Relocating with large dog and worried about them under the cabin
Posted by No_Scallops@reddit | expats | View on Reddit | 9 comments
Has anyone flown a large dog (80+ lbs) in the hold on an international airline, specifically into Vienna? I'm moving to Austria and my 85 lb dog will need to travel in the hold because he is too big for the cabin.
Have any of you been through this? I have an airline in mind, Austrian Airlines because they fly direct New York to Vienna. How did the check-in process go, how did your dog handle it, any issues with the crate or paperwork?
MintInsel@reddit
I would avoid summer. Cargo area is too hot for the dogs, it would be very risky.
livadeth@reddit
When I flew my 2 big dogs, several long haul flights, the airlines wouldn’t fly dogs in the hot summer months. Even though the hold is climate controlled, if the destination temperature is over 85°F they won’t take the dog. I flew my 75lb dog from Madrid to ATL via Miami and was nervous because the Miami temp kept fluctuating. Day of travel it was forecast to be 82 so we were ok. I’ve done it 3 times (all international), 2 different dogs, and never an issue. One bit of advice I was given, don’t drug the dog too much. Vet gave me 8 tranquilizers for the size of one very energetic dog and I gave her two. One on the drive to the airport and one just before I surrendered her. She was calm but not goofy.
Funny anecdote; flying with the dog from Bangkok to Amsterdam, my 4 year old asked if she could go for a walk on the 747. She came back about 5 minutes later concerned because Denzel (beautiful black dog) was not on the plane. I explained he was in the animal hold. She then pointed to one of the flight attendants and said “Oh good, so he has one of these ladies giving him food and water.” I had this vision of Denzel (the most chill dog ever) sitting back with a martini and a steak being served by a lovely flight attendant!
MintInsel@reddit
That’s really great experience!! We have a Samoyed, terrible separation anxiety, cargo unfortunately isn’t an option for us.
Within Europe we can at least drive, continental travels were the real problem. So we trained her for a year to be a service dog, so she can stay in cabin with us. It really helped us a lot.
djcobol@reddit
Flew 2 large doodles from Charlotte to Munich on Lufthansa a couple years ago and everything went fine. We used a pet relocation company though so they helped coordinate all the shipping, paperwork, and customs stuff for us.
Unlucky_Mycologist68@reddit
I did it once and promised him never again, but he has pretty high anxiety anyway.
Jinniblack@reddit
While I love Austrian. (I’m flying to Vienna in a week.). Lufthansa is known for this service. Though as I type this I think they may only do this route part of the year.
I’ve had a fine time doing this, but only did it once. My dog was 4. And she was prescribed anti anxiety meds. She was a nervous dog to begin with.
Top-Half7224@reddit
A lot of success stories out there, a lot of nightmare stories too. Seems not so much about the airline (protocol is widely regulated and enforced) as much as the airports (where ground staff do a great deal of handling of cargo and often can be be little more than manual labour).
Worth looking for advice from people who have dealt with the airports specifically. Good luck.
SondraRose@reddit
I did this with my husky/shepherd back in 2005 on Lufthansa.
It was too long of a trip for him (10 hours and he was 13 at the time) and I decided to never do it again, so we flew with K9 Jets last fall with our current dog.
As long as they aren’t too old, it’s not in summer and it’s the shortest flight possible, they will probably be fine in cargo . Do know that it is traumatic for them (away from you, in an enclosed space, lots of noise, etc.). But also know that the folks handling pets in cargo are generally kind and knowledgable.
Make sure to know where they can relieve themselves immediately after unloading!
Unusual_Coat_8037@reddit
DOT used to publish safety statistics by airline, but I don't see it now.