flying with your dog

[keesha]

I will be flying with little Alex to San Francisco in July. Although he will be able to fly in the cabin with me am concerned how to make this a comfortable experience for us. It will only be a hour flight but already am having problems getting him use to his carrier. It is a Sharpa soft carrier with mesh sides and he gets in there and howls and carrys on and starts scratchig the mesh. My worse thought is he will dig through the mesh and escape running through out the plane. Worse yet he will whine and cry through out the flight and drive everyone nuts. I hate to tranqualize him. Any suggestions would be so appreciated... Keesha

[Nanook]

Re: flying with your dog


<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Worse yet he will whine and cry through out the flight and drive everyone nuts</div></div>

I'm thinking that will never happen, for you will more than likely be asked to leave before the plane takes off. Serious, there are many people who will jump at the chance to have a PET removed from the passenger seating area. Figure they will use allergies and all sorts of excuses so what I'm trying to say is that they will use ANY excuse possible...

You really do need to do practice runs in the car with Alex, using the carrier, and you should start now... because July will be here tomorrow.

Give him treats in in the carrier and take him for car rides.

These are the two words I use when I give pep talks to my friend who acquired a Champion Standard Poodle show dog once he was retired from the ring:

<span style="font-weight: bold">NO CODDLING! </span>

<span style="font-style: italic">I thought she was listening but she wasn't cause she LOVES her boy but she now has a problem because dogs are SMART and they have your number!</span>

This kind of situation is why crate training is so very important from early on, as well as a &quot;socializing&quot; regimen as to <span style="font-weight: bold">whatever circumstances</span> you can think of that will happen during Alex's life span.

Put him in the soft sided crate, give him some treats. Take him for a ride in the car, heck, you can even keep him in the front seat! Well, if you do strap him in to the front seat and he acts up and whines, be VERY STERN and tell him &quot;NO&quot; &quot;NO WHINING&quot;!!!! Exclamation point is exaggerated, it is important. You could very well be asked to have Alex removed, or put in cargo if you cannot correct his behavior BEFORE takeoff.

You really do need to do everything possible to work towards this end because in cargo there are temperature restrictions over too warm/cold... which will inhibit your travel and should be extra incentive to work towards acclimating lil Alex to whatever his surroundings may be.

Take the little guy for some rides in the car in the carrier to places he LIKES. That might help, and the closer to home the better.

Toy breeds have us all FOOLED!!!!!!! They play the part of &quot;poor innocent little me I'm, scared I'm little I need my mommy to cuddle me&quot; but truth be known...they are very much the toughest of all dogs, and the P-Om's? HA! They are little fighters to the MAX! (refer to my story about the bird of prey and take that and apply it to ANY situation to which a P_OM does not like)...

[keesha]

Re: flying with your dog

Nanook as always thank you so much for taking the time to give me your words of wisdom. I guess it is quite simple be firm and let him know who is boss LOL. Yes he can be quite the manipulator and very will full.

[Tulip]

Re: flying with your dog

I love reading Nanook's posts about pets. Always read good advice. I haven't asked, but are you a vet?

I crate trained my current baby. This was my first time ever doing it. However, I can get her to go in but I can't keep her quiet for long if I am around. At first it was mainly a housebreaking technique. I would put her in when I left for work, come home at lunchtime and let her out to walk her, and then put her back in until I came home from work at the end of the day. She will settle down as long as I am leaving but if I put her in it while I am home, she raises the rafters with her barking. It's not continuous and I don't acknowledge it, but it is frequent.

We have only taken road trips and she's a good passenger, but I have decided that I can probably never take her on a plane without give her some meds. I would under no circumstance allow her to travel with baggage, but I know her well enough to know that she is going to cause some ruckus during a flight if I don't.

I have had other dogs that would be OK with it, but she is definitely not going to stay quiet for a long period of time without griping about it. God forbid I make eye contact with her.

Good luck. You'll be OK. It is only an hour of torture. I do believe I once read somewhere that the pressurized cabin calms them.

[keesha]

Re: flying with your dog

Thanks Tulip for the encouragement LOL. He is just 7 mos so maybe there is hope. When he was a baby I would put him in a crate when I was busy and could not watch him. He would sit there and stick his nose up in the air and just howl.Now that he is older and housebroken he has the run of the house so he is just not happy when his freedom is taken away. I would hate to have him kicked off the plane and worse yet be asked to put him in cargo.I guess it is just a matter of being firm and consistant. Like Nanook says July will be here soon so better stop playing with this and get working with him LOL..

[Nanook]

Re: flying with your dog

Keesha, good luck with Alex, I KNOW you can do this...and yes it really is a pack leader role and you just have to work hard to ignore the &quot;poor little me Alex&quot; and the whines and cries he displays when he is not happy.

The car is a big deal because it moves and if you can do car you can do plane, hence why I so specifically stress &quot;car&quot;.

However...in the case of the fur kids that whine and cry in the crate when 'Mom&quot; is home in the house? THAT...is the kind of situation that I was alluding to when I mentioned my friend and her Champion Standard Poodle. That dog flew across the country multiple times, sometimes lived in a motorhome, was showed for basically 1 1/2 years....and now my friend who currently owns him cannot keep him crated when she is home. That is very wrong. He got spoiled. Spoiled = not good. I love her still and we will help her fix the behavior problem...(even if it means he has to come and stay at &quot;auntie Stephanies puppy camp&quot; The thing is, if the dog ever has to be left behind for any reason...a death in the family, vacation, vet care, etc...it is a freeking nightmare for the caregiver to have to put up with the whining and carrying on.

Anyway....

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love reading Nanook's posts about pets. Always read good advice. I haven't asked, but are you a vet?</div></div>

Thank you, glad to be of help but Nah, I only play one on TV. Not really, but I have been in dogs for decades. I used to breed professionally and have owned/bred &amp; trained AKC Champion show dogs, worked obedience...helped judge county fair dog shows and stood side by side with my vet up to my elbows in a few C-sections. It's been a lifelong passion and though I don't know everything, I am very happy to share what I do know and resourceful enough to know where to find answers and if it is something i plain don't know about I won't fill the space with BS, I either don't answer or say I have no clue... Pretty much all of my friends are in dogs of many breeds so I learn a lot in day to day life. It's a never ending journey and only stops when we quit breathing. I also take care of a couple of serious show breeders dogs when they are on the campaign trail. This gives me insight into breeds I may not otherwise know much about. Hell, it is how I ended up with a Standard Poodle show dog who is about to be entered in her first shows at 2 years old. It's been a long short time learning how to deal with her coat, for real!

Dogs are my life. Ok so I love my kitties too and I don't treat them any different than I do my dogs when it comes down to it. Same goes for horses...decades of being owned by horses just taught me that all species are somewhat alike. Discipline is needed as well as praise and love. When negative situations appear, we all deal with them in different ways but we respond to the positive pretty much the same.

Ok, off track I know...but some food for thought.

[Nanook]

Re: flying with your dog

The specific words I was trying to pull out of my brain were &quot;<span style="font-weight: bold">positive reinforcement</span>&quot;. That is training in a nutshell. A negative action must be met with a negative consequence. A POSITIVE/good move on Alex or &quot;insert name&quot; pawt...should be rewarded with INSTANT praise.

In other words...you can reach the crate if it is in the front seat, get some treats and reward quiet and admonish whining. He will come around but it will take work and will not happen overnight. You can't just say...&quot;OMG you are spoiled&quot;, and then unspoil in a day. Hey, all of us has had to learn this the hard way. I have horror stories about past dogs and incidents, including a Weimeraner that once went through a window. lol, I'm a graduate of the school of hard knocks!

Oh, and by the way...by the nature of the breed I chose to raise, I am a firm believer in &quot;treat training&quot;. It works well with Toy breeds especially. My Dobergirl only gets praise once the whole set of tasks is achieved. I would never get anywhere with her if she thought each move would get her a cookie. With my &quot;Toys&quot; each move gets a treat. They are attention deficit otherwise, by nature.

[keesha]

Re: flying with your dog

Thank you again Nanook. I am going to start working with Alex this weekend to get him use to his carrier. I am just now starting to realize that all this pampering and giving in to him can lead to serious consequences. He is a very smart dog and seems to know what is expeced of him. Housebreaking was a snap and he does beautiful on his leash.He loves to be out and about in public with me and seems to enjoy the attention he draws to himself. Funny thing is out in public he seems to know he has to have his company manners, and I am always told how well behaved he is. At home it can be another story he can be quite the little hellraiser LOL..

[Tulip]

Re: flying with your dog

Keesha, you've got some time and he is still young so it is not like you're trying to teach an old dog new tricks lol. I know you want to go the natural way and I am sure that is probably the best way. Nanook gave some good tips. However, I know I would still go the drug route. My own mother has to take tranquilizers to fly so you know I'm don't take issue with that as an option for Butterfly.

Nanook, she has a car seat so she doesn't ride in a pet carrier in the car. She is perfectly behaved and just happy to be up high enough to look out the window. Her crate is a black metal one and I'd have to let the back seats down to get it in the car.

I keep thinking when I get her companion that I will have to have two car seats and will probably get called the &quot;crazy dog lady&quot; behind my back.

[CeaBee]

Re: flying with your dog

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">and will probably get called the &quot;crazy dog lady</div></div>

is ongly the cat people dem label as crazy as in crazy cat lady

good luck with alex, keisha.

[keesha]

Re: flying with your dog

thanks Cea BeeI put Alex in his carrier yesterday and walked him around the house. He bit at the mesh once and stopped. Took him out and gave him a treat. Will do that again today and then put him in it and go around the block. Guess it will be ittle baby steps but we will get there LOL

[Nanook]

Re: flying with your dog

Good job Keesha! Yes it's a baby steps thing! If you continue to have a problem with him wanting to chew on the soft crate, get some bitter apple spray. Try just putting it where he bites though, you know...like don't hose down the whole inside of the soft crate with it as that could backfire and make the whole thing seem unpleasant.