Shipping Dogs via airlines

[Tapestry Minis]

Hi Everyone,

After loosing my very special dog "Cayden" two months ago I have started to look through Petfinder for that "special" dog. Of course I always seem to ooo and awww over a dog that is several states away. I happened to find one near my mother and was wondering what price range I would be looking at to ship a dog via air travel?

Also I thought I read somewhere that they will not ship a dog during certain times of the year due to temps. Can you tell me if I could get a dog shipped this time of the year. Say from Southern California to North Texas?

Any other pointers and tips you could pass along would be great. Also which airlines you would recommend.

Thanks for all your help and info

 

[Floridachick]

Roadtrip time! LOL We have shipped with Delta. I can say 1 exp was VERY VERY bad they left them on the tar mac over 24 hrs and I then had to FIGHT to et the dog pulled out of being shipped. THey had a non live delay and the airport then tried to say I couldn't take back anything checked. It was not pretty. I about lost my mind and patience! I swore I would pick up any transport. THis was a rescue transport and 2 of the puppies did die.

I would try local or plan a long roadtrip if you really find one you love. I wouldn't put live animals thru that if at all possible. Maybe someone has had better luck. I have picked up about 9 shipments of dogs/puppies as a drop for rescues and that one time was the only deaths. goodluck

 

[kaykay]

I shipped a lot of puppies and the last one was a horrible experience. From then on I refused to fly puppies. Like the story above my puppy was on a direct flight but it had to land for some reason and the puppy stayed in the belly 6 extra hours. Poor pup was so traumatized! This was also Delta

And yes there temp restrictions make it very hard to fly a puppy this time of year. Keep in mind the cargo part where pups go has no heat or a/c. I believe it was something like they couldnt fly if the temp was 55 or under

 

[laughingllama75]

IMO, it is not safe to ship puppies/dogs. it is not worth it, as airlines treat them as cargo for the most part. I work with a breed rescue, and we have seen some horrible things happen. If you find the right pet, and it is far away.... why don't you fly one way then drive with it in a rental? Way safer, IMO.

Whatever you decide, good luck and happy shopping!

 

[Tapestry Minis]

Thank you everyone for your input! I'm glad I asked before putting such a precious being through such an ordeal. Sure was hoping for a better outcome though.....I hate driving long distances and I wouldn't have anyone to go with me

I'll think of something I'm sure

Thank you so much again. Do rescuse help relay dogs? Does anyone know if that works well??

 

[Reijel's Mom]

Rescues do all kinds of transports, I'm working on a couple right now. However, I myself as a rescuer wouldn't typically set up a transport relay for someone that I've never met that wants to adopt a dog from me. I would make exceptions, if there was another rescue nearby that I trusted that could do all the checks that I normally do before adopting out a dog. That may sound extreme, but rescue work is very hard work, it's not paid time, it takes a lot of time away from our families and sometimes our paying jobs, it usually costs us money, and to go through all of that you want to feel very, very confident that the animal is going to a good place.

Are you looking for a particular breed of dog?

 

[Magic]

If you are getting a puppy, and it is small enough, you may be able to fly to get it and bring it as a carry-on with you. I've never done that myself but do know people who have.

I've gotten one puppy shipped by air and though it was a straightforward flight with no delays, it was still very traumatizing for the poor puppy.

 

[Erica]

My little Romeo and then the one I got for Clementine, Lyla Raye were shipped via airlines from FL to AR, in August.

They arrived in perfect shape and happy little dogs. I know there are restrictions on temperate and flying ext, and some breeds are worse than others (smashed nose breeds don't tolerate heat) One flight these two were going to be on was cancelled (for them) as it was already 80 degrees at 7am, but they were able to fly out the next "night" late when cooler. Jen (hairicane) knows more I'm sure as that is where these two came from.

They were happy campers, arrived Monday night at 11pm, and then that Friday morning were headed in tow to a horse show with me for 8hrs to IL and then back again on Sunday.

Now mom got a French Bulldog in August as well and they would NOT ship them in the summer at all, I think they said anything above a high of the 80degree they will not ship the flat noses. So it was a road trip for him.

 

[mininik]

I've flown MANY puppies and several adult dogs as cargo and not had any bad experiences. If the dog is small enough, you can fly it with you under your seat. There are also ground transporters, but these take longer and I do not recommend them. Dogster.com has a forum to help people connect dogs between long distances, but I would never trust strangers like that with a dog. Some rescues may also offer this, BUT please note that many rescues will not place dogs out of a certain area. Most rescues want to be able to come check out your home before adoption, check on the dog periodically after adoption and make it easy for the dog to come back to the rescue if it doesn't work out. Have you checked with the rescue(s) you're interested in working with about this?

 

[Tapestry Minis]

Thank you all for your info. I am looking at a adult Border Collie. So would probably be a little too big to bring as a carry on as much as I would love to do that. I'm some what picky about the dog and it has to strike me a certain way.....has to be "Mr. Right"

I just missed one that was here in my area by about 3 hours...

I just happend to browse Petfinder close to my parents and found one that hit me right. So was wondering if it would be possible to get him to me here in TX. He is at a shelter not a rescue.

I guess if it doesn't work out though I guess I will just keep looking. Just still have the void from when I lost my boy 2 months ago. I miss having a dog of my own. If anyone has had border collies you know they attach to one person basically. We do have a female but she is pretty much my husbands dog. So I'm wanting my own snuggle buddy.

 

[iluvwalkers]

[SIZE=12pt]We had a Shih Tzu shipped via air, from Georgia to N.Y. and she arrived fine. The breeder said she only would use a certain airline as it was the only one that had a climate controlled cargo area. It was $200.00 to ship ours. I know others who have done the same and no bad experiences. good luck in your search, Nikki[/SIZE]

 

[Matt73]

i just shipped 5 puppies across Canada on Air Canada and am very pleased. Everything went very smoothly. The pups all arrived in good spirits. On a 6 hour flight with a 2 hour layover (8 hours), 2 pups just peed a couple of times on a towel. If they are healthy and are prepped for travel (ie. no food several hours before, water on the flight etc.) I see no reason why they can't be shipped. I think it totally depends on the airline. Air Canada is very experienced shipping live cargo. They ship horses, dogs, cats...all the time and have handlers there to monitor them. You have to research what has worked with others...and what hasn't.

Of course I was a wreck until they arrived LOL. But all the owners called me from the airport with the good news.

 

[Tapestry Minis]

Thank you Matt

This is why I am asking because I thought Delta had a pretty good rep but now it sounds like several people have had bad experiences with them. So I'll have to do a bit more research.

 

[JeanH]

We have shipped puppies all over the United States and have never had a problem (**knocking on wood). We use Continental.

Jean

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Thanks for this post. I had puppies we were going to ship early Dec. I never thought about weather I was thinking to hot not to cold and now they wont be able to ship...

 

[Tapestry Minis]

Well no luck. The shelter that had this dog wants $200 for their adoption fee and if I'm looking at a couple hundred to get the dog to me it's just a little out of my financial reach.

And as Mininik said most of the rescue places tell you not to even contact them if you are not near them. So I guess I'll just keep checking Petfinder till I find the right border collie boy.

Thank you all again for your help.

 

[mininik]

If you have agility or other dog training clubs in your area I would get in touch with them to let them know what you're looking for. Our club and training center are always trying to help place dogs, many of whom have some training and just need a good home.