I'm moving to San Francisco for 6 months and plan on bringing my 85 lb. dog. I'm looking around at options. I planned to just fly him as cargo, but US Air (which would be my direct from Charlotte to SF) doesn't fly pets, and Delta won't fly them this time of the year.

Anyone know which airlines have the most flexibility when it comes to shipping your pet? I'm not against the idea of paying a pet shipping service to ship either, but would like to avoid spending shit tons of money.

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 3:58 PM. Reason : a]

6/6/2007 3:58:16 PM

not that this helps...but when my brother moved to Germany, he took his 100lbs+ Great Dane with him. We had to drive him down to Florida where he flew Thomas Cook/Condor straight to Berlin, i think it was the only airline and cheapest that allowed that size of a dog. Cost $100 to fly the dog + $100 for my brothers ticket.

oh and don't bother with the A/C unit for his cage....my brother did that and it got stolen before it ever left the USA.

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 4:01 PM. Reason : fda]

6/6/2007 4:00:54 PM

all of the plane companies are the same, they all follow the same regulations regarding extreme heat and cold. Best chance you will have is to try and booka flight between 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM and hope for a warm winter day.

6/6/2007 4:05:24 PM

Not to kill your theory but the at the altitude where the planes fly is extremely cold year round so that isn't the reason.

6/6/2007 4:50:45 PM

my sis worked cargo for a summer and saw 10 dead dogs come off planes... that weren't dead when they went on.

No sir my dog will never fly unless in my private plane.

6/6/2007 4:52:45 PM

Golovko Out of curiosity, how did your brother's dog handle that length of a flight?

^ that's the kind of crazy shit I'm talking about...Sabrina would probably be one of those

[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 4:55 PM. Reason : ]

6/6/2007 4:54:12 PM

I'll be flying towards the end of this month.

and the reason absolutely is temperature.... while yes while you are in the air temperature isn't a factor, but i imagine your pet would be loaded on average 30 minutes prior to takeoff, not considering common taxing/mechanical/weather delays.

6/6/2007 4:54:30 PM

Quote :

"Not to kill your theory but the at the altitude where the planes fly is extremely cold year round so that isn't the reason."

Thanks for the laff.....

I've flown my dog-same size as yours several times. You can get a fleece jacket and put it on them before the dog is loaded. It sucks because you have to acct. for the weather in Raleigh, your layover, and your destination.

6/6/2007 5:09:51 PM

you may need to get a health certificate! call your vet!

6/6/2007 6:46:34 PM

sorry, misread your original post. thought you were leaving in 6 months

You're gonna need a really early or really late flight that flies direct. That's gonna be tough. What did Delta say???

6/6/2007 6:54:21 PM

i used to work at a pet store that sold puppies (yes, i know, but please don't fuck up this thread, flame me through pm's or something) and when it was really hot i'd have to pick them up from the airport at like 3 in the morning.

6/6/2007 7:00:36 PM

you may need to get a health certificate! call your vet!

6/6/2007 8:27:49 PM

I read Delta policy online, they don't fly pets in cargo between may and september. American Airlines actually had the most lax policy I could find. The only stipulation they had was that the departure city and arrival city had to have temps below 85F. They also won't allow for reservations in advance for pets and only allow 2 per flight.

Not sure what I'm gonna do at this point. Driving is looking more appealing.

6/6/2007 8:33:01 PM

just drive

it'll be less stressful on the dog and you wont have to worry about whether it dies

6/6/2007 8:40:20 PM

driving that far would be pretty damn stressful to a dog

6/6/2007 8:51:06 PM

I think it's either Northwest or Southwest, whatever that is generally considered really good with pets. They fly them in the air conditioned luggage area. However, flying with any company is generally $$. My friend just got quoted at $1200+ to fly his lab to Germany.

6/6/2007 8:53:25 PM

Quote :

"just drive it'll be less stressful on the dog and you wont have to worry about whether it dies"

Absolutely.

we moved from Raleigh to Seattle.

gave our furniture to friends/goodwill, rented a mini-van, took our personal stuff, set the dog (70 lb) in a nest in the back, and had a great time driving cross country. stayed in campgrounds most of the time with a tent.

you can deduct all moving expenses (rental costs, fuel, lodging) on your taxes, or if your employer pays your moving expenses, you get it all reimbursed.

pay serious attention to the dead dog stories. even if the dog survives, its a hell of a traumatic experience for them.

i would never fly my dog unless it was an absolute emergency.

Quote :

"driving that far would be pretty damn stressful to a dog"

hell no. do you even own a dog? cause i dont think you have any idea what youre talking about.

the dog will absolutely LOVE it. our dog had the best time in her life. it was awesome.

and compared to being boxed in a crate, with all the machine noises and strangers tossing the dog around? sitting in heat and humid places, nowhere to crap.

its not even a debate.







[Edited on June 6, 2007 at 9:03 PM. Reason : ]

6/6/2007 8:58:40 PM

Quote :

"Out of curiosity, how did your brother's dog handle that length of a flight?"

not too bad. He's done the trip from Egypt (where my brother rescued him) to North Carolina once....and then flew from NC to Germany where he now lives. I think both times he was sedated. But he seemed fine after. we had put a A/C unit in his crate for him but apparently they don't pay baggage handlers enough to afford their own mini-A/C units for their own homes. The crate was huge though, people thought we were transporting a horse lol.

6/6/2007 10:53:03 PM

When I first got my dog as a puppy, he was flown to me and he looked like he had a rough time with it. He hated his crate for months afterwards until he realized I wasn't about to ship him off again.

Conversely, he drove from NC to Texas with me when I moved and had a blast. Nothing was stressful about it at all for him.

6/7/2007 12:44:40 AM

I would be more stressed out than my dog if he drove from NC to Texas.

6/7/2007 12:49:25 AM

i dunno... my dog drove most of Montana alright. i just had to work the gas. it was a nice break.

6/7/2007 6:13:08 AM

temptures at 35,000feet are in the -30c range. i just got off a flight to scotland and the monitor that was in the cabin read -36c at one point. and an atomospheric pressure of about 16 psi. both of which will not sustain life.

dont ship your dog as cargo, some cargo holds dont have any type of artificial atomsphere, and none have climate control.

if you are going to ship the dog, do it with a pet carring service, or just pretend you are blind, and buy him a seat.



[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 6:23 AM. Reason : 1]

6/7/2007 6:21:19 AM

Quote :

"American Airlines actually had the most lax policy I could find. The only stipulation they had was that the departure city and arrival city had to have temps below 85F. They also won't allow for reservations in advance for pets and only allow 2 per flight."

I was behind a guy at the ticket/check in counter for American Airlines back in Feb. Apparently they told him on the phone that it would be ok to fly his two dogs out with him. At the counter it was a different story.

They said that under no circumstances would they ever have told him that they could fly two dogs, only one (what difference it makes if you have two dogs from the same customer and what would be the difference if say a husband checked in with one dog and a wife checked in with the other as two separate customers is a mystery to me). They also told him that the dogs couldn't get on the flight because it was too cold. There is a maximum and minimum temperature for allowing dogs on flights - something to think about for the trip home 6 months from now.

It's impossible to tell if the person at the counter was just being a jerk about the two dogs or if the person on the phone would say anything to get business - which would be stupid if there were restrictions. After all there was a minimum temperature regulation (about 45 degrees IIRC) and they told him there would be no problem flying the dogs out... in February... to Chicago.

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 7:20 AM. Reason : -]

6/7/2007 7:19:00 AM

Quote :

""driving that far would be pretty damn stressful to a dog""

Quote :

"hell no. do you even own a dog? cause i dont think you have any idea what youre talking about. the dog will absolutely LOVE it. our dog had the best time in her life. it was awesome. and compared to being boxed in a crate, with all the machine noises and strangers tossing the dog around? sitting in heat and humid places, nowhere to crap. its not even a debate. "

You've obviously never come in contact with a dog who does not like car rides, which is pretty common. We had to sedate my dog to take him anywhere.

6/7/2007 8:25:53 AM

Well even if my dog didn't like car rides then I'd much rather crate my dog in my car where I can at least control the air temperature and ensure it gets bathroom breaks and food/water then take the chance of it dieing on a plane.

my 3 dogs love car rides but they've been taken for rides in the car since I got them so there is nothing to be afraid of. If you socialize puppies properly and take them in the car frequently (say on rides that don't always involve the vet) then they shouldn't fear it. Not to say there are dogs that have a fear of cars regardless. Or those rescued/adopted at an older age and you can't control what happened when they were younger.

I've driven from NC to CT many many times with my dogs in the car. A few times I had my cat as well who would sit in the backseat with the dogs just fine ( he was a odd cat - believed he was a dog)

just do what you think is best for you and your dog. I would be too scared to take the chance of flying with mine. unless it was across the ocean and i had no choice.

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 9:28 AM. Reason : v]

6/7/2007 9:05:30 AM

Quote :

"I read Delta policy online, they don't fly pets in cargo between may and september."

they must have some exceptions. i just flew back from slc, utah last week and there was a cat that came off with the baggage...

6/7/2007 9:24:03 AM

Quote :

"driving that far would be pretty damn stressful to a dog"

Man driving from Raleigh to Hatteras in the rain was enough for mine, and she used to love riding around in the car. I'd take her with me if I was going on a short trip around town often. She'd bound in the car and hang her head out the window the whole time--just happy as a lark. Now she just shakes and drools.

6/7/2007 9:33:10 AM

I ended up booking a non-stop from Dulles to SF with United. They allow crates as large as 48L x 32w x 35h and up to 150 pounds. Leaving at 8:40AM arriving at 11:15AM.

Going to be a long 8 hours.

Oh and does anyone have a crate that's the size above they need to sell? I see them online but they're 180 dollars. What a scam.

6/7/2007 2:48:42 PM

u should be able to buy one at petsmart/petco for less than that

better yet - try Craigslist. look through the pet section or post a wanted add in the pet section.
I have some around that I use for rescue but they're not big enough nor airline approved

6/7/2007 2:53:59 PM

dog crates are expensive. 180 for a large dog crate is probably a good deal.

make sure you get your vet to certify your dog as being able to travel via air.

you could get denied at the airport if you dont have papers in order.

good luck. i hope your dog doesnt get fucked up.

Quote :

"just pretend you are blind, and buy him a seat."

wins the thread right there.

6/7/2007 3:05:40 PM

whatever you do, make sure the pilot/crew know that there is a live animal on the plane so they keep the cargo area warm. My dog's water dish was frozen over when he got off the plane. I will never make him fly again. If you are only going for 6 months, consider leaving him behind...for his sake

6/7/2007 3:47:45 PM

I have considered leaving him behind, but he's a handful and I wouldn't want to burden anyone with him (translation: no one that has met him, and is in their right mind, will take him). Plus I like him and want him with me. I've spoken with the vet and will have his papers in order. I'll definitely consider driving back depending on how he handles the first flight.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 5:12 PM. Reason : a]

6/7/2007 5:10:46 PM

Quote :

"just pretend you are blind, and buy him a seat."

or what might be more believable would be a seizure dog or something like that.
just buy him a blaze orange hunting vet at petsmart and write on it w/ a sharpie "WORKING DOG - DO NOT PET"

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 5:17 PM. Reason : ]

6/7/2007 5:16:16 PM

You can actually even get a dog and say it's an anxiety dog that keeps you calm on flights.

6/7/2007 6:44:04 PM

[Edited on June 7, 2007 at 9:06 PM. Reason : stupid post]

6/7/2007 9:05:56 PM

i think there is like an 85% or 90% chance they make it.

which isn't good enough for me.

6/8/2007 8:45:45 AM

i didn't know the luggage compartments of most commercial aircraft were pressurized

the more you know

6/8/2007 10:02:17 PM