Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveMyBeowulf  I was just about to post a new thread asking if anyone has flown with their baby. I'm flying in September to the East Coast from The Bay Area. I've never flown with a dog before so I don't know what to expect or really what to do. So there is an extra fee for the dog? I thought it was free? |
You need to tell them beforehand, whether it's a pet you are paying a fee for, an ESA as documented by your therapist (and honestly, I think some people fake this and just see a doctor once or something :l) that will need to be in a TSA approved carrier that can fit under the seat, or a certified service dog.
definitely practice with the carrier.
unless your dog is extremely well behaved and always listens obediently, I would say mild sedation is probably a good idea. Not completely knocked out, but pretty out of it and calm. Moxie was under the seat in her bag quietly, but started to whine and cry a little right as the airplane left the ground, I think the noise and air pressure freaked her out. I was supposed to leave her under seat in her carrier but I put it on my lap and she quieted down immediately. Not ideal, it's something we need to work on. After takeoff, I put her carrier back under the seat until her sedation wore off near the end of the flight. My neighbor tapped me on the back. Moxie had not only gotten out of her stupor, she had found a way to get the zippers down and tried to escape :O
I have the most mischevious, poorly behaved yorkie in the world
She wasn't noisy or making a mess but she didn't want to go back in the carrier, she wanted me to hold her.
Luckily (and I will only fly at night now until she is better trained to stay in the whole time no matter what) it was a late night flight, the lights were off, and everyone was sleeping. I know it wasn't the "right" thing to do, but she was quiet as a mouse, no one was sitting next me, no one saw, and no one was bothered, so instead of putting her right back in the carrier and risking her whining or getting excited, I held her to keep her calm. I also got to choose seating beforehand and purposely chose an emptier flight and a seat with an empty one next to it. I think all of this helped. So I didn't need to make a tough call about more sedation or have to force her back in her crate at that very minute. Even though I wasn't supposed to
, I held her in my lap a little bit in the dark until she got sleepy and calm again before putting her back in to her carrier. I would reach in occasionally and pet her but after that she was fine until the end. So in hindsight, definitely really practice training w/ the carrier. I will train her to do better next time, but I was pretty proud of her, considering she is a crazy ball of manic energy to burn who generally does what she wants and thinks she is a person and sees no reason why she should not fly as such.
All of those with well behaved dogs who never made a peep or stayed patiently the entire trip, tips please?