agibson6

Just thought I'd offer some reassurance to anyone travelling with thier pet. We travelled from Heathrow to Toronto on Air Canada last Wednesday. I was really worried about our dog - concerned that we may not have weighed the crate correctly as it, plus the dog, were up to the excess baggage limit; that we didn't have the correct paperwork; that basically something would be/go wrong.
But I needn't have worried. On arrival at terminal 3 a nice lady at the check-in desk asked us what the total weight was and took our word for it as the crate wouldn't fit on the machine!!! Phew. (one down). Then a really kind lady came over and asked all about the dog, she explained exactly where the dog would be in the aircraft, when he would be given a drink (just before he was loaded) and she really seemed to care. She did apologise greatly when she told us that we should have been told to have a funnell for them to pour the water for the dog, it is now an official ruling. She was even more embarrassed when she told us that Air Canada are now selling the said funnels for 5 pounds!! But apart from that all went well and on arrival at Toronto Dfer was sitting happily in his crate waiting to be collected from the oversize baggage area.(two down)
The 'vet inspection' consisted of a young man looking in the crate and asking "what breed is he/she?" I said he is a Springer Spaniel. "Is that a pure breed or a mix?" . I said he is a pure breed. "He looks nice". All that worry for nothing (three down!!)
I appreciate that all experiences are different but I thought I would pass this on and hope that anyone else travelling with an animal has as easy and stressless time that we had...... but I don't think I'd want to go through it again in a hurry!!
Bernadette

breezeboylan

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about his trip. This is my biggest worry about going way and it's always good to hear positive stories. From what everyone says I know my girl will be fine but I still worry about her all the time!
Tracie

Bethan2

Thanks a million for posting this, thanks for taking the time to reassure the rest of us who are really panicking about the doggie transit. Cheers!

Tiaribbon

Great post Bernadette. This was exactly how smoothly my transporting my pets went too; also from LHR - Toronto but with British Airways rather than Air Canada.

I remember all the worry that went through my head too, prior to leaving the UK. Glad you all made it here safe and sound.

dingbat

Thanks for the reassurance. I cannot get my dog in the crate. :scared: He howls continually while he thrashes about...he hurt himself last time...what am I going to do?

dbd33

Drugs? Plastic, non-injuring, crate?

dingbat

Crate was plastic....specified by BA in fact as their "preferred" type of air crate. Drugs...yes...I needed them...

Sedating a dog on a flight is a no-no I'm told. My sister is a vet and would lynch me, as that is how dogs get dehydrated and disorientated and tragically die on flights.

Alberta_Rose

I took our 12 yr old border collie from Gatwick to Calgary on Air Transat last October, at a cost of 65 GBP, excess baggage. This was a flat rate and did not matter how big the dog was nor how heavy the crate.

I bought the plastic crate in advance. It was a cheap version of the vari-kennel, and I can't remember the make now, but I could look it up again if anyone needs to know. It was about 70 GPB.

If anybody really cannot find Air Transat details or the crate details and wants me to search them out again I will, but not right now as I'm cooking dinner!!
I found all my info by googling and searching online though, so it is perfectly possible.

I left the crate outside my bedroom, where my dog usually slept, with her blanket in it, and the top left off, and she just adopted it to sleep, within 2 days. After a few days I put the top on but set back a little so it didn't quite make an enclosed box, and she got used to that. Then I put the top on properly, but still left the door off, and she got used to that. I used to practise luring her in by throwing treats in and she'd go get them, then I'd make her sit and give her another treat before letting her out.

On the day of our trip I'd put the door on, I threw a treat in and closed the door behind her (sneaky eh?), and gave her a couple more treats after by way of apology!

She barked a few times, but did not panic, just like to say "heh you forgot to let me out!" Then she lay down and sulked ..... I think she sulked all the way over! She was really quiet on arrival, but as soon as she was let out in our new home, and saw all the family was here she was fine! She'd never travelled in a crate nor slept in a dog bed before. Since arrival we've used the dog crate as a storage bin for ski boots!!

Like the other poster ..... on arrival they just asked what breed she was and how much sedation she'd been given (as she was so quiet). Apparently it is quite normal for dogs to be sedated, though we'd been advised it WASN'T done, as somebody else said. I told them she'd not had any, and was just sulking. They checked her vet's letter re rabies vaccine, I paid my $35 or however much it was, and we entered Canada!

snodog

Dingbat,

Sedating a dog for a trans-Atlantic flight is generally frowned upon and really won't be necessary.
Like Morwenna says, make the crate a welcoming place for the dog - and not somewhere to be regarded as a "bad thing".
Depending on how long you have before you go, will dictate the pace of introduction to the crate.

I would suggest buying a piece of vetbed (soft wooly type upper which wicks moisture through) . Put the vetbed in the crate and encourage your dog to investigate. treats and toys are usually good. Work up to feeding your dog in the crate.
many people use these type crates as beds (for their dogs).
Your dog will be much more relaxed if it accepts that the crate is not being forced upon them.

And I wouldn't worrry about them coping with the flight either. Chances are, once in the plane, they will curl up and go to sleep.

We twice have flown 11 of ours acroos the pond, 3 of them have done the trip 3 times.
No problems, no stressed dogs and dry crates.....

agibson6

Dingbat
This probably won't help but my son used to threaten to get in the crate first - our dog was so possessive he used to get in and sit there with a smug grin on his face

It really is quite easy to fool a dog!! Ours thought it was a great treat and was actually using it to get away from us when he was fed up with us!!

Good luck, please don't worry, all this affects the owners an awful lot more than it affects the pets.

At worse - could you travel in the crate and the dog in the seat??? Just a thought.

The Escapea

As well as following the other good advice (like using treats and enabling the dog to familiarise himself with the crate for a week or two beforehand), you could try buying DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheremone) which is a spray that reduces anxiety in dogs; just spray it on their bedding and in the crate, and it should last for about 2 hours; you should be able to buy it in your vet's. We use the cat-equivalent diffuser for our cat and it really works to relax them.

Just a quick question for agibson6 (thanks for the reassuring post as well!) - did you leave your dog's collar on during the trip? I was planning to remove our dog's just to remove any chance of him choking; he also doesn't wear it around the house so would be more comfortable without it, but then I wondered if the airline needs them to wear a collar in case they have to take them out the crate? (I was planning to just fix it to the outside of the crate...). Thanks! Sorry if I'm being a worrywart, but I know dogs have choked in crates by getting their collars caught...!

tim hortons man

We've flown with dogs all over Europe and back and forth to Canada many times. Getting your dog used to a crate is essential, the process should begin several weeks before with treats etc. The command, teddy go in your house works great when a treat is involved. Secondly when flying, put a deep bowl of frozen water in with her, preferably attached, and at the same time tape the cage shut.

If you have a small dog such as we do you may want to consider a carry on bag, much nicer having her at you feet. On overseas flights may require purchasing an extra seat, within Europe it's never been a problem as the flights usually aren't full.

For flying back to Canada next year we will fly Air Transat Club Class (same cost as cattle class Lufthansa) and will sneak Teddy on board as carry on.

h_henry

Thanks agibson6 for your post. Moving the dog over is always a big concern and I'm glad that everything went smoothly. Hope our dog's flight goes as well!

Beaverquest

as we're planning on heading out to Calgary in June, I wondered if there was any provision for putting our toddler into a crate

it seems an outrage that we have to pay full fare as he is over two years old, but his legs will hardly reach the floor or use the whole of the seat

he could easily be sedated & checked on as cabin baggage, as it's only an eight hour flight - he would probably sleep well anyway

obviously a bowl of water & a 'comfort' item like a free-wicking blanket would line the base of the crate

the added bonus apart from the cost saving, would free up the missus and i for the joys of in-flight movies & chicken-in-foil meals

dbd33

Have you considering sending him FedEx next day delivery ?