Does anyone have any advice or experience shipping pets. We have two <20lb dogs who we are in the process to relocate from Canada to Spain. We can do one connecting flight - 14hrs total or 2 connecting flights 20+hrs.

I cannot get any real answers from airlines unless we have a flight number but I'm trying to find out what happens with the dogs during the layovers. Do we get them and can walk and feed and water them. Do they stay with the airline and do they walk, feed water them.

Would you do 1 connection or 2 connections?

Do we maybe fly to UK for a few weeks with family and then onto Spain? but I suspect thats two lots of vets paperwork to do?

This is the most stressful part of this process
Thanks for any advice

I guess ?
On a layover they will stay airside so you will not be allowed to visit / walk them, they may be checked by someone but not let out of their cages.

There are a lot of threads in the Australia forums about shipping pets which should give you some general info, and names of companies such as Jetpets or Petair, who would be able to answer your queries. You might have more success contacting them than the airlines direct. There are also a fair number of threads in the Canadian forums. From memory, although the overall trip Aus-UK is admittedly longer, I think the dogs usually get some kind of brief exercise if its a long transit stop, plus water replenishment, although it would be the Animal Reception crew that do that, not yourself.

Try www.jets4pets.com

When we relocated from the Middle East with our three cats we used a pet relocation service who made all the arrangements from making sure their vaccinations etc were up to date and completing all the paperwork for departure to the delivery to our house in Malaga.

if you have a similar service then I would recommend using them as it is stressful enough thinking about the pets travelling without adding to it with paperwork worries etc.

Plenty of companies like that in Canada, and lots of threads on the subject in the Canadian forums Much less stress than doing it yourself, I agree!