Two days until flight
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On Saturday Basil and I are flying to Montreal. He didn't even react to the children's gravol the vet told me to try with him so he was prescribed a sedative which worked well when I tried it last weekend.
I'm really nervous to fly with him. He doesn't really like his soft sided kennel that he'll be flying in. I've fed him in there, put all his favourite toys in there and high value treats. I also leave it open in my room where we spend most of our time when we're inside. Sometimes he'll go in there and lay down or look for food but as soon as I zipper it closed he will start digging and pushing up on the top of it. He doesn't whine though, just acts like he's trying to escape. I've put him in it for a few minutes at a time at home and wait until he calms down which he does within a few minutes. We've also gone for a few car rides with him in it. The longest was to my sister's which is about 30 minutes away. I'm a little worried though because during two car rides he threw up a little flem in the carrier but hasn't thrown up ever in any other carrier or outside the carrier. Is this from stress? How come he's done this in this carrier and not others? I've also tried putting a puppy pad in the bottom so that he's used to that when he has to fly but all he does is dig and bunch it up in one corner… any advice as to how I can keep him from doing this? The carrier is water proof (I had to hose it out after he threw up and the water didn't even wet the bottom side of the carrier).
I'm also really worried about security at the airport. I think I heard somewhere that you have to take the dog out when you're going through security. Is this true? I'm worried because he gets really excited if he sees people and will try to jump out of my arms or will sometimes bite me if he can't get to them... hopefully the sedative will take care of that though. Does anyone know exactly what they do with someone who has a dog at security? will they ever take him from me to inspect him? I'm worried he'll get scared or something. I'm sure everything will work out fine, I just like to be prepared. I know we'll have lots of fun there... I've already planned lots of trips to different parks and recreation areas. There's also a lot of doggie cafes there too :)
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I have never flown a dog, so no help here, but i am interested to see what the others have to say.
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I've never flown with a dog either…..but I hope it all works out for you. Sounds like the trip will be fun once you get past the stress of the
flying part. -
What airline are you travelling on? They should be able to inform you of all procedures, including security. It sounds like you are taking him in the cabin with you. Is he still small enough to fit under the seat?
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Yes, you do have to take him out of the carrier when going through security, not optional. He can not stay in there when the carrier goes through X-ray and all carry on bags must be screened. You need to take him out and then you carry him through the "people" security.
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Spencer was hyper at the airport, but the sedative kicked in and he settled down once he got on the plane. Security made me take him out of the carrier while they checked him and the carrier over, then I had to put him back in the carrier so they could see that he could stand up and turn around inside. He did wet the carrier, though. Hope you both have a nice trip!
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Thank you for your replies, I'm flying with Air Canada. He's still small enough to fit, he can stand up and turn around in the carrier. I just weighed him a few days ago and he's 10 lbs. He might be smaller than a basenji puppy because the schipperke is a smaller breed. I'll let you all know how the flight goes. I know he'll enjoy Montreal… so many great recreation areas for him.
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I had only a few things in my pocket so I would not have to mess with my B Arnie and putting things in the basket as well when going through security. I practiced with Arnie getting him in and out of the carrier at home. I carried him without a leash through the metal detector but if your dog is squirmy you might want to find a leash with no metal. He almost went through the x-ray machine when a lady behind me put her luggage on it when I was trying to get Arnie out of the carrier. I was yelling for the lady to get her luggage and I was able to grab Arnie at the last minute!
Jennifer
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As a reference when we brought C-Me, Franie, and Trip home… that was three baby puppies (9 and 11 weeks) that we had to take out of their carrier, ggggg... and it was exciting to say the lest. But we did just fine!!!
I do remember one time that when I was flying from NY to SFO, there was a person with a cat in a carrier that was not concerned at all that the cat was going to go through the xray... I did tell her that she needed to remove the cat, her response was "why"... my answer.. "and would you go through that?"
