flying pups

[Jane Austen]

While I never had any occasion to fly anything but myself, I have seen a lot on this website about transporting puppies. What always occurs to me is, How much does it cost? It is probably the best way to get from point A to B, but this must be very expensive and add a bit to the cost of the puppy. If you are investing in a breeding animal it makes sense. But why go to the expense for a pet that you could get nearer to home?
As you can see I am a true "Yankee". I would spend almost anything to keep my Duchess healthy, like the $600 I had to spend on her recent illness and tests. I realized from the start that vet bills can add up. But I am also very curious that someone would invest thousands to obtain a pet.

On another subject, of obesity. Duchess is down in weight about three pounds to twenty five pounds. I will try to keep her at that weight. I walk her as much as I can every day and this has also helped me to lose twenty five pounds. Funny, twenty five pounds is the weight of Duchess.

[corgimom]

Good for you Jane in regards to losing 25 pounds. And it sounds like
Duchess is at a more healthy weight now.

Linda

[Jhemphill]

Congrats on the weight loss and we are so very happy that Duchess is doing well. We fly our now departed Shih Tzu to Guam from Chicago many years ago for around $400.00, I do not know what the cost is now. He traveled form Chicago to Dallas, to LAX, stayed in a pet hotel over night and was transported by limo to and from the airport, then on to Honolulu and then on to Guam, where he was met by my husband and the quarintine owner to be taken to quarintine for 120 days. There is not rabies on Guam although they have packs of wild dogs called boonie dogs that roam the island.

[glencorgi]

Jane,

Flying a puppy or dog within the continental US usually runs under $200 on average. The last one I was involved in flying was about $150 from NC to FL. I hope by now Michael has figured out that it isn't quite as simple as plopping a crate on any ol' airline going from point A to point B and having a dog flown in here. Very few airlines want to deal with the hassle (and yes to a large degree that is how many of them look at it) of flying pets. It isn't that things are not all milk and honey in the States, rather a bit of naivete on the part of someone making judgement calls on matters where one lacks any true practical knowledge or experience outside of their limited sphere of an almost fairytale world. In the United States there are a magnitude of practical realities with which we have to deal in day to day pet ownership on any number of levels that are not within the grasp of some.

From about now until the end of September there is an embargo on shipping pets because of temperature - temperature is ALWAYS a factor in shipping pets even when the embargo isn't on. The temperature of the airport the pet will be leaving from, the temp of the airport should there be a layover, the temp of the airport where it will be landing - all have to be considered before one has a go on many flights. Then there is also weather conditions - storms, snow, fog, heat - all can happen on the same day on the path of certain flights given how large the US is.

There are a few airlines which have cargo holds which maintain a constant temperature and have a special service for flying pets. But then they have to fly into one's local airport or you have to find the next nearest one. I have an airport 30 minutes from me and can fly to certain locations out of it. When it looked like I might have to assist with flying a dog from NC to WA state once, the nearest airport with the service we were looking for was an hour away. When I got a second puppy from the breeder we drove 2 days to pick up the first one from, the airport I picked the second one up was two hours away.

As I said, I've been lucky and have had no problems with any I've flown. I am going to post a "horror" story that happened when a breeder attempted to fly a puppy to its new home in another post. This happened on one of the best airlines to fly pets and keep in mind it was one ticket counter in one airport the airline served, so a blanket indictment of the airline is not called for. Plus this happened months back, so not something to incite anyone to go on a rampage about, it has been handled.

Debbie

[glencorgi]

I am going to repeat what I said at the end of the last post:
This happened on one of the best airlines to fly pets and keep in mind it was one ticket counter in one airport the airline served, so a blanket indictment of the airline is not called for. Plus this happened months back, so not something to incite anyone to go on a rampage about, it has been handled. Puppy, it was not a corgi puppy, is fine and was placed in a home more local.

Subject: Major airline screw up

Last Friday had to be one of the very most frustrating days of my entire
life.* Never have I encountered , all at once, such a group of
un-co-operative
uncaring people all working at the same company.* The company is Delta
Airlines.

Looking back, I should have realized that something was different.* I have
shipped puppies with Delta for over 30 years.* This time, when I called the
Pets
First desk to make the reservation, at about 6 am one morning I got a
recording telling me that it was closed and that I should call back during
office
hours.* The recording did not say what those office hours were.

When I finally did get through to them later in the day after being on hold
"waiting for the next available representative" for 25 minutes I made a
reservation for last Friday, Feb. 3, 2006 for a puppy to go "Pets First"
from Ft.
Myers FL to Bloomington , Illinois, with a change of planes in Atlanta.* I
specifically asked them to check that the planes were big enough for a 200
crate,
and was assured that both were full size Delta jets.*

I went up to the airport cargo on Thurs. Feb. 2 to do the paper work ,
surrender the health certificates, etc. since the flight was at 6:55 on
Friday
morning and this would simplify .* On Friday morning, I took puppy , crate,
newspaper, towel, stuffed toy, baby blanket, an unopened bottle of water ,
dry food
in a zip lock bag, and plastic dishes attached to the door of the shipping
crate.* Every inch of the crate and all items were examined, approved , and
placed
in or taped to the crate.* This was at 5:30 in the morning.

My name and number, owner to be's name and number , were on at least 3
pieces
of paperwork attached to the crate.* My name, address, and telephone number
are on the crate side in black laundry marker.

Puppy was to arrive in Bloomington at 11:30.** At that time the new owner
called me.* The puppy was not on the plane. She was frantic.* No one had
called
either of us.* The airline did not know where he was.* An hour later he was
located in Atlanta.* They informed us that he was not on the plane because
they
had used a different plane that did not allow dogs.* So they just let him
sit
there.* THEY NEVER CALLED TO LET US KNOW!.

No other flight with appropriate plane was scheduled that day.* It was then
arranged that he would fly (at 2:40 pm) to Peoria, Illinois and arrive there
at
3:20 (change of time zones) .* OK - things happen.* Not happy, but puppy
would get there and new owner would drive to get him in Peoria.* Then 3:20
arrived, so did the plane, and THE PUPPY WAS NOT ON THE PLANE.*** THEY NEVER
CALLED
EITHER ONE OF US TO SAY THAT HE WOULD NOT BE ON THE PLANE.* I had called the

Pet First Desk and been on hold for 60 minutes one time before giving up and
50
minutes another to make sure he was on the plane and never contacted a real
person.* The tracking site on the Delta web site would not show anything.* A

real person told us later that they DO NOT TRACK DOG SHIPMENTS, ONLY PLANES.

It took two hours for them to find him, still at the Atlanta airport.* I was

FRANTIC - I am 10 hours away from Atlanta.** The new owner (at the airport
in
Peoria) was frantic.* Once they located him ( I am going," has he been out
to
potty, has he got water, was he offered food?" - oh yes, he is fine, right
here in front of me wagging tail)

Arrangements made to put him on a plane at 8:40 pm.* Got through to the pet
desk at 9:00 - NO - THE PUPPY WAS NOT ON THAT FLIGHT - HE WAS STILL IN
ATLANTA.
Told to call a "logistics" number I found that he had not been put on that
flight because it was carrying dry ice.* BUT THEY NEVER CALLED EITHER OF US
TO
TELL US-------------WHY WHY WHY------------silence.* Now, they told me, he
would have to go to a kennel as they couldn't keep him at the airport for
over
four hours.* I am to the screaming stage - he has already BEEN at the
D------
airport for over 12 hours. Is the puppy OK , is he dehydrated?** Has he been

allowed out of the crate, does he have water?** Puppy, they said , is fine.
Will
go to a kennel.* I will be billed.* They have no idea when puppy will fly to

Illinois.* ALSO TELL ME NOW THAT HE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SHIPPED OUT
WITHOUT
A FAX FROM ME CHANGING HIS DESTINATION.* NEVER EVER MENTIONED THIS BEFORE
ALL
DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I tell them to hold* - using cell phone I call Kitty Cahoon who is at dog
shows in Atlanta.* Kitty immediately agrees to go and get the puppy - I
convey
this to the idiot that I am talking to who then transfers me to another
idiot
who says that they won't release the puppy to anyone without a FAX.* I stop
trying to reason with them and scream that it is now 11:30 at night and I
don't
have a bloody FAX machine.* No budging them.* A rule.* A contract that I
signed
that morning giving them jurisdiction over the puppy.* I tell them that the
contract has already been broken by THEM - that it was to deliver the puppy
to
Bloomington 12 hours earlier.* I finally told them I would find a FAX
machine
if I had to drive 100 miles to do that - to not send the dog to a kennel.* I
am
terrified that I will never see this puppy alive again.* Finally my daughter

gets hold of someone in the newpaper office that she knows and a FAX is
sent.*
Kitty picks up the puppy.* He is, thank God, alive.* He is also dehydrated,
un- watered, un- fed* and in a kennel with urine and stool, dirty paper,
bedding , and toys.* To her it seems he has never been taken out or fed or
watered.*
In that shipping crate for 18 hours. They go back to the show grounds to
her
RV and I sink to the floor crying and threatening to sue Delta for the
inhumane and callous way they have managed to lose this pup and cause trauma
to us
all.

This is Sunday.* Puppy was not in good enough shape to try to fly him
yesterday.* Fluids have helped and he is now back to acting good.* Delta
wants to
"start over" to get him to Peoria.* They also want me to pay another $200 to
do
so.* Guess what - I have called my credit card company and that charge
already
there will be disputed until the day I die.* I WILL NEVER USE DELTA TO SHIP
A
PUPPY AGAIN.* I will tell everyone I know of the horrible way we were
treated.
I will contact every Delta official that I can get a name/address for.* Any

other suggestions?* I WILL FOLLOW THROUGH.**

All through this whole thing not one employee of Delta ever apologised for
the problems.* Not once did anyone, except for one ticket agent in
Bloomington,
even express sympathy.** I told the last person I talked to at the Atlanta
airport that if that puppy died that "heads would roll".** Well, the puppy
has
survived.* Kitty has him safe with her.* We don't know at this time if he
will
continue his trip or what.* Right now we are just glad that he is alive.
But
heads are still going to roll.

[Michael Romanos]

The airlifting of Taylor from Christchurch airport to Wellington airport - a distance of some 500 kilometres including flying over the Cook Strait (a sea which divides the South Island from the North Island of NZ), cost $60 plus I had to send back the special dog flight crate to Christchurch by courier which cost another $10.

Aside from all the other considerations, if I had gone by car, the ferry trip accross the sea would have been more than $60 alone - over and back costs approx $300 including the vehicle and one person only.

Flying can be cost effective.

[PocketsMom]

My other two dogs both flew from Delaware to Italy on a military flight and then Italy to Detroit. It was a nightmare. Belle clawed at the front of her kennel and literally pulled her nails out. Luckily it was not below the skin. We ended up staying overnight in Germany and since I made them take my other dog off and decided tostay there, as if I was leaving my other dog, they did not pay for a hotel or anythingso they took Tinker to the doggy vet with Belle and I spent 28 hours in the airport. Then they almost didn't get my girls to the airport on time for me to leave and I had to wait outside the plane until they got there and we took off 30 minutes late otherwise it would have been another night in Germany! I think I paid $100 each dog though but I think since I was moving for the military it was considered more of extra baggage.

[Michael Romanos]

It's obvious your dogs weren't flying first class!

[darci]

Wow Debbie that story is just awlful. I know that dogs fly everyday and mostly without problems, but it really makes you stop and consider all your options and educate ourselves to make this possible choice for us and our furry friends.

[glencorgi]

Originally Posted by Michael Romanos

It's obvious your dogs weren't flying first class!

What an absolutely appalling and completely insensitive comment to make! None of the flights discussed had the luxury of being puddle jumpers such as when Taylor was flown.

For the record, yes dogs can be flown first class and in the cabin and it can be very expensive. They are handled as carry on luggage; have to be small enough to fit inside a softsided carrier (Sherpa is the brand usually used) and be able to fit under the seat. For toy dogs and even corgi puppies this can work; but adult corgis are too large for this to usually be an option.

Debbie

[PocketsMom]

I have learned not to take things Michael says personally. I doubt he means it to come off as it sounds. My dogs are loved and I do everything I can to keep them safe and I know that! My other dogs are 60 and 70 pounds so flying on the plane with me was not an option! On a lot of the military flighs there is no first class for people let alone first class for the animals. I personally will never fly my dogs again because of the stress it causes Belle. They love our car so that is the way we will get around!

[Michael Romanos]

I don't consider a military flight where dogs are treated as baggage and the cost from one continent to another accross a big puddle at $100 is "first class." Do you?