Flying our dog

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estesbob

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We are considering taking our dog to Mexico this fall We will be gone for a month. If anybody here flown their dog with Continental Airlines(or any other airline) before?

I’m really looking for the commnets from people who have flown their Dogs I’m not looking for the pros and cons of flying ones dog. If you’re one of those people that believe you should never fly your dog please do not respond.
 
estesbob said:
We are considering taking our dog to Mexico this fall We will be gone for a month. If anybody here flown their dog with Continental Airlines(or any other airline) before?

I’m really looking for the commnets from people who have flown their Dogs I’m not looking for the pros and cons of flying ones dog. If you’re one of those people that believe you should never fly your dog please do not respond.
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I have a small dog that can ride in the passenger cabin in a carrier. I sedated him, and he did very well. My daughter flies her small dog from LA to home and back without incident.

I have never had a dog that had to be shipped with the baggage.
 
My sister has flown with her large dogs on American. Make sure you find out ALL the airlines policies if the dogs have to travel in the belly of the plane. There are regulations that have to do with outside temperature and they will not fly the dogs if the conditions are not right.
 
We’ve had friends ship their dogs overseas and they do fine. Any dog that can’t fit in a handbag will go into storage. There will be requirements by the mexican authority. Usually we had to have their records taped to the top of the kennel.
 
Flew my dog once with Continental, in luggage, & I was worried sick. But everything turned out great! 👍 Continental staff hand delivered him to me in the baggage area.

Visit your vet a week before your travel, they can give your pet some tranquilizers to take before the flight. And make sure all shots and papers are up to date.
 
My neighbor flies her dog with her to Europe and back every year. She’s done this for over 10 years with 2 different dogs with no problems, and that is a lot longer flight than to Mexico! Make sure all vaccinations are up to date and confer with your vet about tranquilizers or sedation.
 
Catholic90 said:
My neighbor flies her dog with her to Europe and back every year. She’s done this for over 10 years with 2 different dogs with no problems, and that is a lot longer flight than to Mexico! Make sure all vaccinations are up to date and confer with your vet about tranquilizers or sedation.
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How do you manage potty breaks for pups on such long trips?
 
Light_Seeker said:
Flew my dog once with Continental, in luggage, & I was worried sick. But everything turned out great! 👍 Continental staff hand delivered him to me in the baggage area.

Visit your vet a week before your travel, they can give your pet some tranquilizers to take before the flight. And make sure all shots and papers are up to date.
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About every six weeks we take a two-day car trip and we do sedate him for that.However my Vet told me not to sedate him for a flight??? I would feel a lot better if I could as it settles him down considerably. Tthe flight is only 2 1/2 hours
 
estesbob said:
About every six weeks we take a two-day car trip and we do sedate him for that.However my Vet told me not to sedate him for a flight??? I would feel a lot better if I could as it settles him down considerably. Tthe flight is only 2 1/2 hours
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Consider a second opinion – or find out why your vet doesn’t want him sedated. Does the pup have a medical condition for which tranquilizers are contraindicated? What’s behind this view?
 
mercygate said:
Consider a second opinion – or find out why your vet doesn’t want him sedated. Does the pup have a medical condition for which tranquilizers are contraindicated? What’s behind this view?
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There is no medical condition that precludes it. We sedate him when we take a long car trip… The reason given was that if was sedated they can’t tell if something is wrong with the dog while he is in transit.

My Puppy is eight!
 
estesbob said:
There is no medical condition that precludes it. We sedate him when we take a long car trip… The reason given was that if was sedated they can’t tell if something is wrong with the dog while he is in transit.

My Puppy is eight!
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Do people fly with the animals? I thought the pups went with the baggage. This is an education for me.
 
As a veteran flyer of dogs going to shows all over the country, I offer this–airlines will not accept dogs that are too large to fit under the seat at this time of year. Extreme hot or cold are no-nos for flying dogs in baggage. A dog small enough to go under the seat in a carrier may be taken on board as long as you arrange for that beforehand. The Sherpa bags for dogs work well and they even have one on wheels. They are soft and can work for dogs a little bigger that might not otherwise fit under the seat.

Hope that helps.
 
mary_bobo said:
As a veteran flyer of dogs going to shows all over the country, I offer this–airlines will not accept dogs that are too large to fit under the seat at this time of year. Extreme hot or cold are no-nos for flying dogs in baggage. A dog small enough to go under the seat in a carrier may be taken on board as long as you arrange for that beforehand. The Sherpa bags for dogs work well and they even have one on wheels. They are soft and can work for dogs a little bigger that might not otherwise fit under the seat.

Hope that helps.
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Thanks Mary. We are going in November from Houston to Cozumel Mexico. I don’t think the climate will be a problem at that time of year. Do you sedate your dogs when you fly them
 
As I am sure you know, you need to talk to the airline. We just flew 2 weeks ago and I was reading something from the airline to NOT sedate your pet for a flight and they will not let a sedated pet fly. 🤷

From my experience. We flew my moms dog from MO to CO after mom passed, it was a larger dog, prob. 50lbs at the time. We had an airline approved kennel, it was appropriate size, was VERY sturdy and was new. The dog found some way to get the door latch open and had her head out through the top of the door :eek: , she didn’t get the bottom latch undone. The baggage people called us out to the tarmac to go into the belly of the plane to get her out, they didn’t know if she would try to bite and I am sure they didn’t want a workman’s comp claim for a dog bite. She let us get her free from the kennel with no problem. She was very scared and who knows how long she was like that. Thankfully she was not injured.

So if you have a larger dog or have to put your dog in the belly of the plane, I would suggest that you do whatever you can to make sure your dog can’t get out of the kennel. I am not sure what to do, we were confident in our kennel but she still found a way out 🤷
 
mercygate said:
How do you manage potty breaks for pups on such long trips?
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Well, I don’t! I am not sure what my neighbor does. It is a non-stop flight, though, I think it about 8-9 hours, so if the dog is walked right before take-off, it should be fine.

Our golden can hold it for 12 hours!
 
Here is a link about bringing the pet into Mexico (you may have seen these regulations, but it never hurts):

mexinsider.com/bringing-pets-in-mexico.html

Wish I could help re: the actual flying a pet, but we leave our Jack Russell at a trusted veterinarian’s kennel, as I think she would freak out if she had to go in the cargo hold. (I do wonder about the heat in there this time of year.) The stories I have heard about careless handlers actually being responsible for dogs getting loose, and then wandering off, scares me.

Good luck with it.
 
estesbob said:
Thanks Mary. We are going in November from Houston to Cozumel Mexico. I don’t think the climate will be a problem at that time of year. Do you sedate your dogs when you fly them
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I do not tranquilize my dogs. I have terriers, not known for being very quiet. But I have never had one misbehave on a flight and most people did not know that there was a dog in the cabin. When I have had to fly a larger dog in baggage, I bungy several times across the front of the crate so that they cannot get out.
 
JustAnotherThou said:
We had an airline approved kennel, it was appropriate size, was VERY sturdy and was new. The dog found some way to get the door latch open and had her head out through the top of the door :eek:
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My parents dog did something similar, but in our own basement! Had a huge, new, sturdy kennel… one of those that is mostly hard plastic with a wire grate door and a small wire “window” on each side. He was normally an outside dog but we brought him in during a nasty storm. Overnight he ended up chewing (somehow:confused:) through the wire grate window and bending the bars and had his head stuck:eek::eek::eek:. We have no idea how he did it but it goes to show that when a dog wants out he wants out now!

So, estebob, I am assuming your dog is familiar with a kennel? But having never flown before you can’t be sure how he will react.🤷… I don’t think i saw a mention of breed type?**
 
I flew with a Chesapeake Bay retriever pup (7-8 weeks old). I did not tranquilize her. And the gentleman sitting next to me in flight didn’t notice until I pulled her crate out from under my feet and opened it up to check on her as we were deboarding.

I did double check with the airline at the airport about a week prior to traveling if the crate and her could fly in the cabin. No problems 🙂

I also made one change over and that worked out very well too.

(Took her to the tiled restroom to potty… I cleaned it up of course) 😊 I couldn’t think of anywhere else to take her?

Good luck to you!
 
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