On August 10th I will be undergoing the delightful task of flying my 16 lb. silky terrier from Chicago to Seattle (a 4 hour flight). I’ve made plans to take him as my carry-on luggage. This is the first time I’ve ever done this and I’m a little nervous. A visit to the vet today revealed that I can give him 25mg of Benadryl to calm his nerves. From leaving my house to arriving at the other house, I estimate the trip to be about 7-8 hours. I’ve been trying to get him acclimated to his carrier.
Has anyone ever done this before? What do you do at the security checkpoint? Did your dog make it without going to the bathroom in his/her carrier? Are there any secrets I should know, or would you have done anything differently?
In 1998, I took my cat as a carry on for a flight to from Baton Rouge, LA to Denver, CO. There was a delay and the whole trip took about 10 hours.
Here are some tips:
Check with the airline about their live animal policy. They may have limits on the size and type of pet carrier.
Have your vet issue a health certifcate for your pet. This states that the animal you are traveling with is healthy and has had all its shots.
My cat did not use the bathroom in his carrier. If you have a flight transfer, I suggest you let your dog out for a brief walk. Also, you will get lots of comments about traveling with a pet.
16lbs of pet? I don’t think that qualifies as carry on. IIRC the general policy is that the animal must be confined to a certain size carrier that allows the animal to be able to turn around. This makes transporting a 8-10 lb cat borderline.
There may be laws on animal cruelty that come into play also.
Make sure you try the Benedryl on the ground and see what your dog’s reaction to it is. We got Valium for our cats when we moved from Boston to Seattle, and it gave one of them diarrhea on the flight. You’re not allowed to open the carrier, so we all had to just live with it until we landed.
2 vets didn’t say it would be a problem, and my size “large” carrier has been approved for carry-on by the specific airline I’m using. I’m taking this as a sign that I’ll be okay, and the part of me that’s doubtful is crossing my fingers.
16 pounds is big, even for a large carrier. You may not be able to put him under the seat in front of you.
Honestly? I’ve flown service and guide puppies a LOT. I have decided that the stress is GREATER on a dog (I don’t know about cats) if it’s flown in the cabin than if it’s flown as baggage. Baggage, they get put in last, chill out in the dark, and you pick 'em up with your luggage. If they’re carry-on, they MUST REMAIN IN THEIR CARRIER AND UNDER THE SEAT IN FRONT OF YOU. You CANNOT take the pet out.
This freaks some pets out, of course, and it’s irritating to other passengers.
I picked up my last working pup in Seattle and brought him on as “carry on”. I have vowed NEVER TO DO IT AGAIN.
shrug I’ve had great experience flying dogs baggage - puppies and adults - and find they are actually safer and FAR less stressed when they come out of their kennels at the other end.
We have an 18-lb Bichon Frise named Max that we did this with. We used a bag specially made for carrying pets, with mesh sides.
The only thing was, he had gotten used to using “The Bag” when he was a puppy - we’d take him with us to restaurants, the mall, etc. He actually liked it, because he hated to be left home alone, and seemed to enjoy being in small, cozy spaces. If we got The Bag out of the closet before a trip, he’d practically run in and stay there until we left.
So, while the plane flight was somewhat longer than he was used to, he was fine with it. If your cat is not accustomed to traveling like that, you might want to ask your vet for some sedatives.
(Don’t know if you did this or not) but check with the airline your going on if they even accept carry-on pets. A lot of them don’t. And of the ones that do they often limit it to 2 pets per flight (not per person, per entire flight). So you need to reserve the space for your pet.
We did this once with our 16 pound Boston Terrier and it wasn’t a problem. Once she was in the carrier she felt protected and calmed down.
EXCEPT when going through security when we had to take her out to walk through the metal detector and send the bag through the x-ray machine. We tried to do it quickly and calmly so the dog wouldn’t flip out but then all the imbecile security folk (it was a slow day) had to “hey everybody, gather around, it’s a doggie, can we all pet her, hiiiii puppy wuppy.” Damnit people, I’m trying to keep the dog calm, now you’re getting her all excited.
Thanks for the advice so far, everyone. We have the soft-sided carrier with mesh sides and a sherpa bototm. The dog just lays down and goes to sleep when he’s in it (good boy!).
We’ve already notified the airline that I’m bringing the dog and I’ve been assigned a special seat. I made sure to get the health certificate from the vet.
Absolute and Hampshire: I just want to be completely clear–you both carried on your dogs, right?
I do appreciate Elenfair’s advice, but I’m still a little wary about flying him as baggage. The reason I really want to bring him as my carry-on is because he absolutely hates other dogs. He completely flips out, whether it be on his own territory or on neutral turf. He really adores people, so I figure if I can keep him away from other dogs he’ll have a better experience. (A lady at work also told me a horror story about how the airline lost her dog when he was flown as baggage–not a comforting thought.) However, I’m now giving the baggage idea more consideration.
My next step is to call the airline and see exactly how much space is available underneath the seat. That might be the deciding factor.
When my wife and I moved to Tampa she and a friend brought our dogs down as carry ons. All the comments here are things I would suggest. One other I didn’t see is to test the dosage of your sedative. We got a pill form sedative, I don’t know the name, from our vet. He gave us a big enough prescription to try the sedative out. One dog it was fine, the other we ended up doubling the dose! (Of course we discussed with the vet first.)
They both came through fine.
Dog #1 7lbs 12yrs old, long legs could barely stand in her bag/cage. She slept the whole way though. She was stiff and out of it when she got here but fine about an hour after the flight.
Dog #2 12lbs 5yrs old, short. She always loved her crate so the bag/cage wasn’t a problem. She was wide awake after the flight and wanted to play.
I just moved across the country with my cat a couple months ago and took her on the plane with me. As others have mentioned, you will have to take your dog out of the carrier to go through security. The security people I dealt with were really nice and let me take her into that little private search room they have at the screening area before taking her out of the carrier. Ask if that’s an option when you go through security if you dog gets nervous. That way it’s just you and one other person in a small room with the dog instead of three zillion people all trying to go through security.
Other than that, everything you’ve already said sounds good. If you’ve checked with the airline and the carrier you have is approved and you’ve reserved a place for your dog, you should be all set.
I did use a sedative on my cat and think it was a good idea as the noise of the plane upset her and I think it would have been worse had she not been sedated. If your dog isn’t bothered by noise that might not be a problem. But it does help them relax and veg out during the flight.
Yep, she was brought as a carry-on. I probably had the same bag as you (black mesh with the sherpa floor lining like this ). It didn’t exactly fit “under” the seat in front of me but it did rest on the floor. The airline didn’t have a problem with it.
You should realize that the responses to this thread are going to be biased due to the fact that we won’t be hearing from any former dopers who attempted this and were murdered by the other passengers on their flight.
