Within a week of bringing Bailey home, we had to move to Seattle, WA from Bartlesville, OK. Imagine that. Bailey was 9 weeks old when we brought him home and I googled ‘flying with your puppy’ every day and read every article that I could, to prepare myself and make the journey easy on the little guy. For those of you who are flying with your puppy soon, this is the right post. Read on to find out what airlines we flew, what bag we used and many other details that will help you with your trip.
In-cabin or Cargo?
The very first thing that you need to know about flying with your puppy is that the puppy needs to be 8 weeks or older. There are essentially two ways to fly.
1.) Your puppy can fly with you in the cabin.
2.) Your puppy can fly in cargo, in a crate.
While most of you would probably prefer flying with your puppy in the cabin, some airlines do enforce a weight limit for a carry-on puppy. The puppy should be in a pet-carrier at all times and the usual weight limit is 20lbs. There are also some airlines that do not have a weight limit. The pet carrier, however, should fit underneath the seat in front of you.
Which airlines do we fly?
If your puppy is a large breed, already weighs more than 20lbs and doesn’t fit under the seat in front of you, unfortunately, the puppy will have to fly in cargo. United Airlines is one of the first ones that come up in this search. They are known for their PetSafe program. We did hear good things about this program from a couple of people, but the online reviews didn’t say the same. Bailey is a 10-week old golden retriever (he was 16-18lbs when we were flying) so we were worried that he would be too heavy to be in the cabin with us. In fact, the pet-carrier requirements for flying with your puppy in the cabin were pretty strict for United Airlines. We were incredibly skeptic about flying United and we absolutely did not want to put Bailey in cargo.
I finally came across the pet-policy for Southwest Airlines. It was perfect for us. The pet carrier dimensions were a little higher than United Airlines. It was just what we needed for Bailey. Also, they did not have a weight limit. They even let you check in an extra pet stroller/crate for free (in addition to the regular free baggage allowance) if you are traveling with a pet. The dimensions should be below the oversize baggage limit though (The dimensions mentioned on the website in inches is the sum of the length, width, and height measured. We made the mistake of thinking that it meant the longest side of the crate, so we ended up paying for oversized baggage). Please read their FAQs for travel with pets and Baggage policies to get the most accurate info. One thing to note is that Southwest Airlines does not accept pets in cargo.
How do I book tickets for my pet to be on the same flight as myself?
Once we decided to fly Southwest, the next thing we had to do was book tickets for ourselves and Bailey. You cannot book pet tickets online along with your tickets. You will have to call the airlines after booking your tickets, to have them add a pet to your travel. They don’t charge you until you actually reach the airport with your pet on the day of the journey, but they will provide you with an email confirmation. Southwest Airlines charges around 95$ per pet.
What kind of pet carrier should I purchase?
There are a ton of options for pet carriers on Amazon. We bought the Amazon Basics Soft-Sided Pet Travel Carrier in Large and it worked well for us. I will be honest, it wasn’t the only best one out there, but it had pretty good reviews. We were going to use it just once, for this journey (Bailey would not fit into it later) This is a decent bag for a one-time use. If you are wondering if a 16-18lb golden retriever would fit into this bag, the answer is yes. It would be snug, but you can always pop his head out when you are hanging out in the waiting areas. Southwest airlines actually sell a pet-carrier of their own in case you are worried about not fitting their dimension requirements.
How do I get my pet used to his carrier?
I read a lot of stuff about introducing your pet to his carrier. Honestly speaking, I don’t really think it worked the way it was supposed to. We tried leaving the pet carrier on the floor, open, to see if Bailey would crawl in there and feel comfortable. All he did was try to tear it up. He hated going in there. We put him in there a few times before the trip while taking him out for his walks, just so he could make the association with a happy feeling. It may have worked because he did quite alright on our trip. He stayed calm while he was inside and we popped his head out once in a while to let him breathe and relax.
What about the peepee and potty breaks on the day of travel?
This was one thing that we totally freaked out about. If you are flying with your puppy, you are not supposed to feed your puppy anything for about 6 hours before the trip on the day of travel. Even water should be restricted starting 2-3 hours before the trip. It is recommended to ask for ice-chips on the flight to keep your puppy slightly hydrated. Don’t give them too many though. Although, this experience totally depends on how long your journey is. Our journey was pretty long. We had a one-hour drive from Bartlesville to Tulsa, a one-hour flight from Tulsa to Dallas, a two-hour layover at Dallas and another 4-hour flight from Dallas to Seattle. The last meal we fed Bailey was about 7 hours before the first flight and stopped giving him water 2 hours before the first flight.
Are there pet-relief areas at airports?
A lot of airports do have pet-relief areas, but most are outside the security checkpoint. This makes it difficult to go out and get back inside with short layovers. We flew via the Dallas Lovefield airport and they have a pet-relief area outside the security checkpoint so we did not use it. We thought of using the one in Seattle airport when we landed, but when we walked up to it, we turned around immediately. The stench was unbearable. We couldn’t risk Bailey falling sick or catching parasites. Another alternative that I read about was training your puppy with training pads. You could carry the puppy to the restroom and have the puppy pee on the training pad. Bailey didn’t like training pads so that wasn’t an option for us. He did quite a good job of holding his bladder for the journey but had an accident in his bag just as we were about to land. I guess we gave him too many ice chips so watch how many you let the puppy have.
What do I carry on the day of travel?
Flying with your puppy is like flying with a baby. You might need a baby bag to hold all of his stuff. You will need to carry a couple of toys that soothe him, maybe a little kibble (you could use it as treats to calm him when he is nervous), a blanket, a towel, training pads if your puppy uses them, a bowl for food/water and a leash. I always think in terms of emergencies, so I carried extra kibble in case our luggage was misplaced.
This is most of the stuff you would need to know before flying with your puppy. Make sure to check in a little early as the security check with a puppy and a pet-carrier may take slightly longer than usual. Also, that gives you a little time to relax with your puppy before boarding. I hope you have fun on your journey. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about flying with your puppy. I would love to hear from you. 🙂
PS: I have included links to all the resources that helped me. Click on the yellow words to check the links.
