International Travel

[yahtzee92]

Hey y'all.. hoping for some guidance around traveling internationally with my B (a one year old male).

Seeing that pet shipping is suspended on several airlines (I abhor the idea of putting my little dude in cargo anyways, especially for a long flight (9.5 hours)) so I may be limited to trying to bringing him in via the cabin...

Per Delta..

"Maximum carry-on kennel dimensions are determined by your flight as the space under seats vary by aircraft, we recommend a soft-sided kennel with maximum dimensions of 18” x 11” x 11” since this fits most aircraft types"

Now.. is it unreasonable to think I could get him in given these requirements?

[tanza]

How much does your Basenji weigh? Most times the airlines (if they check and I have known this to happen) want the animals to be able to fully stand, including heads which is even not happening for a baby puppy (9 or 10 weeks, Basenjis).... many do not check however. I use the biggest sherpa available this is the demensions 19 x 11.75 x 11.5 inches, pretty close to what Delta is saying. On American years ago that was the only airline that would accept 2 pups in the same sherpa... We were bring 3 back from Chicago to SF. No issues, one pup was 11wks the other two were littermate at 9 wks and in the same sherpa. Also some airlines internationally will never let pups in the cabin... or so I have been told.

[yahtzee92]

@tanza said in International Travel:

How much does your Basenji weigh? Most times the airlines (if they check and I have known this to happen) want the animals to be able to fully stand, including heads which is even not happening for a baby puppy (9 or 10 weeks, Basenjis).... many do not check however. I use the biggest sherpa available this is the demensions 19 x 11.75 x 11.5 inches, pretty close to what Delta is saying. On American years ago that was the only airline that would accept 2 pups in the same sherpa... We were bring 3 back from Chicago to SF. No issues, one pup was 11wks the other two were littermate at 9 wks and in the same sherpa. Also some airlines internationally will never let pups in the cabin... or so I have been told.

Hey man, happy holidays!

Yeah, exactly haha.. not even a puppy can really stand in those things. Like you said, nobody checked.. people were just excited to see a puppy.

My boy is approximately 20-22lbs. Starting to think this is probably doable as long as I don't encounter a difficult person.

[tanza]

@yahtzee92 - Sounds like you might be OK... as you said as long as you don't find someone who wants to be an "pain". Like I said I used the Sherpa Large size... and hopefully your pup is crate trained? That helps if they are used to the bag. Note also that when going through check points (ie: screening) you need to carry the Basenji through, they do NOT go through the x-ray.... I saw one person years ago trying to send their cat that way! And depending on the collar it might set off the medal detector... so I would take it off or use something with no medal.

[Zande]

@yahtzee92 No, on this one rare occasion I disagree with @tanza. Having flown puppies quite a bit, always accompanied by their owner, often a very new owner, airlines don't go by weight so much as height. Can the dog stand up comfortably ? and lie down stretched to a degree. They didn't take cognizance of the Basenji habit of curing up in a ball.

If he can't stand up in comfort, then no. I very much doubt if he will be accepted. In any case, all airlines insist the dog travels in the hold across water. The Atlantic for example.

We had a large sherpa bag for one puppy but the airline refused and insisted on selling us a verikennel and putting the doggie in the hold, despite agreeing on the phone earlier that he would be OK.

Ask at least three people from the airlines and believe only one of them. Happy New Year.

[tanza]

@yahtzee92 - While Zande makes some good points however it really depends on the airlines. We have had many in the US that have flown with their adult Basenjis in cabin, in a sherpa. And yes there are some airlines that at the last minute will refuse. I know that one breeder that sells international quite a bit has flown with puppies in cabin and in the US I have also. So again in the end you are at the mercy of the airlines.

[Zande]

@tanza And not only the airlines ! I think the time we had to buy a Verikennel instead of the sherpa was because we came up against a 'little Hitler'. I do know you can't overfly large areas of water with 'pet-in-cabin.' And you do mention 'International Travel' - thus I assume you will be over-flying stretches of ocean if you are going East or West. North/South might be a different kettle of fish.

So check, check and check again and GET IT IN WRITING from the airline when you get the answer you want !

[yahtzee92]

@zande There appears to be a suspension on dog's traveling in the hold (as far as I can tell). As you say... I will have to make 200% sure he can come with...

[Zande]

@yahtzee92 Maybe the airlines need to fill the seats ! People are not willing to fly (or not allowed to) thanks to Covid. How better than to fill the seats with Basenjis for the stewards and stewardesses to play with and pander to ?

[yahtzee92]

@zande Managed to find an airline that allows it (putting him in the hold). Kind of sort of really hate the idea of putting him in such a stressful situation though.

[Zande]

@yahtzee92 Flying puppies to USA (from UK) I put them on a direct flight to the nearest airport. Newark, New Jersey in the hold, in a Verikennel. The owners then got them out and they travelled 'pet in cabin' in a sherpa to wherever they were going. That gave them just 5 hours in the hold and they were spoiled rotten the rest of the journey.

I controlled their diet - very low residue - for a couple of days before the flight and put a thick layer of diapers under their bedding so the wet went through and the pup stayed dry.

I also put ice cubes into their drinking bowl. They were melted by the time the puppy was thirsty but the water didn't spill out and wet the bedding.

[DebraDownSouth]

the problem boils down to this... what will you do if one leg refuses to let your pet continue? What will happen if you depend on them not checking something and then they check and your dog is grounded?

I would like to say that we check several airlines before moving to Israel and many of them would allow a small enough dog I E. our basenji, in the cabin but they limited the number of pets most of them at around 3 per cabin and they would say that if someone flying who was allergic then your dog or pet had to go in the hold so you didn't really know till you got there. We were lucky to have 2 pets that could be next to each other and they both just sort of chilled and even though it was a hellish flight neither of them seemed at all stressed or bothered and we were able to keep them with us until they actually took them to put on the plane and pick them up almost immediately on landing. I just think unless you're moving the best thing for your pet is to find a way to leave it at home. If you must take the pet then you may be better off paying the extra to have a professional pet travel agency take over all the responsibility and fly your pet for you which unfortunately doesn't usually include in the cabin.

I never had an issue flying puppies to their new homes in the cabin with their new owners.