Monday, November 22, 2010

Pet travel tips this holiday: Travel bag comfort for you and your pet!

Cosmo and I will be leaving on a jet plane this week, heading out to spend Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, just like thousands of others this holiday!    According to a survey by PetRelocation.com, 63 percent of pet owner says they travel at least 50 miles with their pets during the holidays.  Cosmo's a travel pro at this point, but we put some time into making sure he'd be a well-behaved traveler right from the very start. One of the first things you can do is to make sure you and your pet are comfortable with your travel bag. Here's a few tips to get started! 
  1. Play bag games!  When we got our bag, we put it out in the living room and let Cosmo sniff it and get familiar with it. We gave him treats when he touched the bag, and then gave him treats when he got in the bag. Now he knows the command "Go Bag" means that when he gets in and gets comfortable, treats and good things will be coming his way.
  2. Carry the bag around the house before your trip! Play the bag game with treats, zip up the bag -- with your pet in it -- and make a few laps around the room. Unzip it with a "Good Dog!" ... and more treats.
  3. Keep a small bag of treats handy at the airport. When you go through security, you'll take your pet out of the bag and carry him through with you. The bag will go through the x-ray screening with your other carry-on items. I typically take Cosmo and our bags to a table on the other end of security and play a little game to put him back in the bag. He gets more treats which of course makes him very, very happy! It takes less than a minute to do all this -- you don't want to draw TOO much attention, but folks typically do stop to talk to us. So be sure to schedule a little extra time when traveling with a pet! 
  4. Stay calm, yourself! There's something to be said about the saying that dogs can feel your nerves at the other end of the leash. If you're a nervous Nelly, your pet may sense your emotions and have a hard time relaxing too. The more you play bag games and "practice traveling," the more comfortable you BOTH will feel! You might even take a few trial runs by taking your pet and travel bag around the block a few times in the car.
  5. And finally, make sure YOU are comfortable with your travel bag. We use the large SturdiBag because it measures the maximum size (12x12x18) allowed by the airline we fly, it's light and flexible enough to place under the seat with ease. Be sure to check pet carrier requirements with the airline you fly. 
For more travel tips, we like Fido Friendly's "Holiday Road Warrior Survivor Guide."

Thanksgiving turkey, here we come! Happy travels!


44 comments:

  1. What an informative article! It must be nice to be able to have your dog sit with you on the plane. I'm not much of a flyer, but even if I was, I don't think I'd be able to bring Marge. The experience of flying separately from me would be way too scary.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Favorite Airline Kennel Pet Carrier from Bizarkdeal
      We purchased this to use for our dog on a trip 4 months ago. We ended up liking it so much that we now use it as her regular crate. We were wavering between two different sizes and went with the larger size and were happy we did. Our 40-50lb pit mix fits perfectly with wiggle room and the crate still fits nicely in the back of our sedan. It was easy to put together and we've had zero issues with if over the last couple months.

      Delete
  2. Safe travels, you two! Thanks for the shout-out!
    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  3. Thanks for the information. Have a safe trip and Happy Thanksgiving

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  4. Hi -- I would love to hear about your airport experience with the new full-body scan machines and the dog. I'm flying with my terrier next month, and I can't find info anywhere on what the new procedures are (if I'll carry him in with me, if they're going to examine him separately or what. Thanks!

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  5. Great advice! Unfortunately since my dog is so large, she would have to travel as cargo. Not ideal. So unless absolutely necessary, we either drive or just stay home.

    I hope you both have a safe and happy flight!

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  6. Thanks for all the wonderful tips :) I always make sure that I have a dog bag carrier when I take Carrie with me. She is my precious 5 month old Pom :) I love her so much that's why I want to ensure that she's safe all throughout our travel :)

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  7. Happy to report, we had no issues traveling at all. No body scans or pat downs either. For us it was travel as usual. Happy Thanksgiving!
    Diane and Cosmo

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  8. i think this was great idea.
    can visit my blog too for some Pet Travel Carriers
    at http://pet-travel-carriers.blogspot.com/

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  9. If you wish to travel with your pet you should always plan ahead of time. There are airlines and hotels that give special discount and freebies for pets.

    ReplyDelete
  10. good blog pliz visit my blog:
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    ReplyDelete
  11. If Pet Travel are not in the passenger cabin, they are typically transported in pressurized, temperature-controlled cargo compartments. This would not be the same area where checked baggage is kept. The cargo compartment where your pet would be kept would be heated or cooled to keep the temperature comfortable. Also, your pet will have enough oxygen as well. Confirm with your airline that this is the case becasue some aircraft may not have this kind of temperature controlled baggage compartment.

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  12. A condition where your pet’s own immune system attacks the joint is known as rheumatoid arthritis or auto immune arthritis in pets where in some instances it affects numerous joints at the same time. Once the synovial membrane is inflamed eventually its mobility will decrease. Though there are some remedies to treat this kind of condition. Liquid glucosamine together with other supplements will help your pet cope up with this kind of condition.

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  13. Pet also travel, that's why sometime they are called pet travelers its so nice to see people carrying their pets while having a vacation, A nice bonding moment.




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  14. Hi Diane
    looking for the perfect travelbag for my dog, also a Havanese, I found your homepage. Can you please tell me the size and the weight of your dog. I'm not sure, if the sturdibag size L is big enough for my dog!? I will be travelling for Switzerland to the States. I'm very thankfull for your answer.

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    Replies
    1. It's the Large SturdiBag, measures 12x12x18. Cosmo is 17 pounds, 11 inches high at the withers and about 14 inches long from neck to base of tail. He's not a small Havanese! He curls up and sleeps the whole way! Have a fabulous trip!
      Diane

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    2. thank's a lot. My havanese is also a "big" girl ;) Hope everything will work out fine.
      Cornelia

      Delete
  15. Hi! Thank you so much for your blog it is so helpful! I am just trying to figure out if my dog can fly to europe in the cabin with me. What airlines do you fly with? My dog is a big maltese/yorkie cross. He weighs 12lbs and about the same measurements as your dog. I read that they check to see if your dog can stand in his bag and turn around. Is that true?

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    Replies
    1. I fly Delta with Cosmo. I was only asked once to open my bag so they could see him (and I think that's because they saw me put him in the bag... and he looked a little large to the person at ticketing). They wanted to see if he could stand up and turn around, which he can do, just not at full stretched out height. They did let us go on with the flight. That was for a domestic flight. Since then, I put Cosmo in his bag before we get into the airport and we've never had any trouble. He's flown about 40 trips. Hope that helps!
      Diane

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  16. Hello. I know this is old, but it had great information. I've having a really hard time choosing between the Small and Large Sturdibags. Should I choose the bag that is a little smaller or a little larger than my dog? I don't want hiim cramped, but I don't want him rattling around in there either. What were Cosmo's exact measurements? I know Cosmo went OTRB, so Rocco's measurements and the size Sturdi he uses would be just as helpful and probably easier to remember. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Please ignore above comment. Page loaded fully and I saw that someone had already asked and you had answered. I would delete comment if I could but I can't figure out how. Sorry and thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! Rocco is a little smaller, 13 pounds and 10 inches at the withers (but still pretty long!). He also fits in the Large Sturdibag perfectly. Hope this helps!

      Delete
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