We have had him since February. We took two trips and brought him with us and he was great on airplane. We will always take him when we can which is 80% of the time but it is the 20% having hard time with! He has zero fear of cars and I truly believe he would walk right under one
so leaving him with relatives though the offer is always there I think we would worry more that someone not used to having a dog in house opened a door and he would get out. The trade off in a kennel really don't have that worry but think he would be sadder. And we were just beginning to enjoy being empty nesters lol