Taking Your Dog Along
Traveling With Your Pet
By Hans Blumberg
Two Lucky Dogs That Get To Travel With The Boss!
Some years ago we dropped our two dogs off at the kennel when I had to travel for business. At my employer, I was allowed to pay for my wife’s airfare and bring her with me. As we were about to board the airplane, I got a call cancelling the trip. It was too late to pick the dogs up that evening so I went to pick them up the next morning.
The dogs had never been in a kennel before and they were nervous and stressed. We decided that we would never board them again. Since then we have taken our dogs with us when we travel.
That same year we bought a home in Uruguay. I would save my vacation for the entire year and take it all at once each December, and with the holidays we were able to stretch it out and to go to Uruguay for five to six weeks.
The process of traveling with your dog is straight forward and after the first time you will feel more comfortable doing it. The first step is to verify the information about requirements of the country to which you plan to travel. The best sources for this information are the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Services (USDA APHIS) and the consular website of the destination country. For most countries and airlines you will need an international health certificate from the USDA for your pet. The general rules are available on most airlines web sites. Once you have verified this information and have decided to bring your pet, I have outlined the steps below.
Buy an approved kennel for air travel. Read on line about what type and size of kennel is appropriate for your pet. I always put in larger water dishes rather than use the ones that come with the kennel. They are too small for more than a one- to two-hour flight. The photo shows the oversized water dish I use.
Set it up and have your dog start to get accustomed to it.
As I mentioned, you will need a health certificate endorsed from the USDA. To get this, you will need to take your dog to a local veterinarian who has been accredited by the USDA to give your dog an inspection and prepare the international health certificate along with a rabies certificate and any other requirements of where you plan to visit.
Note that most countries require that the rabies vaccination be done at least 30 days before your arrival. Most countries want these vet visits done within 10 days of your arrival date, so you have to plan accordingly. Your veterinarian will complete the Form 7001. You then send or take that completed form to your local USDA office for endorsement. This is your pet’s international health certificate.
This same certificate is valid for reentry into the USA for 30 days although in the past I did reenter up to 45 days later. U.S. customs are fairly liberal with the rules but we have seen the airlines get stricter and become much less flexible with the rules. If you need a new local certificate to enter the U.S., the process in Uruguay is similar.
Most airlines have ambient temperature ranges that are safe for your pet so you must be aware of that. You will need to go to the airline early because it’s first come first served with most airlines because you can’t make reservations for the dogs.
When we start packing, the dogs take notice and when they see me cleaning up the kennels they act like kids at Christmas because they know we will be traveling soon.
Dogs are amazing in how fast they recover. After 14-16 hours in the kennel they scream to get out when we have arrived and are outside at the airport. We throw a leash on them and walk them for 2-3 minutes and after walking them they completely forget about the last 16 hours and are ready for the next part of the adventure.
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Hans Blumberg and his wife, a native Uruguayan, have been coming to Uruguay for over 35 years. They are retired and since December 2012 they have been splitting time between Uruguay and the United States. They have owned a home in Parque del Plata since 2002.
We travelled to Uruguay from Canada with our dog and had no problems making reservations for her on all three flights in cargo. Two were with Air Canada and the one from Santiago was with Pluna who are no longer in business. A few days before flying I confirmed with each airline that she was booked.
I made separate reservations for her and myself for each flight so I could pick her up first in Toronto from Nova Scotia and then again in Santiago. If I had booked right through then I would not have been able to collect her, feed her and take her outside for a walk. As it was over 24 hours i did not want her stuck in a crate that long. I thought each leg of the trip would charge the pet fee but after paying in Nova Scotia the other flights saw I had paid and did not charge me again.
Chile is very particular about what you bring and although i was only there a few hours before leaving again for Uruguay, they confiscated all her dog food – I was frantically feeding her in the line up to customs as she had not eaten since boarding the night before.
I put removable zip ties on the door to make sure it did not open by accident and taped a picture of her on the crate and had one with me. I also told the staff as I boarded that I had a dog in cargo and to let me know when she was put on the plane. They all did this prior to take off.
Only doing this once was quite stressful but she came through quite well and seemed her usual self after a couple of days.
Thank you. Fantastic and helpful comment.