sooo.....*exactly* how many poeple are in the flight crew of this aircraft?"

"How far can this plane fly on one refueling"?

"How short of a runway can this plane land on?"

"What's the signal range of the emergency transponder on this aircraft?" ( they *really* get worked up if you ask that one.... )

If you look like me and ask these questions at an airport....you'll meet new people. Lot's of them....
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Having met you Will, I have no idea why you would meet so many friends, lol.

The thing that makes me nervous about transporting my dog is the amount of times my luggage has taken multiple days to find its way back to me.

Delta Dash: This is not first-hand info, but if anyone wants it, I can get it.

I've heard that Delta Dash counter-to-counter shipping works well for shipping dogs. A couple of members of a dog group I belong to have used it with success, both saying that the animal was treated well and was loaded last and unloaded first, with priority over other cargo, and was kept in the pressurized part of the plane.

This is vague, I know, but I had no need of the service at the time and didn't ask detailed questions. I can, though, if anyone wants to know. (I'm sure Google would find it, too.)

Again, this is memory and hearsay, so let me know if anyone wants more details.

QUOTE: The thing that makes me nervous about transporting my dog is the amount of times my luggage has taken multiple days to find its way back to me END

I finally remembered to email Delta Dash and ask for details about their animal shipping rules/benefits. They emailed back with a link, which I'm adding here. (I have NOT used them myself; I HAVE heard good things from members of my dog club.)

http://www.delta.com/travel/special_services/pet_travel/options/index.jsp#pets_cargo

when i was into reptiles i used delta dash.

they were great for the snakes. not sure of dogs. but for snakes it worked out great