Flying with les chiens
Getting the dogs to France
One of the biggest stresses for Roberto and me right now is getting our dogs Rudy and Woody to France. If we were moving to Montpellier forever and moving them one time, I would happily travel on a cruise ship for two weeks, or if that was too expensive, I would shove them under our seats, hope for the best, and figure it would be a one-time trauma. But because we plan to go back and forth a couple times a year, we have to find a long-term solution—a reasonably priced, comfortable way for them to travel that won’t be overly distressing for them or us.
Rudy, our Havanese, is 13 lbs and is easily under the airlines’ 20 lb limit. Woody, a terrier dachshund mix, is unfortunately, a long snausage like his brethren, and is 22 lbs. He is also 10 years old, and we’ve been worried about him having to curl up under a seat for eight hours or more.
I’m sharing our personal to-do list for getting our pups to France, but the logistics and requirement for flying with pets as provided by the US Department of State are here: https://www.state.gov/pets-and-international-travel/
Please note that this site should not be used as your only reference point for what you need to take a pet to France. We have not traveled with our pets yet and will be providing updated information after we have made our first journey!
Our to-do list three months before flying:
Make plane reservations online and then call the airline to ask to bring our dogs aboard. Pay the extra fees which vary according to the airline. Each flight is only allowed a certain number of pets so you must reserve your spot. And yes, you have to buy the ticket before you know if there are spots available. If there aren’t, you have 24 hours to change or cancel the reservation.
Buy pet carriers that are as large and comfortable as possible while still complying with airline regulations. Different airlines have different requirements and Air France seems to be the most stringent. Bien sur. Of course.
Try to acclimate the dogs to these carriers before we fly in September. I think we should take the dogs in the carriers and wheel them around the mall, which is very airport-like. Roberto thinks this is excessive. But his dog is much mellower than mine. Rudy is in a constant state of child-who-has-lost-parent-in-grocery-store. (And yes, we say “his” dog and “my” dog. Roberto already had Woody when we met, and although we got Rudy after we were married, Roberto likes to pretend the high stress dog is only of my making.)
See the vet for a consultation to make sure the dogs will be ready to go in September. Each dog will need a Pet Passport. Pet Passport is a term used to represent the documentation required to travel with your pet. It usually includes proof that the dogs are microchipped with an ISO-compliant* microchip and have up-to-date rabies vaccines and an EU Health Certificate. After the vet has issued the EU health certificate, you must have it endorsed by a USDA Endorsement Office.
Visit the vet again with days of flying to get the Pet Passports that says they are healthy enough to fly. Pay vet the fee. The Pet Passports must be ready to present when we land in France.
Anxiety meds. Vets used to recommend giving pets Benadryl during flights, but they don’t anymore because it can make some dogs more hyper. Plus, when it works, it’s making them more tired but not less anxious. But you can give them the equivalent of Xanax to help with their fear. I plan to test this out with Rudy when taking him to the vet and groomer this month, both things that make him shake like a leaf.
Get my own Xanax prescription to deal with this freaking list.
Booking the Flight
I made our plane reservations in June for a September flight and was able to find a flight with space for the dogs fairly easily. Our first choice was to fly on September 1st, but it was puppy packed, so we had to go with September 2nd, which was not a big deal. This was the most important flight, the international leg going from New York to Paris, and the one we are worried the most about due to length.
Someone turned us on to an airline called La Compagnie which only flies from New York to Paris (or Nice) and back, and they allow dogs up to 30 lbs! Every seat on the plane is business class, and so they have one price for every seat which (supposedly) never fluctuates. On any other airline you can not fly business class overseas with a pet because when the seats recline to flat there is no longer space for the carrier under the seat.
We are happy to fly business class because of Roberto’s bad back, and who isn’t delighted to fly business class when/if they can? With this flight, it is all about the 30 lb dog limit. Unfortunately, this doesn’t feel like our long term solution because I don’t know that flying business class is economically sustainable, but maybe after this trip I’ll calm down about Woody flying Economy Plus.
Since La Compagnie only flies from NY to Paris, we are flying United from Austin to New York and Air France from Paris to Montpellier. So yup, that’s three different airlines with different pet carrier and weight requirements to check into with our pooches. That day is going to suck.
Pet Carriers
The first pet carrier I ordered for Rudy was made by Siivton and was recommended by someone who also has a Havanese. It looked luxurious and I like how it accordions out to a bigger size.
But I found the bottom much too soft and floppy and I couldn’t get it stable on top of my small suitcase. I want the carrier to fit nicely on top of my wheelie carry on so Rudy isn’t bouncing all over the place. Next I ordered SturdiBag Large Pet Travel Carrier. It has a piece of hard foam that you put in the base for travel which makes it much more secure on top of luggage, but the foam does take up some of the dog’s space, of which they already have very little.
The Sturdibag also only loads from the side. The advantage of a top loader is you can just drop them in and zip it up. The side loader requires some assistance from the dog. Rudy went in willingly the first time. The first time. Once he was inside I zipped it up and unzipped the top flap to give him some headspace. Up popped his head and he looked calm and happy. After a minute I opened the side to let him know he could leave. He didn’t budge. I soon realized he was stuck. It was surprisingly difficult to get him to relax his legs and duck his head. What a little dope.
I have left this carrier open in the living room and throughout the day I throw a treat inside, hoping that Rudy will grow accustomed to crawling inside. This is like hoping a lobster gets accustomed to a lobster trap.
Woody does not fit in this model, which is a large, so we have ordered the X-Large and crossed our fingers. I’ll keep you posted on which carriers we end up choosing.
Note: to get the dogs back into the US we have to get new health certificates in France right before we fly and then get them translated into English.
Are you exhausted after reading this post? I am. Wish us luck.
Jusqu’à la prochaine fois (until next time)
Carolyn & Roberto
Great info!