So You Want To Ship A Dog

(Published in Spaniels In The Field Fall 1991)

Well, you had best do your homework. Not only about the airline restrictions, but geographical diseases and other possible risks to your four-legged friends.

Step one is to contact the airlines that fly to the general area of your pets final destination. Not all flights are direct and tight connecting flights are at best hard to make in some situations. i.e.: large airports, holidays, and weather problems. Most airlines will bend over backwards to accommodate you and if they do not have flights that are compatible with your plans they will recommend other airlines that better suit your needs. Due to the wonders of computers many air freight reservation agents can recommend the airline that will serve you most satisfactorily simply by pushing the right buttons.

When you make the reservations (usually a minimum 24 hours prior to the flight) ask for the name of the agent who is booking the flight. It will come in handy when you have to persuade a disagreeing clerk at the air freight office to ship your dog regardless of the misinformation you received from the booking agent.

The agent will ask you several pertinent questions regarding the age of the animal, crate size, and the availability of a current health certificate.

The minimum age for shipping a puppy is eight weeks: Animals between eight and twenty-four weeks may be shipped two per crate if they are littermates and are comfortable together within the space provided.

The crate must be airlines approved and meet International Air Transport Association requirements as set by the United States Department of Agriculture. It must be large enough for the dog to stand and lay comfortably and must have water and food dishes attached in an easily accessible location. It is also highly recommended that the crate be solid with good ventilation and a lap edge around it to keep other cargo at a distance during the flight to allow proper ventilation. You should also know the dimensions of the crate in inches and have the weight of the crate with dog as some airlines ship by volume and others by weight or a combination of both.

Your veterinarian will need to examine the dog and issue a health certification which will be good for 10 days if the animal is going to be bred or trialed (pet dogs traveling with their owner’s health certificate are good for thirty days). The name of the consignee, the address of the final destination, including the county, and the consignee’s phone number as well as vaccination dates, description and age are usually required to complete the health certificate. In the worst case scenario the health certificate will help identify the dog and return it to the correct part of the country, and the proper owner (ask Paul Diegel about this sometime). This is also a strong argument for the dog to wear a collar (not a choker) with identification.

The agent will also inform you of any weather embargoes, under 45° and over 85°, depending on the routing of the planes. Heat embargoes are the most commonly encountered and relates to the distance the animal must travel over the hot Tarmack from plane to terminal and vice versa. Therefore, airports with short distances have no restrictions and airports like O’Hare in Chicago, which has distances over a mile, are frequently restricted in the summer. Cold weather embargoes can often be avoided with a dog over six months of age if your veterinarian will provide an affidavit confirming that the dog is acclimated to cold weather conditions.

Several airlines offer a service called counter to counter in which the dog is given preferential treatment (better than human passengers) that can also be used to avoid weather embargoes. This service is more expensive than air freight, but, in many instances, it is worth the money.
Booking agents also will relate your preboarding check-in time, usually one to two hours prior to the actual departure time. This again is a variable factor depending on the airline and the airport. Many times the cargo personnel are more generous with check-in times as live animals are given priority over inanimate cargo on most airlines. This also carries over to picking up a dog. Booking agents will often tell you it will be two to four hours after scheduled arrival before the dog will be available, while cargo personnel often get live animals ready within an hour.

A good question for you to ask the agent is whether or not there is a maximum number of animal crates per flight. Most airlines will book a maximum of five crates per flight with small commuter airlines booking two or three. You really don’t want your dog to be bumped.

If you are shipping a dog to an area you are unfamiliar with you might want to consult a veterinarian in that area to determine if there are local health problems, “geographical diseases” to contend with or a quarantine period such as Hawaii’s 120 day rabies quarantine. The two most common diseases are heartworm and Lyme disease. Your consulting veterinarian will offer you the best course of action to avoid the risks. If you are shipping a dog to be bred inquire about breeding requirement tests, most commonly brucellosis. And because of the lab turn around times don’t expect to drop in on your vet the day before shipping and expect the results in time.
To help decrease the stress of shipping be sure to “crate train” your dog prior to heading to the airport. Our own dogs are very adapted to living in the enclosed environment of the dog trailer, but many of them do not necessarily find a dog crate to be that inviting. Place a used article of clothing in the crate to provide a scent of home and also write the dog’s name on the crate so that the cargo personnel can call them by name. We try to book flights that will have the dog at its destination within eight hours, or at the most twelve hours, to alleviate stress. With some dogs, no amount of training and effort can ease the stress of shipping and in those cases consult your veterinarian about the use of tranquilizers.

Other recommendations include: 1) the freezing of water in the dishes to provide small amounts of cold water at all times. 2) include a plastic bag of food with the crate in case of delays and instruct the airlines to feed the dog if it has not reached its destination within X number of hours. 3) contact the consignee with the air freight billing number so the dog can be traced while in route or to track a lost animal.

Lastly, a word to those of us who live in the boonies with prolonged transit time to tbe airport. In our case Randy has a one and one-half hour commute to the local airport and 51/2 hours to Portland International. A call prior to your departure to determine if there has been a change in weather embargoes or flight cancellation is a must, otherwise a long trip to the airport may be in vain.

I hope the above helps you ship your next dog more smoothly. Remember, the bottom line is ask a lot of questions and be prepared.

Barbara Barke is a small animal and equine veterinarian on the Oregon coast in Gold Beach Oregon. She and her husband, Randy, have trialed about seven years. They have Bramble Creek Kennels which specializes in spaniel gundogs.