How To Fly With Your Dog In The Cabin In 2024 | Our experience bringing our Westie puppy on a plane

you're planning to go on vacation with your puppy but you're worried about flying with them for the first time then this video is for you I've been taking my Westy dog Sammy with me on several flights since he was six months old and he always flies in the cabin with me in this video I'm going to tell you everything you need to know so that you can fly with your puppy stress-free here's what you're gonna need and don't worry I'm gonna walk you through each of these points you'll need to book a pet friendly Airline and reserve your dog spot on the plane you'll need to make sure that your dog's size and weight fits the requirements of the airline your dog needs to have a microchip your dog might need to have a health certificate for domestic flights or a passport for international flights you'll need a comfortable carrier bag that fits your dog and can be placed under the seat in front of you on the plane and if you watch until the end of this video I've got two bonus tips that I'm gonna share with you for how to make your puppies flight as comfortable as possible so keep watching now let's talk about each of these points first of all how do you know if the airline you chose accepts pets well the first thing we do when we fly with a new Airline is we check their website now sometimes the website isn't very clear on whether they accept pets or not or you can't really find the information so here's a Googling tip open Google and type the following site colonairline.com space pets let me give you an example so let's say you're flying with Delta so you're going to type in sites colon delta.com space pets and there you go here are all the pages of Delta's website that mention traveling with pets now all you need to do is read the section under carry on pets to find everything you need to know you're welcome next step is to make sure that your dog is under the maximum weight that they accept for flights in the cabin every airline has a maximum weight limit for pets flying as carry-ons most of them usually accept dogs up to 8 kilos including the carrier bag you'll find this on the website of the airline along with details about the carrier bag size but we'll get there in a minute my dog for example weighs about 7.8 kilos which means I have to put him on a diet before we fly to make sure that him and the bag stay under the eight kilos that is the limit let me know if you want me to make a future video here to share my tips on how to fly when your dog is super close to the weight limit I've got a lot of tips and a whole routine that I do with Sami before we fly so leave me a comment if you're interested to know more okay now as you book your flight you'll need to pay an extra fee for your pet here's a question I get a lot people ask me do you buy an extra seat for your dog and the answer is no it doesn't work like that dogs don't get a seat on the plane instead they must be placed under the seat in front of you inside their carrier bag but you do have to pay a fee to get them booked on the flight so in a way I guess you can't say you're paying for their ticket too the fee depends on the airline and the destination but so far we paid between 60 and 200 dollars for Sami each way it's definitely not cheap but it's cheaper than one extra seat that's for sure [Music] after booking your flight make sure you call the airline directly to make the reservation for your dog that is because they have a limited number of pets allowed on each flight so even if you have already paid it's not guaranteed that they will have a space available for your puppy so what we do to avoid any surprises is once we booked our flight we call the airline directly to confirm that Sami will have his spot saved Next Step as I mentioned before your dog needs to have a microchip in order to fly most dogs get this when they are puppies but if for any reason your dog isn't microchipped you can do this easily by taking them to your vet's office and they'll do the rest your dog might also need a health certificate which is basically a paper from your vet a testing that the dog is healthy to travel many airlines don't ask for this at all for dogs who fly in the cabin but some do so again it's best to check on the airline's website some Airlines will need the certificate to be issued within 30 days from the departure date some ask for 10 days if you're planning to fly internationally your dog might need a passport I got a passport for Sami when he was still a puppy and we took him on his first flight from Portugal to Greece I got the passport at the vet's office they made one for me on the spot and it cost around 25 Euros in the United States and plan to fly internationally check with your airline first to see if your dog needs a passport I know that not every vet issues passports in the U.S and I honestly don't know how you can get one but my advice would be to ask your dogs fat they can probably guide you on what to do to get your dog passport [Music] you also need to make sure your dog's vaccines are up to date specifically the rabies vaccine which is mandatory for dogs over 12 weeks old for them to be allowed to travel in most countries the rabies vaccine must be administered at least 30 days before the flight date to be considered valid next you're going to need a comfortable carrier bag for your puppy to sit in during the flight ideally look for a soft carrier bag as opposed to a plastic rigid one because the soft one is lighter and it fits better under the seat since you can slightly bend it to make it fit as for size check Dimensions with the airline and test it with your puppy to make sure that they fit comfortably inside some Airlines require the dog to be able to stand and turn around comfortably inside the carrier check if that's the case with your airline for Westie dogs I found it a little bit difficult to find a carrier bag that will fit my dog and will also fit the maximum Dimensions that they give so here's a secret tip here if you get a soft carrier you can go slightly oversized to make sure that your dog fits inside comfortably since it's soft it will most likely collapse a little bit when you fit it under the seat in front because it's flexible and it bends without breaking if you want more tips on how to choose the right carrier bag for your dog watch this video where I'm walking you through how I chose sami's carrier I'm going to put the link up here and in the description before we end this video I have two more things I want to share with you for how to make your dogs fly more comfortable but before we get into that if you're enjoying this video so far give it a thumbs up and if you're new here subscribe to our channel for more tips on how to fly with your puppy now here are two important tips that you need to know before you board that flight don't feed your dog for about four to six hours before travel to avoid them getting sick on the flight you can still feed them treats or tiny amounts of their meal but I wouldn't feed a full meal because they could get an upset stomach which you can give them is plenty of bottled water in fact make sure you pack a travel bottle for dogs to have it handy on the flight [Music] and the last tip if you believe your dog might be an anxious flyer you can try giving them something to help calm them down always ask your vet first my vet recommended CBD oil she says it helps a lot with anxiety now honestly I haven't tried it because Sami was always calm on flights but I trust my vet so I'm passing along the advice to you whatever you do make sure you opt for something natural and tested at home several days before the flight to minimize any potential side effects that might appear now this is important do not sedate or tranquilize your dog before the flight because there's a real risk of respiratory or cardiovascular problems that can appear at high altitudes and some Airlines specifically prohibit tranquilizing your dog on flights for this exact reason you should find that information on the website so make sure that you don't do that and opt for something natural instead you'll find the links for everything I mentioned here in the description of this video below I also have another video where I go into more detail on each of these points so make sure you go watch that next let me know if you have any questions leave them in comments thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in our next video have a safe flight bye

Channel: Westie Vibes

Views: 109,036

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Id: dinPmn9r8wo

Length: 9min 34sec (574 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 10 2023