[Yin Yang]

We are planning to move to Europe in next few years and I am just terrified to make my dog go through the hell of being on a plane for some 6-8 hours!! He flew from WA to GA before which is about 4,5 hours flight and when we picked him up he was TERRIFIED!! He was ok, but poor thing it must have been hell for him down there.
I was wondering if there is any alternative to flying or if there is any special transportation for pets other then being in a laguage space right next to the plane engine.
Anyone knows how it works? I've heard that for long distance flight the stewart will bring them water and look after them. But if it's really true I don't know.

I'd appreciate any info! TIA!

 

[Yin Yang]

Anyone?

 

[KaraBoo]

When I flew from Colorado to Prague with my cat nearly six years ago, our vet gave us a pill that would help her sleep for around 12 to 13 hours. We put her in a carrier with her favorite blankie and snuggly towel and taped a bowl (for water), along with a baggie of food, to the top of her carrier. We were told (and have since verified) that the handlers put animals on last and get them off first.

Of course, the total travel time was nearly 15 hours so our cat was mad as hell when we finally got her out of the carrier. She pouted and was stressed for about three or four days but we gave her many many lovies and she soon settled down and enjoyed her new home.

I'm not sure how different the experience is for dogs. I just wanted to respond so you knew someone had read your post

 

[polka123]

Karaboo - Airlines TOTALLY FORBID drugged animals now !!
too many bad things happened to pets given a sedative.

My Trainer/Breeder flies GSDs all over the world & the main kennel in the Cz Rep ships dogs to & from AZ all the time with little problem. They've been Delta for years. Some swear by other airlines.

A thorough Vet check for travel is needed.

Yin Tang - look up several airlines sitred & their policies.
Talk to Vets & see if they have heard of any good/bad stories.
I might google a search for airline pet travel negligence & se if any one airline sticks out

 

[Yin Yang]

Thank you! I will do more research on this topic.
I too was told to not give my dog sedatives if he is comfortable in his crate. He already flew from Seattle to Atlanta and I thought that was enough! He was totaly freaked out when we picked him up in Atlanta! He was in the cage total of about 6 hours. Poor guy.
I found this website I have to check out. I did not have time to read about it yet. http://www.aata-animaltransport.org/

 

[KaraBoo]

Wow. I didn't know that. Hmm...

Recently, I've heard good things about the airline KLM and their animal care.

Maybe you could put the crate out in your home to let him get used to seeing it. You can leave the door open and let him wander in and out of it. ??? Would that help?

(What's a GSD? and polka, we're planning on getting a dog next spring...I'd love to get the names of your Czech contacts!)

 

[Yin Yang]

Our dog is very comfortable is a crate. SO that's fortunately not an issue.

 

[reeseccup]

We flew our nervous nilly weenie dog from Germany to the U.S. and she made it fine, we just make sure we gave her lots of love and attention when we got her back. She wasn't happy, but she did survive.

 

[polka123]

GSD = German Shepherd Dog
their "formal name"

pm me if you want more info

 

[applejuice]

I took my GSD in his kennal on a four hour domestic flight a year ago. He did fine, but you should get a vet exam first and be sure he is up to date on the old vaccinations and have a copy of the vet exam and the vax record. There was a fee of $75.00 each way.

I gave him a bone and a favorite toy with an old blanket in his kennal and waved to him...

:

I also ran to him in the baggage claim office where we claimed him...he was so excited!

Love my Alsatian!

 

[athansor]

We were kind of hoping to move to the UK (but didn't get a job offer, at least not yet and it doesn't look too good for the remaining applications

) and we looked into moving the animals. Besides the trip, you have to look into quarantines and the like. For the UK, there is something called the PETS scheme where you can avoid the quarantine for dogs and cats. You need to work with your vets and also have your pets microchiped. I believe you need to start the process 6 months in advance of your move. I'm not sure if the PETS scheme is good for the whole E.U or just the U.K. but there is a site for it somewhere.

 

[Yin Yang]

So I did search on PETS and since we are planning on moving to UK I just learned some very bad news for us. Pit Bulls are illegal and we have a Pit Bull mix

He resembles Pit Bull way too much. We are screwed. What are we going to do I don't know.....

 

[kaydee]

When my boss moved from the UK to the US, she came over on a boat )the queen mary?) with her dog. She did this because she knew her dog, who was rescued from a horrible laboratory

would be horribly, terribly stressed by flying. She had the time and $ to travel this way--most people don't. But it is an alternative.

 

[chersolly]

The thread asked for successful transportation, but I'll share our story anyways.

When we moved to Guam in '98, I had my Chihuahua Chi shipped to us. She went from NYC to Hawaii (24 hour quarantine) and then to Guam via Northwest, and then a 30-day quarantine period on Guam. Everything went well.

When it was time for us to leave Guam in '02, we had planned for her to fly from Guam to Hawaii (24 hour quarantine) then to Dallas then to Norfolk,VA (our final destination). Trip to the vet, travel certificate, setting up her crate, everything went well, saying goodbye -- everything went well. But my poor girl was then sent to Japan, then Hawaii (24 hour quarantine), then LAX, then finally - Indianapolis, Indiana. We didn't find out she was in Indiana until we had touched down in Norfolk. Our poor little girl probably had no food or water. Northwest wasn't helpful at all because they weren't able to honestly tell us when she'd arrive in Norfolk and the guy matteroffactly told us that no one will open her cage to give her any food or water. Our girl weighed about 4lbs when she left Guam. Luckily, MIL lives in Cincinnati, OH - which was about 2 hours away. She drove to pick up Chi, but then faced some static when she got there because they had a shift change and the new shift wasn't made aware of our situation. By the time MIL was given our doggie, she has been in her kennel for nearly 60 hours (we were told that they do feed and water at the Hawaii quaratine - but who knows). MIL took Chi quickly to a nearby emergency vet, where they found her to be dehydrated and weighing in at 2.5lbs. She was given IVs for rehydration and had to stay over night because she was extremely lethargic.
I then began an ordeal with Northwest. In the end, they did refund us for the vet bills and gave us a few travel vouchers, but the service we received was quite shitty and I never flew with them again.