wakwak

Hi all

I'm sure this has been discussed at length somewhere but I'd love to hear from anyone who's taken their dog/s to NZ. We come in Feb

I'm just getting the paperwork ready for Golden Arrow and I know that soon they will want to know which option we want to take, fly with Air NZ via LA - 26 hours with a 2 hour stop but the dogs stay on board OR Emirates via Dubai with a 7 1/2 hour break where the Dubai Kennels let the dogs have a break and a wee!

Has anyone got any thoughts and experiences they'd like to share. We have three labs and its a long time to be cooped up, I know they will be ok but I wonder if the stop would stress them more as they won't know where they are or whether it will ease the journey

Help!

PS. If you have a view on quarantine facilities too please feel free to share!

Pigdog

We did UK - LA - NZ, or should I say, our dogs did. Which ever way they fly, its going to be stressful for them. A 7 1/2 hour break may sound nice, but its a long time. Get the journey over ASAP. We left old t-shirts in the crates so they had our smell on them. Might sound stupid, but if they can still smell you, it will relax them a little bit.

The crates are massive. You could fit our Patterdale Terrier into a cat basket, her crate was big enough to fit a lab in. Our Bullies crate was so big, we couldn't get it in the car so left it at the quarantine kennels.

Our pups flew to Auckland and stayed with Qualified Pet Services. Staff there were very helpful and very understanding as I was an emotional wreck when I picked them up, hadn't seen them for 5 months.

wakwak

Thanks Pigdog, that was my thinking, short and direct, get it done! And you're right, while a wee stop sounds great, 7 1/2 hours is a long time and I'm guessing they will be let out, walked, and crated again so not much of a break. Plus I've realised there's a 2 hour stop in Melbourne too. I am going on the same flight if I can!
Direct it is. We certainly won't be able to bring all the crates with us, not with three lol!
Thanks, I will also be a wreck worrying about them

Sparkleydiva

My dog has done this journey 4 times now, with Emirates, Singapore and Thai Airways. Did the stopover in Dubai but the last one was Auckland to Bangkok then to Heathrow - straight through - was in great shape when she arrived, as was the cat. No great advantage in stopover in Dubai from our experience

Kotare

If you are coming to Auckland I think the Pokeno quarantine kennels are better than QPS - they both look after the dogs well but the QPS kennels are a concrete alcatraz :-(

wakwak

Wow 4 times! Didn't realise Singapore and Thai flew dogs. Thanks though I think it's too long with the stopover.

wakwak

Yes I had a good look and I think Pet Haven is the one for me had a lovely email from them asking About how the dogs settle etc

nikkijane88

Our girl flew Air NZ and she did awesome... me on the other hand worries about her from one end and my hubby at the other. Her stopping point was Wellington airport so her quarantine was just outside Levin, great for us as it was halfway between home and the airport for us. They were fantastic too, if that helps if you are arriving to that area

valleygurl

We flew our labs out with golden arrow in August, london-dubai-sydney-auckland. They had a 1 hour stop in dubai and a 2 hour stop in Sydney they then went to Pet Haven who were absolutely fantastic they rang and emailed photos and updates every other day and the dogs didn't suffer at all.

wakwak

Thanks all, we are going LA and straight through. Vet thought a break at Dubai would be good until we totted up the total time taken AND the on-off at airport changes. We felt that with our red fox who's a bit nervy that it might be a bit tough
So wish I could be with them

valleygurl

Try not to worry about it too much our fox red labs were fine. I tracked their progress on a flight app so I knew about and delays and stuff! Then about 2 hours after they landed we got a phone call from the kennels to say they had arrived and they sent us an email with photos it was such a relief xx [The QUOTE=wakwak;12092660]Thanks all, we are going LA and straight through. Vet thought a break at Dubai would be good until we totted up the total time taken AND the on-off at airport changes. We felt that with our red fox who's a bit nervy that it might be a bit tough
So wish I could be with them[/QUOTE]

wakwak

Thanks, it's so hard not to! Oooh you have red fox too! Any 'entire' males by any chance
Did you have any trouble finding finding a rental or did you buy straight off?

[QUOTE=valleygurl;12093125]Try not to worry about it too much our fox red labs were fine. I tracked their progress on a flight app so I knew about and delays and stuff! Then about 2 hours after they landed we got a phone call from the kennels to say they had arrived and they sent us an email with photos it was such a relief xx [

valleygurl

[QUOTE=wakwak;12093838]Thanks, it's so hard not to! Oooh you have red fox too! Any 'entire' males by any chance
Did you have any trouble finding finding a rental or did you buy straight off?
We have mother and son (tried breeding and she only had the one) so we kept him and had him done unfortunately didn't want any incest going on lol
We are in New Plymouth and stayed in a lovely bach for the first 3 months until our house sale went through then we bought! Whereabouts are you coming too?

starlingblue544

Hi - my dog is currently booked on cathay pacific from amsterdam to NZ via hong kong. He is not allowed out of his crate in Hong Kong and it is a 7.5 hour transit. In total he will be in his crate for approx 34 hours (that includes travel to quarantine in NZ).

Has anyone taken their dog through the Hong Kong route - and I am having complete coniptions about his being crated that long. I know about the Air NZ LA route and emirates routes but was told that they only let the dogs out to go to toilet and a short break and then they go back into their crate so not a huge advantage it seems.

My exporter suggested singapore airlines - my dog has spaniel in him but for some reason the vet put collie cross on his passport - so she is thinking of slipping him under the radar. I am worried though once he gets to singapore they will take one look at those flappy ears and refuse to fly him any further.

I would appreciate hearing everyone's experience. Also, you read awful statistics of dogs flying in america (where airlines have to report death and incidences) but all the pet exporters in euope seem to know nothing of this and say all the dogs are fine. Are they just covering up or being honest?

FYI - I found that flying my dog from amsterdam was significantly cheaper than flying him from UK or Ireland. Just for those maybe forced to rehome their furry family members due to the exorbitant costs from UK and Ireland.