A few weeks ago, I flew across the country with a puppy, so my experience wouldn’t directly apply. I flew Delta and had the puppy in a carrier beneath my seat, but you cannot do with a big dog.
I do want to mention that there are services like a “flight nanny,” where someone will take the dog through security and fly on the plane with him/her. Also, there are ground transportation companies, including regular truckers who want to make extra money, who will drive your dog across country, if needed, take them out for walks, feed them, etc.
@sushiritto I don’t believe a big dog like this will be allowed in the cabin of the plane. Most airlines require that pets be small enough to be placed in carriers that will fit under the seat.
I still think this family should talk to their vet about medication that could make a car ride less stressful. They have it for people…betting they have it for dogs too.
I saw a big dog on a SWA flight recently. It didn’t appear to be a service animal. I was surprised!
MTA: Hmm, looking at their policy online, I guess it had to have been a service animal because the require carriers otherwise.
Yes, as I mentioned, my experience wouldn’t directly apply, but offered a suggestion or two (e.g., ground transportation service).
Regarding medication, Benadryl is approved by vets to be used to make dogs drowsy or less anxious. Consult with your vet, but 1mg per lb is what I was told, but there must be a max dosage. You can buy dog dosages.
How does he behave in the car? Does he get agitated? Carsick? Has many times has he traveled by car?
We’ve had three dogs in our adult lives and all of them disliked riding in the car. They got carsick. They were border collies and very obedient, so didn’t misbehave, but they were uncomfortable during all trips. But we still made several long trips with them and they were fine once they got out of the car. We started giving our last dog Dramamine and that worked pretty well. Anti anxiety meds would probably also help as noted by others.
Maybe you can start doing short trips in the car and reward him and praise him when you get back home. Take him to the park or someplace where he’d have a good time. Or maybe start by just putting him in the car with you for a few minutes at a time (without driving) and then reward him.
IMO, if he doesn’t like cars, he’d hate planes X 1000.
I’m sure it was an emotional support animal. A service animal is trained to provide assistance with a life need (seeing eye dog, a dog that helps retrieve items for a wheelchair bound person). ESAs just have to sit there and be comforting.
I have a friend and co-speaker, Sara Paulsen, who has a very special service dog. If you google her, you can find recent news videos on her and her chihuahua. She can tap her dog on the shoulder and he can indicate whether something is really there or not (she has schizoaffective disorder and has hallucinations). Little Liam has helped her so much, because she doesn’t have to keep asking her boyfriend or others if she is imagining things. She does get hassled at times for bringing her dog everywhere - people don’t understand that he’s a real service dog.
Just wanted to follow up and share my daughter’s experience. She was able to have our dog become an emotional service dog. We did have some ethical concerns about this so we bought a seat for him on the plane so the airline wasn’t out any money and the person in the third seat (aisle) smiled, said ‘no problem’ and promptly fell asleep (red eye). The vet provided some anti-anxiety medication which worked well during the trial run but wasn’t enough to help on the plane. He was up the whole night, 1/2 on top of my D and did seem pretty stressed. But, he arrived and got settled in her new apartment and, after a couple of days becoming familiar with his new environment is back to his normal, easy, relatively calm self. It was a tough 7 or so hours for both D and our dog but both daughters are thrilled to have him back east and it all worked out.
DH is driving our third car across the country for the kids, taking his time to see sites. Our poor dog would have been miserable (hates the car) for the 12 day drive. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.
To be honest, I wouldn’t put any dog on a plane that cannot be with the owner in the cabin. I have heard so many horror stories from friends who have attempted this. It is a cruel thing to do, and with an old and nervous dog, no way it should be done.
@collage1 I’m glad it worked out. And good for you for buying an extra ticket.
I know the OP’s problem has been resolved, but I wanted to share my D’s experience. She put her elderly dog (11 year old German Shepherd w/health issues) on a 14 hour overseas flight. Dog made it to the destination alive without any issues. Although the airline doesn’t recommend it, D dosed the dog with anti-anxiety meds before she was loaded. Dog had been crate trained since puppyhood so spending time in the crate wasn’t an issue. D scheduled the flight so dog left late at night (10pm) both so the dog would sleep during the flight and to avoid the temperature issue. (Airlines won’t allow animals to be place an airplane’s hold if it’s over 80 degrees on the tarmac.)
@alwaysamom, our dog was with its owner–my daughter. And thanks, @MaineLonghorn! @WayOutWestMom, glad it worked for your D too. Since our dog isn’t crate trained, while we discussed putting him in the hold, we knew it wasn’t right for him and couldn’t do it.
Thank you for being so considerate to your fellow passengers by buying a seat for the dog. Most fake ESA are presented as such to save $$$ on transporting the animal (cabin pets cost $100-200 to fly under the seat).
Poor dog. ? I’m sure he is happy it is over.