I'm going to be travelling by air in a few weeks with my dog, and I can't find one single person that has ever done that before, so I'd like to see if anyone has any experience/advice that they can share with me. It's going to be about a 15 hour flight altogether, including the layover-we'll be going from Houston to Chicago-then, after a 2 1/2 hour layover in Chicago, we're flying from there to Warsaw, Poland. I've bought a nice carrier for my dog Goldie, a Golden Retriever. She of course will be in the baggage compartment-as far as I know, I won't be able to get to her to walk her or bring her water until we arrive in Warsaw-then we'll have to go through customs. I'm supposed to take her to the vet this week so that we can get the necessary form filled out-she has to have a rabies vaccination and be microchipped. Someone suggested that she be given a tranquilizer so that she can sleep during the trip-I'm going to ask the vet about this. We'll be flying United from Houston to Chicago, and then LOT Polish Airlines from Chicago to Warsaw. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with travelling with animals on either of these airlines. If anyone has any experience/advice about this subject, I would definitely appreciate it. I'm moving to Poland to be with my true love and the future mother of my child, Justyna. We'll post some pics of all of us (Goldie included) when we get there!
I've heard that airlines in the united states are required to allow 'comfort animals' for the emotionally unstable to be allowed on planes, kindof like a seeing eye dog. that may be an urban legend, but if you can fake a psychological condition, i say go for it.
No, do not fake any kind of condition in order to get your dog on the passenger area of the plane. That just makes them make laws against even that for the rest of us who truly do need our service dogs with us on planes for a legitimate reason. Our service dogs are highly trained professional dogs that behave very very well and make it part of the compromise of people allowing our dogs on board when we need them. Taking a pet will give service dogs a bad name especially if it does not behave as well as a service dog, which is the most likely scenario, because RARELY dog regular pets have the same amount of training as a service dog. You could always ask the airline about if the dog can board the passenger area with you. They will probably say no, but you have nothing to lose by asking. This way if for some odd reason they do say yes, at least you aren't disrespecting those who use service dogs legitimately in doing so. That aside, your vet is really the best person to ask about preparing your dog for the flight, as the vet would know the medical history of the individual dog. Generally, you want to take up all food and water 12 hours before you are to arrive at the airport and only give the dog ice cubes after that, sparingly, until you reach your destination. (For long flights). If you take away as much need as possible to pee, poop, or throw up, the dog will at least have a more comfortable ride - being a little hungry and thirsty if he/she does NOT have a medical condition, won't hurt her, and is much more comfortable than sitting in his/her own bodily eliminations for hours in the cargo hold of a plane. The ride in the cargo hold of a plane, is traumatic enough in it's own right. As for sedation because of this, that's also something you really need to talk to the vet about. It also depends on the dog itself - if it is a dog easily scared and stressed, sedation might be the better option. But sedation carries with it, it's own set of problems (side effects, not being able to care for the dog if it has a negative reaction to the sedatives, the dog being just awake enough to be scared but not enough to cope so it's unable to do anything but lay there and be scared, etc) so if the dog is more than likely to be fine and not really freaked out, I'd skip the sedation. Unfortunately this just doesn't even hold true for most pet dogs, and not even some service dogs - my service dog was shipped to me from another state in the cargo area of a plane (she wasn't supposed to be) and ever since she had trouble riding in the passenger area without getting nervous and ALMOST forgetting her training (But she stayed professional like a champ)
I would explain your trip itinerary and time duration with your veterinarian and they will prescribe the best longer lasting sedative/sleep aid to make the trip easier on your Goldie Dog. I think it is simply the best that you are taking your dog with you all the way around the world to be with your girl and I hope only the best for you and both of your true loves (big smile)!
Thanks! I could never leave here without taking Goldie with me-she's been such a good friend for so long-this way our family will be unbroken....and Justyna says that her dog Marcel will teach Goldie Polish.......:tongue: Well, I took Goldie to the vet the other day-he said that she's in real good health-better than she's ever been. She is a remarkably well-behaved dog, and didn't even flinch at getting shots or her heartworm tests, or getting microchipped, and just slept through the ride to and from the vet. I honestly think she won't have any real problems with being scared during the trip-she even jumped right into her carrier when she saw it for the first time, and didn't want to get out! The vet said that he doesn't recommend giving dogs tranquilizers during the trip if it can be avoided. He said sometimes airlines won't even accept dogs that are being sedated because of bad side effects of the sedatives, and possible lawsuits. He said that sometimes it's good to sedate them if they're going to be travelling in the passenger cabin, but only if they're expected to be pretty unruly. The vet said that one reason that sedation isn't good is that it slows the dog's metabolism down too much, and if the dog gets cold, it can't shiver, and if it gets hot, it can't pant...these are actually natural defense mechanisms that her body has that the sedation will shut down. There won't be any way to get to her once we leave from Houston-I won't see her again until we arrive in Poland. But he said that airlines have a pretty good record of taking care of animals, and that the animals aren't kept in the same area as the rest of the baggage-there's a separate area that's pressurized and heated that the animals travel in. Anyway, he said to feed her in the morning, but not right before we leave, and to get some gizmo at the pet supply store that can hang inside her carrier that will give her water when she wants it. Anyway, I appreciate everyone's responses, and I feel a lot better after I talked to the vet. We'll post some pics of all of us after we arrive in Poland and settle down a little!
going high altitudes is very bad for animals it gives them all kinds of medical problems...some dogs may even have heart attacks from the altitude change..
I appreciate everyone's comments and advice-actually, Goldie and I have been here for quite a while now-we made it here ok, and I'll tell you some about my experience with the flight.... Well, our flight was from Houston to Warsaw, with a change of planes in Chicago. Of course, this was a one-way trip (we've moved here permanently). From Houston to Chicago we flew United Airlines, and then we connected with Lot Polish Airlines in Chicago to fly to Warsaw. When we got to the airport in Houston, the United Airlines people took one look at the cage Goldie was in, and freaked out-they said it was impossible, there was no way they could let us fly-they said that for international flights, that the cage had to be ventilated on all four sides (this was ventilated on 3 sides-she had plenty of air anyway..). I told them that the dimensions of the cage had been approved by the airlines, and I wasn't told of any other requirements other than that the dog had to be able to stand up and turn around comfortably. They said, no, no, impossible, it's 'against the law' to take her overseas in a cage like this (which was a very sturdy, top of the line carrier)-I told them that I was moving to Europe, and if she didn't go with me, I wasn't going either. They called a couple of supervisors over who sympathized with me, and they said they would authorize Goldie to go only as far as Chicago, and then Lot Airlines would have to approve her to fly overseas-(they said, 'no way Lot will ever approve that cage...') Anyway, after they made me pay a lot more money than they had originally quoted me, they authorized us to go to Chicago-they told me I would have to pick her up at the baggage claim in Chicago, and recheck her in at the Lot Airlines desk. Well, when we got to Chicago, it was almost impossible to find anyone to help me take her from the terminal we were in to the one where the Lot Airlines check-in was. It was a big fiasco, and I thought we wouldn't even make it before the plane left. When we finally got to the Lot Airlines check-in, the Lot people were very friendly to Goldie (including the airport inspectors), never said anything about there being anything wrong with the cage, and put her on the plane, and off we went! When we got to the airport in Warsaw, the baggage supervisor for the airline and the customs officials just waved us through and didn't even make us stop at customs-I was really relieved! The whole atmosphere when dealing with the Polish people was just completely different from the mess I went through with the legalistic, nitpicking people at the airport in Houston. I was really glad we got there without any problems! Goldie took both flights very well, and didn't pee pee or poo poo in her cage, and didn't even seem nervous-she was just happy to see me when the whole thing was over! She's adjusted real well to her new home, and when I can resize the pics, I'm going to post some of me, Goldie, Justyna, and our new baby Simon! (now 2 months old).
