Hi,
We are in the middle of travelling with our yorkie, Bentley, who is 6 months old. I flew from Seattle to Minneapolis with him a week ago, which is a 3 1/2 hour flight. He did really well, but we worked hard to prepare him for the flight. The first thing you need to do is as Higgin's Dad said and call the airline. Not all allow pets, and those that do charge extra for them each way. We have to pay 80.00 each way on Northwest. You also should call ahead as they only allow a certain number of dogs to ride in the main cabin so you will want to reserve your spot ahead of time.
As far as preparing him for the flight, there are a couple of things we did. First, we have always been very diligent about making Bentley a social dog. He is constantly going places with us in the car and meeting new people. This helped him to not be afraid of the new surroundings in the airport. We also bought a soft carrier (to put under the seat) 2 months before the flight. I worked with him whenever I could to get him to go in the carrier and sleep for a few hours when I was home. If your dog is crate trained this is much easier.
Bentley cried a couple of times right when I put him under the seat, but once the plane started moving he layed down and went right to sleep. The people next to me never knew I had a dog. (I did wait until the very end to board the plane). I also brought some potty pads and tried to get him to go in the restroom, but he wasn't interested and was able to hold it. We're hoping our trip home next week goes just as well! Good Luck!
Tricia |