# Flying with your dog?



## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

I'm very interested in hearing what people think... especially those who have experience flying with their dogs. There are a number of seminars and a few competitions that I would love to attend, but they would require that I fly with my dog. Everybody has heard horror stories about dogs flying on planes, and I imagine they are far and few between (I hope!). Just wondering what people think about traveling with their dogs and flying them on airplanes? Are there some airlines that you like better than others? I plan to stay within the USA for my travels.


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## Chad Byerly (Jun 24, 2008)

Most airlines let you fly with your SAR K9 in the cabin, right? 
I flew American Airlines with my old drug detection dog (bulkhead seats).


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

I have never flown "with" a dog but I did have our Golden Retriever rescue flown here from New Jersey. We used Continental, it was about $400 just for the flight ($200 for the XL crate) and he got here in good spirits, but happy to be out. It was a non-stop flight from Newark to Denver. Unfortunately I did have to drive to Denver for pickup, which ended up being a 4 hour round trip.

I think Continental and Delta both have the air conditioned vans if it's going to be above 85 degrees, but it wasn't necessary since it was cool by the time he got to Denver (like 8 PM). 

All in all he seemed to have had an ok trip being down in cargo.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Chad Byerly said:


> Most airlines let you fly with your SAR K9 in the cabin, right?
> I flew American Airlines with my old drug detection dog (bulkhead seats).


Yes, but you are supposed to be certified and operational in order to fly. Sometimes you can fly to attend a certification test, but sometimes they ask for letters from your team and the person/organization that is giving the test to confirm this. I have a dog in training, so we are not yet operational/certified. I'm also interested in attending training seminars that are not necessarily being conducted for search dogs. Some airlines might let me bring my dog in cabin while we are in training, but they can always change their minds and say no. I can't rely on this since she is not yet certified.


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## Chad Byerly (Jun 24, 2008)

With American, I wasn't flying to a training or cert or anything. It would have been free if I had been doing so. It cost $80 per leg of my trip (paid at the airport before boarding). They were the only airline offering this for drug dogs at the time (plus bomb and search dogs), and other handlers I know used them alot. It's worth asking if a dog in training could ride with you, and a letter from someone in your search team could help. 

I don't know about flying dogs in cargo, but I've heard there's better and worse airlines for this...


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Chad Byerly said:


> With American, I wasn't flying to a training or cert or anything. It would have been free if I had been doing so. It cost $80 per leg of my trip (paid at the airport before boarding). They were the only airline offering this for drug dogs at the time (plus bomb and search dogs), and other handlers I know used them alot. It's worth asking if a dog in training could ride with you, and a letter from someone in your search team could help.
> 
> I don't know about flying dogs in cargo, but I've heard there's better and worse airlines for this...


Thanks! This is good to know! I'll certainly ask about it.


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## Konnie Hein (Jun 14, 2006)

I recently flew to a seminar with one of my teammates and his dog. We wore our DEMHS uniforms and nobody asked for any proof of certification or letters or anything regarding the dog - not even a health cert (which we had all of). We flew Delta.

I've never been asked for any paperwork for any of my dogs that have flown in-cabin with me, but I'm not sure if that's the norm.

Not sure if they view civilian SAR teams the same, but it's worth a call to the airline you're considering using to ask.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I fly with my dog as cargo pretty frequently. I have used Frontier, American, Delta and United. My experiences have all been positive. I try to fly direct I don't like having to change planes, but I have done that too (once with Frontier) without issue. I asked for conformation my dog was on the connecting flight prior to the cabin door being shut because without it I would debark, and the captain understood and gave me conformation as I asked. I do like United because they attach a ticket with a tear off to the dogs kennel, once the crate is loaded, they send those strips up to the cabin, so you know that your dog is on the plane (other times I have been told yeah a big dog is on the plane), but I don't like United because they don't accept Temperature Acclimation Certs.. I try to always take red eye flights in order to avoid heat and crowds. I am usually traveling by myself and depending on the airport it can be a little tough, usually I rent one of those little hand carts, stick the duffel with the dog equipment and my suitcase in the crate, then stick the crate on the hand cart and have my dog walking with me, and it's a lot easier to get away with this in a terminal at night than during the day when it's bustling and crowded. 

If you do travel with your dog as cargo, be sure to find out where over sized cargo is at each airport you will be visiting, so you can plan accordingly. Usually it is very close to the luggage carousels but not always, last time I went through Dallas Ft Worth the over sized luggage dept was a good long distance from the carousels and of course, you want to see to your dog first. 

If mine was a SAR dog, I would surely want to og ahead and fly him in the cabin. If I were you, I would check with the airline or more of your fellow SAR buddies because I don't really see why they would differentiate between a SAR in training and a trained SAR dog, either you are performing a service or in training to perform a service and, it's not like there are a ton of them.


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## Amy Swaby (Jul 16, 2008)

For me shipping via cargo has become cheaper, I am always quoted more to send the dog through baggage which makes little sense since cargo is temp controlled baggage is not.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

I am in Canada, but have not had any problems so far flying with my dog.

I have flown with him in cabin a few times, they reserve us a bulk head seat. I call ahead to arrange it. The dog has to be vested and I have to be wearing a uniform. It is free for my dog to fly in cabin or in the crate in the hold if I fly with West Jet, due to the SAR arrangement they have. We don't have to be flying to anything in particular. Most non airline staff assume I have some kind of disability I think! I usually only fly with him in cabin if I am flying with another person I know, as the dog really encroaches on two peoples leg space. 

I have flown him in his crate on the same flight as I am in and have never had an issue. Once flying into Toronto he was the last thing to come off the plane (way after all the other luggage was out), but he had still been in the crate for only 6 hrs, so no big deal.

I try to fly in and out of smaller airports now. I choose Hamilton, near Toronto, instead of Toronto for example. Just seems to be less issues, i can wait longer before crating or boarding the plane with the dog, can watch the dog be loaded if he is going by crate and so on... 

I have never had to deal with transfers and going between countries. That might make me a little nervous. I did meet an avalanche dog handler from France a while back who was told while transfering planes in the US somewhere that his Mal was dead and he had to get on the next flight NOW. There were some language issues and so on, but he never did see his dog again, it was just a young dog, they were supposed to be on a work exchange for the winter season.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

susan tuck said:


> ..... I try to always take red eye flights in order to avoid heat and crowds. I am usually traveling by myself and depending on the airport it can be a little tough, usually I rent one of those little hand carts, stick the duffel with the dog equipment and my suitcase in the crate, then stick the crate on the hand cart and have my dog walking with me, and it's a lot easier to get away with this in a terminal at night than during the day when it's bustling and crowded. .....
> 
> If you do travel with your dog as cargo, be sure to find out where over sized cargo is at each airport you will be visiting, so you can plan accordingly.....



Helpful information. Thanks!


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Jennifer Coulter said:


> .. I usually only fly with him in cabin if I am flying with another person I know, as the dog really encroaches on two peoples leg space.....
> 
> I try to fly in and out of smaller airports now. I choose Hamilton, near Toronto, instead of Toronto for example. Just seems to be less issues, i can wait longer before crating or boarding the plane with the dog, can watch the dog be loaded if he is going by crate and so on.....
> 
> I have never had to deal with transfers and going between countries. That might make me a little nervous. I did meet an avalanche dog handler from France a while back who was told while transfering planes in the US somewhere that his Mal was dead and he had to get on the next flight NOW. There were some language issues and so on, but he never did see his dog again, it was just a young dog, they were supposed to be on a work exchange for the winter season.



Thanks for the travel suggestions. Good point about leg space, but unfortunately, I'm usually traveling by myself. Man, I sure feel sorry for that guy who never saw his dog again. It's stories like this that make me nervous about flying dogs as cargo/baggage.


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

I have heard one horror story though it was not really the airlines fault..sort of. The plane had a problem and had to divert to tijuana. The dog was given to the handler and let out of the crate. This I guess created some problems that were a nightmare for the handler to get the dog to be able to come into the u.s.

I have flown my dog from HI, to CA, CA to WI and back. And I had a problem coming to Cali. My dog was left behind due to a storm and put on another flight...no one told me. I had to ask a guy in baggage. my dog arrived at the Airport same time I did...but it took them an hour to find him.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Just found this website! Shows airports that have reported incidents (loss, death, injury) of pets when they traveled through their airport. It appears that airlines are now required to file reports when something happens. You click on the map, select the airport, and can even read the reports. Very informative....

http://www.petflight.com/


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## James Downey (Oct 27, 2008)

Clicking through the airports, I clicked about 30 deaths....all we brachyphalic breeds. Most were reported with other animals in the same hold, all were fine. Cause of death, heat stroke or heart attack.


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

James Downey said:


> Clicking through the airports, I clicked about 30 deaths....all we brachyphalic breeds. Most were reported with other animals in the same hold, all were fine. Cause of death, heat stroke or heart attack.


Yes. I was reading through the reports for Newark, NJ and San Francisco. Most deaths were from natural causes/bad health, including age related illnesses. I noticed that smaller airports don't have reports listed, and I imagine that there are things that have happened at smaller airports. Don't know how complete the information is, but I do find it interesting to see the causes of death.


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## Laura Bollschweiler (Apr 25, 2008)

Gosh, Erica, why don't you do what some handlers do and throw a service dog vest on your dog and call him a service dog so he can ride in the cabin with you? Some even make authentic looking badges for them to wear.

Now, where's that sarcastic smilie face?

Laura


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## Erica Boling (Jun 17, 2008)

Laura Bollschweiler said:


> Gosh, Erica, why don't you do what some handlers do and throw a service dog vest on your dog and call him a service dog so he can ride in the cabin with you? Some even make authentic looking badges for them to wear.
> 
> Now, where's that sarcastic smilie face?
> 
> Laura



Yeah, yeah.  I've actually had a few people tell me to do this, and they weren't making a joke or being sarcastic. I read up on a lot of airline websites last night. Looks like there might be a couple airlines that are a bit more flexible with a dog that's not operational and not going on a search. So there is hope!


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## Courtney Guthrie (Oct 30, 2007)

Laura Bollschweiler said:


> Gosh, Erica, why don't you do what some handlers do and throw a service dog vest on your dog and call him a service dog so he can ride in the cabin with you? Some even make authentic looking badges for them to wear.
> 
> Now, where's that sarcastic smilie face?
> 
> Laura


This is horrible but the way that the laws are written that's all anyone has to do. OR you can "register" them with one of the numerous registries out there for service dogs! lol lol 

Kinda sad really.

Erica- I hope you find the best method in all your digging you are doing. I've enjoyed your research and questions as I plan on traveling with Judge soon and am semi worried about flying with him. 

Courtney


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## Sarah Atlas (Dec 15, 2008)

I have flow often with a canine in the cabin. United and U.S. Air are the airlines i have flown with. I am always in uniform, my dog vested and I carry health certificate, fly letter from team etc. 

Arrangement are made through my travel agent and i *ALWAYS* get a letter of confirmation from the airline with the name of the person doing the confirmation. I have only been asked for paper work 1 time.

Remember, it is a priviledge that we are afforded!

I alway take my young dogs to the airport in uniform several times before flying to acustome them to esculators, getting banged with luggage as people rush by. etc. make a training exercise out of the pre flight visits.


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## Lloyd Kasakoff (Jun 15, 2008)

So here's a quick and recent grid that provides information on how much each airline charges. 

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/06/24/airline.fees/index.html

Frontier is the cheapest at $100 per leg. American and Midwest are $150. United is an outrageous $250, and Delta is an unbelievable $275. 

I find it incredibly unethical to throw a service dog vest to have your dog on the plane. If your dog is a bonafide ADA type service animal, great! The law wasn't written to take personal protection animals into consideration as "service animals".


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