Flying with my large dog

Good luck. Is this a one way trip? Not a simple task. You actually need the equivalent of a passport for your dog so find out what is necessary - shots and inspection - to get the dog admitted to France. A large dog will have to go in a cage and as luggage so check with your airline to see if --- they will take the dog and under what conditions.

Can't help wondering if you've really thought this through. Why do you want to take your dog along? Are you really sure it's the right thing to do? Is it fair to the dog? To other travelers...?

Yes, this seemingly simple question begs lots of other potential questions in this dog lover's mind about length of stay, possible quarantine, traveling with the dog in a rental car or by public transport, finding lodgings that will accept the dog...

A little more detail would probably help us to answer your question. People who travel with their dogs have posted on this forum, but they've had "under the seat" size dogs. If allowed, it might be possible to buy an RT seat for less money than shipping him.

I hate leaving my 50 pound mutt behind. He does well at Creature Comforts Pet Resort, but I've never left him for longer than 2 months.

Susan,

You'll have to deal with a lot of bureaucracy in terms of vaccinations and other permits in order for the dog to be admitted to France. A large dog will have to be in a cage and fly in the cargo hold, which could be upsetting and a frightening experience for him/her. Unless this is a one-way trip, you might find it easier to leave the dog with a trusted friend or at a reputable kennel. That will likely be the least expensive choice also.

Previous posts by Susan showed an interest in a one year stay.

Over 20 years ago, we flew within the US with our large dog and we booked that ourselves. We brought our own crate, only to learn at the airport that it was too large for the particular plane (it was within the officially listed allowance, but some planes are different and no one had informed us) and had to buy a new on one on the spot - but they were selling them. I feel like we had to have a letter from our vet stating that our dog was healthy. We were careful to pick a southern routing so that our change of planes was not in Chicago in winter and we were nervous wrecks the whole time. All ended well, but after hearing so many stories of dogs that got loose, I don't know if I could do it now. That being said, you need to contact the airline that you are flying and see whether it is even possible in this day and age to fly your dog with you as cargo on your flights, an you need to contact the French embassy about requirements for bringing a dog to France and I suspect that you need to get to work immediately to have any chance of success.

Otherwise, you will need to use one of these firms, or join the military (military dogs ride up in the plane with their handlers - we had 7 fly from Hawaii to Atlanta with us a few years back), or maybe get your dog certified as a service dog - I hear that this is increasingly popular. If this is for a year, I imagine that it will cost more than $2,500 to board your dog that long, but you will also need to bring your dog home at the end. Do you not have a good friend or family member that will love your dog while you are gone?

We took a cat when we moved to Germany. You need to have the proper USDA paperwork in order so try to find a vet that has experience in this and figure out if there is a USDA office close enough to visit in person or of you'll have to overnight the paperwork. There will be a chip requirement and if I recall correctly it is not a common one so double check that. Last, the airline has to have space for your dog so check with them.

For us it took about a month to figure out the paperwork and find a vet who was familiar with the process but all the actual work was done in the few days before the flight so it's technically possible.

DJ

Thank you all for you responses. We are going to France for 1 year and a half, cannot be without him that long. Last year we boarded him in a wonderful pet resort type place-no cages-where the lady who owns the business had him in her home to roam free inside and has a big pool for the dogs to swim if they wish.
I have done tons of research regarding animals going into the EU, no quarantine, only shots he already has and needs, and a microchip in his ear-which he already has. The vet has prepared the needed "pet passport" with has his heath cert. .He will not disturb any travelers, as his carrier is in a separate room-climate controlled in the hold-not the cabin. We have traveled extensively throughout Europe, and see tons of dogs every day...just not big Standard Poodles . The major airlines all have alternate cargo planes where they take the larger dog crates...that's the part I don't like, I was hoping he would be on the same plane with us. Also supervising the connection change and layover, is done by one of these big buck services. Therefore the big cost, as well as getting him thru customs...........................My dream would be to buy him a seat next to ours...no can do.
I was hoping someone had gone through the process and could shed some light.

We have friends with a second home in France, so they transport the family dog yearly. One of their rules is: direct flights only, even if they have to rent a car to reach the departing airport. Air France has a tradition of transporting pets; I think I read that Delta has stopped.

Actually, that price isn't too bad...I work for an international moving company and a few years ago we arranged for a shipper's guinea pig to be transported to Germany, price was around $2K and included personal handling of the pet, dealing with quarantine, paperwork, etc.

If you need to bring the dog on the same airplane that you are going on, you should refigure your flight. You need to get on a non-stop to Paris and tell the airline when you make the reservation that you will be transporting a dog. Air France is, as said above, best for this. Try flying to France from LA or Chicago. I know that will be a pain but it's what you need to do to comfortably transport your dog. Then spend the night at a pet-friendly hotel at or near CDG, rent a car the next day and do the long drive to Nice. Alternatively, you can see if there is a flight from Paris to Nice on your arrival date that works -- there probably will not be but it is worth checking. Denver to Nice is going to require connections and most likely, the dog will not be on the same plane as you and you will have the worry about how the connection is being managed for your dog. Don't forget that airlines reserve the right to not transport your dog if they have concerns about the temperature in the hold during your flight regardless of whether the container is climate controlled and that the dog has be checked in at least 3 hours before departure time.

If possible, write your dog's name on the crate. The handlers that come in contact with your dog will use his/her name and will help ease any anxiety your dog may have. Also, try and give your dog a LONG walk the day of your trip to tire out your dog so hopefully allow your dog to sleep most of the trip.

I sure hope this works out and understand completely that you want to take your dog. No experience with this but I read somewhere that the airline that is easiest to deal with regarding flying pets is Lufthansa.

Unfortunately flying with animals is an expensive and involved proposition. You CAN make it work, but as you've found, it's not easy or cheap!

One thing that has not been mentioned yet is the dog breed. Since some dogs have died in cargo holds, which are not ventilated, not all dog breeds can fly with luggage. Obviously a large dog can't fly in the cabin unless it is a service animal.

I have flown with a service dog once. It was a Portugese waterdog, so the owner booked a front row seat. A vest to officially identify it as a service dog is required. Service dogs are trained to not bark. (I asked the owner about that). If he is not a service dog, he can't be in the cabin with you because there must be proof of certification. Pets don't know barking is unacceptable behavior on planes.

I'm very concerned that your vet has already done the pet passport. It's going to be rejected. Most of it has to be done just a few days before Fido gets on the plane

I'm also a little shocked that you leave in a month and didn't take care of this when you booked the flight. That was the time to do it, now you probably have a lot of complications

Isn't there someone who could keep your dog?

I'm confused. Per your posts last year, I thought you were in France. Or are you back just to get your dog?

"One thing that has not been mentioned yet is the dog breed." Yes, it has, the dog is a standard poodle.

My sister and her husband lived in Budapest for a few years and took their dogs, including their standard poodle. Here is her blog post on transporting the dogs. They were going from Houston.

Most airlines have pet transportation programs. Based on my research, the two best airlines for international pet transport are Lufthansa and KLM. Both have pet hotels in Europe (Lufthansa’s is in Frankfurt, KLM’s is in Amsterdam) where pets are given food, water, and a bathroom break between connecting flights. You can also check out the Department of Transportation’s Incident Reports, which has information about every injury, accident and death related to animals on every flight that enters / exits / takes place in the USA.

There are three main forms of pet air transportation:

Excess Baggage: Depending on the type of aircraft you’re flying, and the route you’re taking, it’s often possible to take your pets as excess baggage, either in the cabin or underneath the plane. There are very specific height and weight requirements for cabin pets which vary by airline, but generally it would limit you to cats or dogs the size of a chihuahua or a Yorkie. If your dog doesn’t meet the height and weight restrictions, it can go underneath the plane in a specialized animal transport compartment. It’s pressurized and temperature-controlled (unlike the nearby luggage compartment) but space is limited, with only a handful of dogs permitted on each flight, depending on size. Additionally, these compartments don’t exist on many smaller planes, so if you have a connecting flight to a small city, it may not be possible to use this method. This is by far the cheapest way to send your dogs, generally ranging between $200 and $500 depending on the size of the pet and its kennel. To use this method, you must provide an approved kennel (we use Petmate Vari Kennel Ultra for both dogs), food and water bowls that attach to the kennel, and absorbent materials to line the kennel.

Cargo: Most airlines have a cargo division that transports pets. The pets will either be in the specialized compartment underneath a passenger plane, as mentioned above, or in an animal transport hold of a cargo plane (depending on the airline, time of flight, etc). These cargo companies don’t usually accept pets from the owners directly, but rather through an intermediary that specializes in animal transport. You contact the animal transport companies in your location (in Budapest, it’s Airmax Cargo) and provide them the pertinent information about your pets and when you want them to travel. They work with the airlines and provide you with a proposed route and price quote for each airline. These quotes generally are only valid for 30 days, so while I recommend contacting them a few months in advance, you may see some fluctuation in the original quote and the final contracted price. With these cargo companies, you can provide your own kennel and bowls, but you can also purchase the kennel directly from the transport company and have them handle everything for you. This costs a little more than excess baggage but is still pretty reasonably priced for an international flight (we got quotes between $500 and $1500 per dog).

For those who have to make a connection to get to their destination, this is the better option. The cargo company will schedule the flights so that the pet has an overnight stay in their pet hotel, so they will have an opportunity to get out of the kennel and use the bathroom, get fresh food and water, and sleep for a few hours between flights. With the excess baggage option, your pet follows the same path as your luggage, so he or she won’t be able to get out of the kennel for the entire journey. So for example, if you fly from Houston to Budapest, connecting in Frankfurt, the total travel time including layovers is usually about 16-17 hours. That’s a long time to go without added water and a bathroom break!

Here is the second part:
Door-to-door transport: This is the most comprehensive (and the most costly) option. There are several companies that specialize in international pet transport, with the most well-known ones being PetRelocation.com and Worldwide Pet Transport. This full-service option is basically effortless on the part of the pet owner. You request a quote from the website, inputting basic information about your pets and your home and destination cities. The company puts you in touch with a specialist for your region, who takes all the details and comes up with a quote. They handle everything for you, including the pre-departure vet visit to get the required travel paperwork, picking up the pet from your home and taking it to the airport, clearing customs, and bringing the dog to your home in your new destination. As you can imagine, this service is not cheap. We were given a quote of $8,500 to bring our two dogs from Budapest to Houston via one of these services, and that was with me agreeing to do all of the travel paperwork and veterinary visits on my own!

When we moved to Budapest, we used the excess baggage method for both dogs. It worked well enough – the dogs arrived safely, in good health and without any injuries or apparent trauma. We researched other options for the return trip, though, for a few reasons. First, have you ever tried to juggle two large dog crates, 4 suitcases, two carry-ons, a purse and a briefcase between two people? I have. It’s not fun. It makes you do stupid things, like take an unlicensed minivan taxi because you’re standing in an airport in a foreign country with all this STUFF surrounding you, and since he likes dogs, why not? (It worked out fine, but generally speaking, DON’T accept offers from random taxi men in the lobby of the Budapest airport. Or any airport.) We didn’t want to do that again when bringing our dogs home. And secondly, one dog has a few health issues – he recently turned 11 years old, and he has epilepsy. Both of these factors make flying a little more risky for him. I started looking into sending the dogs separately from us, a few days before our flight to Houston for Christmas.

I originally arranged for both dogs to go on KLM cargo planes, via Airmax Cargo. However, we hit a snag when we learned that the dogs would have an overnight stay in Amsterdam. We asked KLM whether they could administer medication at the pet hotel during the overnight stay – and they responded that they would be unable to transport the dog at all due to his health.

My experience with the cargo service was wonderful, and I would highly recommend using KLM and their animal transport affiliates. They took great care of our poodle every step of the way, and they gave me a tracking number (just like a postal package) so that I could follow her progress.

Hope this helps!

My sister has lived abroad for extended periods and brought her dogs with her (to India, Bosnia, and Russia, among other places). I've helped her with the logistics of this, and have so have learned some tips from her. Many of them have already been posted, but here goes.

Each plane has a limit on how many dogs they will carry, so you have to be sure to get your reservation in early. You also have to pay the fees, which of course keep going up.

You must have the right size carrier for the airline and plane (she once had to buy a new one because the carrier she had, which had previously been fine, was now an inch or two too big).

You must have the European chip, which is different from the US one. Despite specifying this to her veterinarian the first time, her dog had to be re-chipped. The easy way to tell: if you're filling out the forms and your chip number is shorter than the number of digits on the form, you have the wrong kind.

Yes, some of the vet's paperwork needs to be done relatively shortly before the flight. Part of her pre-travel scramble in the days before departure is going to the vet for the final papers - she plans for this.

Her dogs are too big to go in the cabin, so she's always taken them as "baggage." One problem with taking them as "cargo" is that they can arrive at the cargo section of the airport, which in large airports can be some distance from where you arrive.

She had very good experiences with Air France and Lufthansa. Going to and from India, her stopovers were in Paris and Frankfurt, respectively, and she found airport personnel very understanding and accommodating.

In May this shouldn't be a problem, but there are indeed issues with heat; the airlines won't allow you to fly pets through certain cities if the prediction is above a certain temperature. Apparently, Delta has an air-conditioned pet facility in Atlanta, but they wouldn't let her fly through JFK once in the summer.

As for your routing, there is a nonstop Delta flight from JFK to Nice; so, IAD to JFK to NCE should work. I'd start by calling Delta directly and seeing if they can accommodate you. And yes, get on this NOW, so your dog doesn't lose the space on the planes.

This has been quite a learning experience. Yes we went last year in July to France, and were unable to take our Max due to temps possibly exceeding 85 degrees. He stayed with a wonderful home dog boarding friend. We already did all the research, Euro chip, shots, pet passport, correct size carrier etc. Our plans were to go home for an important family event in November, then return to Europe with Max. I had a health issue and needed surgery in France before returning home- an adventure in itself. So, a quick turnaround was not so quick, I wanted to be stronger before returning. Then to further complicate things, my husband luckily goes for a pre-trip physical and discovers he must have an serious operation. So....here we are-the quick turn around bringing Max to France turned out to be 6 months. This time back in the states also used up a lot of the remaining time on our Visa, so we will have to deal with the extension for another year when we arrive in France. You might be able to tell by now that when I want to do something...I make it happen. We are not youngsters, and I very much want to spend a couple years in Europe, primarily France. I am blessed to have a like minded husband who works with me on everything.
We are now in Colorado visiting our son, we will drive to Chicago (Max) was a good traveler on the drive from LA), so Max will have a non-stop flight on Iberia to Barcelona, then drive to Nice. Exploring all options this worked out to be the best cost wise & safest for him. Very excited to go back have a nice long time in Europe with our much loved dog. Thanks for all the responses. Susan

Excellent plan. Have a great trip and safe travels.

For future reference - Cunard has kennels for dogs on their crossings - that would keep Max out of cargo

Found a fabulous pet transport company. They took amazing care of Max and was one third the cost I thought I would have to pay.

@Susan, Could you please post the name of the animal transport company in case someone on the Forum needs to use one in the future? Thanks.

So glad you found a good solution that worked and got you ALL to France safely and comfortably. Now - enjoy your time!

I too would love to know the name of the pet transport company.

We have a 70-lb German shepherd. We have thought about going to live in Europe for up to 3 years, in which case we'd definitely want to bring him.

"For future reference - Cunard has kennels for dogs on their crossings - that would keep Max out of cargo"

Yes, but according to this New York Times article, they're booked full more than a year in advance, so if you want to do this, you need to plan way ahead: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/08/travel/were-heading-to-london-but-how-to-bring-the-dog.html?_r=0

We could not have been happier with a service. The company who booked our flight recommended "UShip.com I communicated with several companies on their site, it is kind of an auction situation, where numerous people vie for your business. I was a little leary, and called and spoke to someone in customer care who sent me to his site where I found over 400 positive comments/reviews. After about 25 emails, we felt confident that our boy would be properly cared for.
I did not want him taken on and off planes to meet connecting flights, and I wanted him in the air for the shortest time possible. This guy was amazing, all he does is fly animals all over the world, and knows the real deal.
He picked up Max at our sons in Colorado, He arrived in an older minivan with 2 immaculate carriers in the back. (I saved almost $300. on the large size I would have to had purchased). He played with Max a bit and created a comfortable connection. Drove Max to O'Hare airport/Chicago, then flew nonstop to Barcelona. He kept Max at his home in Barcelona for a few days, because he needed to leave a few days prior to our flight....then drove Max to our place in Mandelieu-la-Napoule/Cannes. We were greeted with our gorgeous happy pup. HE SENT US PICTURES OF MAX EVERYDAY at places he took him for walks, at at his lovely home. Couldn't have asked for a better situation and all for approx $1100. Contact him-Ivan Perez-,his home base is Barcelona... [email protected]

Susan that is awesome! A small price to pay for the furry family members. So glad you found a great solution for you.

The notion of a Poodle needing a doggy passport for France of all places............
Susan....keep living the dream!

Dear Susan, I guess and hope you are already in France by now with your loving Poodle.
Actually for everyone that needs advice. These days it is total easy and comfortable as a dog to fly! And not much hassle for the owner and also not expensive anymore.

1. Get a passport for your dog at an authorized veterinarian. Very important that he/she is authorized for that. Then it takes 15 min.
2. Get the right kennel size for your dog also easy call the airline they will tell you.
3. Only about 3 Airlines are permitted to take dogs in the stomach of the plane as, and here is the cool change within European Law:

Dogs and cats have a separate room with light, heating and air-condition and it is less noise then upstairs where passengers are sitting.

1. Airberlin costs one way 150,- euro per dog
2. Lufthansa 300,- Euros

So I think better take your dog instead of leaving here for a year that is heart braking for a dog! No one leaves their kids behind as well.

Big hugs Tanya