Quote:
Originally Posted by shelbell77  Make sure you are giving her lots of practice time in the carrier before the trip so she starts to get used to it! |
That's a great tip that I had forgotten about! Before Toto's very first flight [almost 4 yrs. ago] I bought her carrier well in advance. I didn't make a big thing of it, just opened the zippered end and top and casually sat it in the den. You know how
nosey Yorkies are ... she did a lot of sniffing and peeking inside but didn't
dare get in it. After a couple of days I placed her very favorite toy in the very back end of it. After much
stretching and trying to get to it without going
in there, she just couldn't stand it any more and literally
flew in,
grabbed it and ran away from the carrier like her little little butt was on fire!!
The next day I placed a Greenie [this was back in "the day" when we thought Greenie's were safe!] where the toy had been. It only took a few hours for her Greenie addiction to get the best of her. She ran in, grabbed it and just outside of the carrier ... devoured it!
After that I just put her in it to run errands, visit my Mother, etc. and each time I would scoop her up I would say "kennel up"! From then on she viewed it as a good thing and always included things that she loved!! Now, when she sees me get out a suitcase to pack, she gets sooooo excited and runs and jumps in that carrier as happy as a clam!! I have found that if there is something happy connected to things that we try to teach them, they catch on very, very quickly!!
BTW ... now that she recognizes that "kennel up" is going to be a fun thing, I simply have to sit her carrier, a bag, a blankie, etc. on the floor and she absolutely
leaps right into or onto it!!!
