Flying/Airtravel with dogs - help!

Hi there,

I am new to the board so firstly, hello to all!

I am an American living in the UK with my boyfriend and our lovely Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Ditmars. My boyfriend has recently secured a job in Barbados and we will be moving there in the next 2 - 3 months. We are obviously very excited, and after doing a novel's worth of paperwork, taking our furry little son is no problem.

Unfortunately, the thought of my best friend being locked in a kennel for half a day under the hold of a plane alone isn't very comforting!

Just wondering if anyone on this board has traveled by air with their pets before, and what, if any, problems you have encountered. We have already purchased him an airline approved kennel and are getting him used to it day by day. I have read conflicting advice on whether or not to feed your dog just before the flight - some say it is necessary since they won't eat for hours and will get very hungry, others say not to as they will have to go to the toilet in their kennel which is uncomfortable for them.

I should add it will be an 8 and a half hour flight - adding on the time before and after the flight he could be in the kennel over 12 hours.

I'm sure it will all be fine, as dogs fly all the time, I suppose I just want some reassurance from someone who has gone through the same thing! Any tips to make his journey more comfortable would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

The dogs travel alright. Mine just did a 13 hour from Virginia to California. It was a similar length of time. A little stress should be expected, but he will snap right back. I wouldn't feed a lot starting 12 hours prior to the flight. A little food might be nice for them a couple hours before but not too much. He won't want to go in his crate and at 1 most likely will hold it until he gets out. Hope that helps!

Ben - Is your dog related to the arnhem staffords?

Jethro has flown from Perth to Adelaide, and return, about 4 times.

Mind you the flight is just under 3 hours, so it is not a long flight. But he has to be at the cargo section 2 hours before the plane goes, so he is in his crate for around 6 hours by the time we pick him up at the other end. I get some pills from my vets called promax ( though I am in Australia! ) and give them to him just before he goes in his crate. It just knocks him out for a few hours... he has never suffered any ill effects. Though I know alot of people and vets are against giving dogs medication to fly. When we pick him up after the flight, he is always awake, and we let him straight out for a drink and a widdle. You have to have the weight of the dog so you can give him the right dose.
One time when we were waiting on the tarmac for the plane to take off we could hear a dog barking and barking underneath where we were sitting! Even when we were flying you could still hear this dog barking like crazy. At the other end the people picked up the dog at the same time we picked up Jethro and they said yes it was our dog barking as we don't believe in giving medication... maybe they should have! The poor dog.. and I wonder how they go with their ears when they are up so high.
I know people will beg to differ..

Nosipho wrote:Ben - Is your dog related to the arnhem staffords?

Not directly in the last five generations but there are a few that came over from areas around Arhem, so it is entirely possible. I will have to look into some of the ped. of ancestors. Most of his parents, etc. came from breeders in Canada but they get most from overseas. Monte was bred by a breeder in Alaska. He does certainly resemble the Arhem line though.

My two flew from Adelaide to Perth just under 12 months ago and I went through h**l trying to decide if I should sedate Izzy (she's not even good in the car for 10 minutes). I had Kita reviewed by our vet a week before and he felt that given the placid nature she has, she would be fine (although my main concern with her was the stress of a flight on her health at 13 years of age). I had Izzy booked in to the vet we'd taken her to a few times on the morning of the flight.
The afternoon before the pet travel company contacted me for some last minute details. I relayed my concerns about Izzy getting hyped up and panting to the point she would dehydrate and the guy suggested I freeze a bottle of water and they then tie this to the side of the crate and as it melts the dog can lick the condensation off the bottle. He also said sedation can dehydrate dogs as well (being a nurse I do know the effects and this is true). In the end it was my choice and I ended up cancelling the vet appt for Izzy and worried myself sick till I spoke to my hubby 6 hours later, turns out she was a star.
I don't know what I would do for a long trip, I think it would really depend on the dog and how comfortable you feel with it. I'm not against it, I'm just glad all went well for my two without it.

bbimson wrote:The dogs travel alright. Mine just did a 13 hour from Virginia to California. It was a similar length of time. A little stress should be expected, but he will snap right back. I wouldn't feed a lot starting 12 hours prior to the flight. A little food might be nice for them a couple hours before but not too much. He won't want to go in his crate and at 1 most likely will hold it until he gets out. Hope that helps!

Thanks so much for this. You're right, I think we won't feed him too much - and I'm sure he'll be able to hold it for that long.

vanessa wrote:Jethro has flown from Perth to Adelaide, and return, about 4 times.

Mind you the flight is just under 3 hours, so it is not a long flight. But he has to be at the cargo section 2 hours before the plane goes, so he is in his crate for around 6 hours by the time we pick him up at the other end. I get some pills from my vets called promax ( though I am in Australia! ) and give them to him just before he goes in his crate. It just knocks him out for a few hours... he has never suffered any ill effects. Though I know alot of people and vets are against giving dogs medication to fly. When we pick him up after the flight, he is always awake, and we let him straight out for a drink and a widdle. You have to have the weight of the dog so you can give him the right dose.
One time when we were waiting on the tarmac for the plane to take off we could hear a dog barking and barking underneath where we were sitting! Even when we were flying you could still hear this dog barking like crazy. At the other end the people picked up the dog at the same time we picked up Jethro and they said yes it was our dog barking as we don't believe in giving medication... maybe they should have! The poor dog.. and I wonder how they go with their ears when they are up so high.
I know people will beg to differ..

Thanks for the info! Honestly I thought a mild sedative would be a good idea, but I've read on the terms of the airline, and the travel company we are using (Extrordinaire) that its against their policy and any dog that "seems to be under the influence of a sedative" they won't accept! Trying to get away with it might be a bit risky, but we'll speak to our vet about it next time we go in.

Dogsalogs88 wrote:My two flew from Adelaide to Perth just under 12 months ago and I went through h**l trying to decide if I should sedate Izzy (she's not even good in the car for 10 minutes). I had Kita reviewed by our vet a week before and he felt that given the placid nature she has, she would be fine (although my main concern with her was the stress of a flight on her health at 13 years of age). I had Izzy booked in to the vet we'd taken her to a few times on the morning of the flight.
The afternoon before the pet travel company contacted me for some last minute details. I relayed my concerns about Izzy getting hyped up and panting to the point she would dehydrate and the guy suggested I freeze a bottle of water and they then tie this to the side of the crate and as it melts the dog can lick the condensation off the bottle. He also said sedation can dehydrate dogs as well (being a nurse I do know the effects and this is true). In the end it was my choice and I ended up cancelling the vet appt for Izzy and worried myself sick till I spoke to my hubby 6 hours later, turns out she was a star. star
I don't know what I would do for a long trip, I think it would really depend on the dog and how comfortable you feel with it. I'm not against it, I'm just glad all went well for my two without it.

Thanks so much, I was told by our travel company that someone would provide him with water during the flight as long as we hung the water container on the wire door of the kennel, so I hope they live up to that!! I was also thinking about hiding some bully sticks among his blankets in case he finds them during the flight to chew on, haha. Might not be the greatest idea.

Thanks again for everyone's advice.

can i come to barbados aswell......................... grrr im jelous

dkay72 wrote:can i come to barbados aswell......................... grrr im jelous

Haha!! I cant believe it myself really, I'll be in denial until we actually get there. I promise to post plenty of pictures of the dog enjoying the beaches though!

How do you go about booking a flight for dog? I may have a job opening in America but would only go if I could take Kayla

here in Australia the airlines will only take 2 dogs per flight, so when I phone to book a ticket I always say I am taking my dog with me, and they check to see if there is a vacancy..
Dogs used to fly as excess baggage..quite cheaply.... but now they changed the rules and charge a fortune!!
Not sure how other airlines work around the world...

Vanessa does that mean if you and I were taking the same flight to Adelaide and we both wanted to take our dogs - only 2 of of our 4 could even be on the same flight? And if someone else on that flight was taking their dog, there would only be one dog allowed...? That sucks!!!!

yes it does.( well with virgin anyway )....I always fly with virgin and they told me their policy is only 2 animals on any given flight.
one time I gave them a date I would like to have gone over, but there was already 2 pets booked in, so I went the next day. And you can't book them in over the internet you have to actually speak to someone in person.

Skimsa wrote:How do you go about booking a flight for dog? I may have a job opening in America but would only go if I could take Kayla

As far as booking a flight for a dog - you have to call and speak with an agent over the phone from whichever airline you are flying with. Only some airlines take animals, and like Vanessa says, most only take about 2 - 4 animals per flight.

Taking a dog into the USA is pretty straightforward (as far as pet importation goes!) so I'm told, since it's not an island like the UK or Australia.

Here are some links that will be helpful:

http://www.cdc.gov/animalimportation/BringingAnimalToUs.html
http://www.cbp.gov/ImageCache/cgov/content/publications/pets_2epdf/v1/pets.pdf

Also - speak to your vet about it. They have all the info!! Ours helped us greatly with bringing Ditmars to Barbados.