Our last little dog died last summer, just a couple months short of 17. We’ve just been approved to adopt a puppy mill rescue from a shelter in Oklahoma. Now the issue is to get him from there to Ohio.
So now we have to figure out how to get him home. He’s having a dental on Wednesday, and then he will be free to travel. Our options are:
One or both of us drives (1300 miles) to Oklahoma to bring him home.
One or both of us flies to Oklahoma to bring him home.
We arrange for him to be put on a plane in OKC and flown to Ohio.
We make arrangements with a volunteer breed transport, in which people drive the dog part of the way and hand him off like a baton in a relay race.
Each has its pros and cons. We want to find the best and safest way for the dog, who has just come out of the puppy mill and is liable to be disoriented and traumatized. We don’t want to add to that. While we’re willing to spend what’s necessary to do what’s best, naturally we don’t want to spend money unnecessarily.
He weighs 22 lbs. We do have one round-trip-anywhere ticket, which we might make use of.
We’ve never transported a dog so far. Can we have some recommendations?
I would strongly suggest not putting him in the cargo hold of a commercial airliner, as that is apt to be very stressful (and potentially quite dangerous). Twenty-two pounds is getting on the high side for in-cabin transport, but is safer if it can be arranged.
I’ve had a dog transported on the relay system; it worked out well for us, but was only about 500 miles. Thirteen hundred miles would likely be a multi-day trip. (There are a few rescue transport groups that use private planes, but those are difficult to find.)
If driving 1300 miles is a reasonable option for you, it would be my first choice.
It might be a difficult flight though–you don’t know what issues the dog may have. Hates enclosed spaces, scared of men, not house trained… I wouldn’t want to do it myself, but a car ride might be better for the dog; you (or the drivers) will be more easily able to deal with issues that come up than if you’re at 30,000 feet.
I’d vote for flying with him in the cabin. 20 pounds is on the high side, but doable. You can sooth him if he gets anxious, and it’s over relatively quickly.
Second best would the long car ride. I agree with others that the cargo hold would be the worst option.
In your situation, I would fly–one-way ticket–to OKC, rent (one-way) an SUV big enough to have the K9 in a crate, proceed from the rent-a-car joint to the nearest pet store and secure a wire crate of appropriate size for the beastie (plus toys and treats and food and etc.) and take a couple/few days to drive back home. Tip: La Quinta hotels are (extremely) dog friendly and a quick scan tells me they are all over the Interstate Hi-way system between OKC and Akron, Ohio (you didn’t mention where in OH you live, so I chose the farthest away from OKC; YMMV). It will probably be a good bonding experience for the two of you. LQ has free breakfast. Could you swap the round-trip ticket for one-way?
I have flown a dog from Dallas to Boston in cargo and it worked out fine but was far from easy. It took me 3 days on the phone to arrange, cost $400 with the mandatory crate that is airline approved and the paperwork was a mile long (you need a current vet certificate as just one example). I had to go to an out of the way cargo area for DFW and still managed to break one of their rules despite my best efforts but the cargo agent finally took pity on me and let it slide.
That was a direct 4 hour flight. I don’t know how national breeders do it but the process isn’t made for amateurs.
Flying there and then back with the dog in the passenger cabin seems like the best option for me. If you want to cheat, you can always claim it is an emotional support animal. There is no way for them to check.
I wouldn’t put an unknown, traumatized dog on a plane, under or in the cabin.
I’ve got two rescue dogs. One would probably be ok with this situation but the other would be mental in the airport and on the plane and in the airport again. And that’s NOW, after being with me for 4 years. When I first got him he was mental-er.
Granted, both of these dogs would also hate a long car ride but that’d be our own private problem, not the problem for people in a plane or in an airport. And they probably wouldn’t mind it if someone was sitting with them in the back seat.
So, I’m with **burpo **on the plan. Fly to OKC and drive home.
Long ago we transported two dogs by cargo, At the time Delta was the only airline offering the service (don’t know about now) and it was not cheap. One was a puppy shipped one way from Tennessee to Reno and the other was a bitch on a round trip to Grand Rapids to get bred. We had our fingers crossed the whole time but both worked out okay.
Now, being retired, I’d drive, but that is not as easy an option for most folks.
I’d drive. 650 one way isn’t too bad. If you get tired on way back, just stop at a cheapy motel for some zzz. If you start early enough you could do it all in one day. By car. If money is no object, then the suggestion above of flying to and driving fro would be best all around.
Thanks all. I’ve posed this same question to several dog groups I belong to and gotten thoroughly convincing arguments for all but the last of the above possibilities. People who are breeders, show people, pet owners and people who ship dogs all the time. After talking to the a couple of professional pet transporters and to the head of the rescue, and we’ve decided to have them put the dog on the plane and we will pick him up here at the airport. As I said, each method has its pros and cons, but this one has the advantage of speed.