The Attackclan is traveling across Canada this summer from BC to NL. Our newest addition, the inaccurately nicknamed Attackdog * has never gone on a plane ride before. He’s a 1 year old, very relaxed (to the point of narcoleptic ) big standard poodle, with one of the best dispositions you’d ever like to meet. He weighs about 60 lbs.
Here’s the rub. WestJet claims to take crates up to 36L 24W 26H, and his crate is 36L 26W 26H, just over the limit, and probably close enough that we can sneak it in. However, I’m suspicious that the crate may be a smidge too small for his comfort zone. Plus we’ve never traveled with a dog before, so I have a number of questions.
How to I tell if the crate is too small (and does it matter, since it the max crate they’ll take? How do people with great danes move them around, in DC-9s?)
Is it best to dose him with some gravol / dramamine so that he’ll have a snooze and not barf?
Do I rig up a hamster-cage-style water bottle? or just let him run dry?
Does anybody walk them at the airports en route? I think I know the answer to this one, but Ms. Attack keeps pondering it.
Anything else that I need to know, but I don’t know I need to know it?
You should probably call WestJet to get the specifics.
Here’s their animal travel policy:
Here’s what they say about sedating your dog:
Under the “Before Your Flight” section they say this:
Which would seem to indicate that you shouldn’t provide food/water in the cage, only empty dishes (and feed/water doggy beforehand), also that your dog may be required to stay in his cage the entire time so unless you get a specific guarantee that somebody will walk your dog it’s probably not going to be done (I can see a lot of reasons why they would not let pets out of their cages).
Thanks Valgard. We’d checked out the WestJet info, and talked with the vet. My hope is that a frequent dog flier may have additional insight or hints. My read of WestJet’s policy also suggested that they might, if they think of it, dump some water in the crate bowl. I can see why they wouldn’t make a policy of letting the dog out. I visualize the flack that would ensue were a runaway runway dog were to get sucked into the jet intake.
Think purse dog, in the cabin.
Gah. I don’t envy your dilemma, Attack. Never had to fly with my dog—drove instead, which I totally agree is probably not practical for you. (Just looked at Google Maps driving directions. Hoo-wee, Canada’s a big place. 3.5 days is a little much to drive straight.)
My ex-wife managed to bullshit the airline that her Labrador was a therapy dog, and therefore needed to be in the cabin. Not sure if she bought an extra seat or how she worked it, other than it actually worked for her. I’ve heard the airlines get very cranky about the dimensions of the crate and a few inches extra will probably disqualify yours. If they’re like Continental then, “You may use your own kennel or purchase an approved kennel of various sizes from Continental at all airport locations.” Naturally…
Can you get a non-stop? How long is the proposed flight(s)? Not sure you want open water dishes, nor to trust that the airline staff will give your pet water. At least the weather shouldn’t be too hot or cold, as that’s when I recall most of the airline pet screwups happen. Good luck.
Don’t know about Canadian airlines but if you were attempting this in America I would suggest never fly with your pet in the baggage hold. Delta Airlines is the latest to claim oops!
If I were “forced” to fly with my pet, I would claim it as a service animal under ADA, thus requiring the airline to fly with it in the passenger compartment.
I think it’s unfair to people with actual trained animals to bring their pets onboard pretending to be service dogs. Oftentimes these pets are untrained and cause disruptions and give a bad impression, making it harder for the people who truly have service animals to get respectful treatment when they need them.
Expecting a baggage handler or airport employee to walk your dog - while it would be nice to have - is a bit of an unreasonable expectation when you consider that many dogs are scared, nervous and likely to become aggressive during travel and towards strangers. It sucks for your dog, but since you can’t know how he’ll behave (or how any other dog will behave), it would suck more for an employee to be injured while trying to walk your dog.
If you can’t get a direct flight, then see if you can get flights spaced far enough apart and ask Westjet if they can bring your dog out to you at the connecting airport. You might be able to leave the security area and walk your dog for a short while.
After what happened to John Travolta’s dogsat BIA last week, I’d wager that any airlines that did allow dogs to be walked on the ramp have changed that policy.
I agree that it’s unfair of people to pass their dogs off as assistance animals when they aren’t. It’s not fair to anyone, and it’s kind of begging the God’s to make it so you actually need an assistance animal.
Kennel your dog or leave it with a friend. This seems an unreasonable journey for a dog to make in an undersized crate. Surely you were aware when you acquired a large dog that there would be some limitations?
I couldn’t do this to my dog, much as I love him to be wherever I am. Is there some reason that he has to go with you?
You are correct and my post did not explain enough. The sad result is ADA is seriously abused by those claiming a “service animal” distinction when in reality it’s just an abuse of a poorly written law. I did use the word “forced” in quotes. Perhaps it should have been last resort. If my pets have to travel, they travel with me, and that’s on the ground. If they can’t travel with me, they don’t travel at all. As a last resort, if “forced” to travel with my pet and air travel is the only way, it will travel with me and not in the baggage hold. I would never trust an airline to properly transport my pet in baggage.
Screaming babies and obnoxious children should always fly in baggage, along with their guardians.
For three years, when I got a month-long Christmas break, I would take my dog with me to my parents. Since the only reasonable way to get there is by air, she travelled cargo those three years.
Was the kennel small? Yes, it was definitely smaller than her house crate. She could still sit, lay down, and turn around, but it was cramped.
Delta and American (the airlines where I flew with her) would require having a water bottle (filled) attached to the door. No food, though. That part seems a bit different from Westjet’s recommendations. Oh yea, and there was at least one layover in my route. I’m sure my dog was not taken outside.
Check the flight temperatures, though. I doubt it’d be such an issue in Canada, but for my travels I had to make sure I’d be leaving either very early in the morning or late at night. Some airlines won’t fly dogs in cargo if the temperature at departure, destination, or layover is above or below a certain range. To complicate matters even more, I think some airlines just flat out refuse to take dogs in during summertime.
It has never occurred to me to abuse the system and claim my mutt is a service dog. That is just wrong. Would I prefer better conditions for animals? Yes. But they’re not completely, utterly horrible, and the airlines are not being evil and do try to take safeguards. They don’t always work, of course.
And when I reached my destination, I would pick my dog at a corner of the cargo area. They were always surprised as to how calm she was. And she did have awesome times after her jet trip.
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The “and Labrador” part was officially added to the province’s name in I think 2002, and the postal abbreviation was changed from NF to NL.
We’re going to be gone for a while, and there are a number of other reasons that suggest that at this point, yeah, it looks like the thing to do, but that is part of why I’m looking for more info on the parameters around flying the dog. I’d like to get all the info before I make a move. If I need to start a ‘how do I board my dog thread’ I’ll link it, but I think I’m ok with the dog boarding issue.
I flew my dog from Anchorage to Boston on Northwest, and they were extemely conscientious. When I boarded in Anchorage, and changed planes in Minneapolis, they brought a receipt to my seat on the plane confirming the dog had boarded the same flight.
I would recommend no food or water during the flight. It is only a few hours, she will be fine. I attached a small backpack to the kennel with food and water, and instructions for feeding in case the flight was delayed unreasonably.
The highlight was having a 90lb Husky pull a baggage cart through Logan airport like an Iditarod sled.
Passengers in first class reported they heard her barking though.
In the bottom of my cat(s) carriers on a trans-Atlantic flight, I lined them with those hospital bed pads that absorb liquid…like a disposable diaper. Just saying…
Those silly pads they sell for house training puppies are an excellent choice to line the bottom of the crate with if (and this is a big if) your dog won’t eat them.
