Andy_and_Lauren

Hi All

Thanks so much for all of the information you have provided us on our other thread. And a very big thank you to Carolyn Thorne (TheThornes) for contact us and letting us book into their guest suite for several weeks when we arrive. Thanks also to Carolyn for referring Chloe Cartwright (www.c21gold.ca) who is an excellent realtor in Cochrane.

Anyhow... I have been making enquiries this morning (3 hours on the phone) to Air Canada, DEFRA etc with regards to taking my two dogs with us out to Calgary when we fly.

I ended up having to phone Air Canada in Canada to get the correct info as the UK Air Canada call centre is in India and the language barrier coupled with my stupdity () was something of a problem.

Thankfully we should be able to put both dogs on as excess hand luggage at a fraction of a cost at £120 per dog (there will be other handling fees at Calgary airport). The requirements are that each dog should weigh under 32kg including the IATA Approved crate they will travel in.

I am wondering if anyone else has transported their dogs as excess baggage rather than using Cargo or a Pet Transfer company?

Also, does anyone know of a lightweight IATA Crate supplier in the UK? As it stands our bigger dog will have to have his weight dropped in order to get him in as hand luggage. I have found an IATA Crate at 14kg but would prefer something lighter.

Has anyone ever had their own travel crate made? If so, what of, who by etc?

Before people begin to shout at me for dropping the dogs weight or anything like that please know that the dog in question is used for working and I know what I am doing. If the end result is that we have to pay more to get him over then I will do so as he essentially my baby But I am a Yorskshire man so do like to save a pound every now and then.

Oh, and one last question... Can anyone recommend a good working dog food over in Canada as I will need to get some as soon as we land.

Many thanks

Andy

BBspringers

Must have been the people on the day as they were fantastic with us every time I called


Yes this is correct. Just make sure they are allowing pets on the flight as they have periods throughout the year when they do not take them.

Fees @ Montreal were $35 inspection on first animal then $6 for each subsequent one.

32kg includes as mentioned EVERYTHING in the crate. We had fancy ones with wheels and carry cases on the top - Dispersed them in luggage to get the weight down. However @ Heathrow they never bothered to much about the weights to be honest but dont take this as gospil.

Ebay

Might have a problem there

We did the same with the bigger dog for a few weeks without any probs helped me as well coz I shed some pounds out running with him.

We use Canidae:

$60 - $70 per bag (plus tax of course)
Expensive but we think its worth it to give them good food. They were on "Burns" in UK and was the nearest to that we could find


The staff at Air Canada in Heathrow were fantastic with us. We had the dogs inside the terminal right up to 45mins before the flight where we took them right down into the baggage loading area so none of this being parted with them 3hrs before and that way they could do their business beforhand.

When we arrived in Montreal they were there waiting for us next to the baggage belt happy as Larry so no problems for us at all.

If for any reason they might need to return to UK you can not transport them by this means they must return to UK as Cargo.

We also got pet passports sorted just in case this was ever needed so there was no problems in case of an emergency mainly for the blood work to be confirmed.

What sort of dogs are they????



HTH

TheThornes

Thanks for the kind words - appreciated.

Sounds good if you can transport your dogs in that way as will certainly save you a fair bit!

I know our dogs are different to yours but we were recommended to use Acana pet food - locally produced apparently too. Our dogs are certainly doing well on it. Various different ones for different size and age dogs etc. You can also get some of the big named brands here such as Iams. We have a favourite pet shop here in town - family owned and very knowledgeable and helpful - I'm sure they would be able to help you out with what's what once you get here.

Andy_and_Lauren

Thank you guys for the info. Very much appreciated. I will get onto looking for the carriers now.

The dogs are a collie cross and terrier cross of some sort; they're called Boomer and Digger respectively. Here are some photos

Obviously, the photo at the end is of Lauren and myself just so peeps know who they're talking to - especially Carolyn as we're all coming to live in your suite! Incidentally, Carolyn, have you checked your email today as I have sent you a message?

Anyhow, here are the pics:

Highriverwelsh

We ended up contacting Air Transit in Canada for more information & they were fantastic they gave us all the information we required at the time we hadn't booked our flight so they told us to book our flight then they could book the dog on the same flight as us (which they did)
We booked our precious cargo (our dog) as excess baggage, 120 pounds from that phone call to arriving in Calgary was such a relief that she was well looked after & we were a little less stressed to know that she was happy too
We bought her crate from our local pet store (not too far from your home town it was near too Moreton Garden centre Oswestry)
Another little tip we were advised by our vet not to give her tranquilizers so i bought from Boots (BACH Remedy) we then bought a rabbit water bottle tied it to her crate added water & some drops of the BACH then froze the water my dog had access to water all the way to Calgary, she so excited to hear our voice's in Calgary the staff were fantastic we all know what an emotional time it is but please honestly they are well taken care of
All the very best to your new life in Canada

debbiem

June through September is freight only into Calgary I think... (from memory, we brought over our two last August and they had to travel as freight with Air Canada as it was during the excluded period.)

It cost us well over 2 thousand pounds, so definitely keep pushing for the excess baggage route.

We did get someone to build a wooden crate last time to ship our Munsterlander - this time as we had to book freight we used one of ours and one from the shipper (which was remarkably similar to the wooden one that we had built before) ho hum. Not cheap, this 'shipping animals round the world' malarkey... I think the specifications for crates are freely available on the web - or through Air Canada Cargo - can't remember.

Can't help you on suitable food though - this time ours are labs that will eat anything and everything...

What's Cochrane like for off-leash areas?

TheThornes

Cochrane's not too bad for off-leash areas. We have two. One is not much more that a field but the other is a nice walk along the river. I take my dogs down there most days. It's a there and back walk as opposed to a circular one and there's a car park at either end. I don't do the whole length as one of my dogs is pretty slow and elderly now but we're usually down there about an hour just strolling along.

debbiem

I'm just being nosy, really! Where we live now is brilliant as we're in the middle of nowhere, but it takes some getting used to when we travel - so always keeping an eye on where might work out for us long term!

blue monday

Just call Air Canada Cargo in Heathrow, no call centre you just get straight through to the guys on the ground at heathrow. 0871 224 3600

Andy_and_Lauren

Well. We have decided to put Boomer either via Air Canada Cargo or Air Pets (waiting on their quote) and just take Digger on as excess baggage. Boomer is currently weighing in at 21 kg and the lightest box I can find is 13 kg which puts him at 2kg over weight and an additional cost of £830!!!

The embargo stops on 10 Sept. It is due to the fact that if a plane is grounded for a long period in Canada then the heat would be too much so pets can't be transported then.

A Munsterlander eh? Large or Small? Does/did yours constantly whine and demand attention? No offence - I just know a couple with a Large Munsterlander - not had the best experience with it.

Thank you for the number - it is now saved in my phone.

Thanks to everyone for posting - please keep your comments coming

Andy_and_Lauren

I have another question...

Can anyone recommend dog insurance either prior to arrival or upon arrival in Calgary?

The boys are currently with Pet Plan but I'd like to go 'local' so to speak.

Also, is there a specific air travel insurance you can take out?

Cheers in advance.

Andy

Alphawolf

Hey Andy and Lauren

We are flying our 3 Huskies to Calgary in May next year from Manchester using Animal Airlines, the bloke there is called Mike and is really helpful, way cheaper than Airpets and as I said they fly from Manchester, if you live in Chester that'd be quite handy for you guys.

www.animalairlines.co.uk

Any more info just ask or PM me

BBspringers

Just a thought if you can plan well in advance and want a terrific alternative (or get lucky) there is also the option of The Queen Mary from Southampton to New York then drive to final destination.

Wont suite everyone but could be an option for Maritime / Toronto areas (X at Niagara Falls)

They have Kennel Maids on board and you wont have to worry about weights or extra luggage.

Nice way to Emmigrate if it can be planned.

debbiem

Small (kleine, hein?) Not whiny at all, but very excitable. The minute you went anyone near anything that looked remotely like a walk might be in the offing she would literally bounce off the walls... she was beautiful but very highly strung. We took her from a woman who developed arthritis in her wrists and couldn't manage her, but we didn't have any problems really. She was great with the children too (I got her when I was pregnant with the first and we had three when she died). I don't remember her whining at all tbh - I must ask himself later... She liked to dig for the gophers out here though, and chase the arctic hares - and she would run for miles across the prairie.

The4BellsLondon

Hey we have ours insured over here with petrsecure.com

they are on raw food plus did it myself with Air transat :GW to YVR - 700 gbp for 2 dogs a 32kgdobie ridge cross and a 26kg lab staffie

In fact they were heavier when we flew them as we had been at my parents for a month and they had been given breakfast and lunch as well as dinner!!