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Edited on Tue Mar-30-10 10:49 PM by mojowork_n
I think it depends a lot on where you're going, which airline you're flying, and whether or not you're going to be going along, to be there for your dog at the end of the flight.
When I couldn't find a good enough part-time abode for my 10 year old, 30 pound Lhasa/Springer, Rufus -- I was going to be gone for 4 months -- I decided to take him along.
Flying into Frankfurt, on some American airline (TWA?), I got the regulation plastic and steel basket/cage that the airline specified. I don't think Rufe cared for the trip, much, but he was himself again, soon enough, when we marched out of the airport and got on the train. In fact, I think he may have kind of liked the experience -- new continent, new smells, all kinds of different things to explore. He always was a pretty good travelling partner on car road-trips, and it was no different when we finally got into a beat-up, rusty old flathead Opel, in Stuttgart, for the long drive south and east.
On the other hand, flying back, we were on JAT -- Jugoslav Aero Transport -- leaving out of Belgrade. I had abandoned the approved plastic carrier in Germany, and called the airline to find a replacement. I ended up getting a sort of heavy-duty wicker basket, but that was what the airline said they used, so no big deal checking him in at the gate. Only about 10 or 15 minutes later -- we were still on the tarmac, the plane hadn't moved at all -- a flight attendant came up and asked me to accompany her. "Is that your dog, down there, running around," she asked? Rufus had chewed through the basket in no time at all, escaped from the plane down the luggage conveyor, and was running around on the concrete, frantically looking around for me. I yelled, he came quick, and there we were. Nobody knew what to do. There were a bunch of ground crew and baggage guys standing around with their hands in their pockets, looking at me and the dog. I reached in to my pocket, and said, "hey, this is all the money I have left, here, you guys go have a beer on me and Rufus," and the two of us boarded the plane. (I think I had about 3 or 4 dollars worth of dinars left, but with the rampant inflation at the time, it was still a handfull of currency. A bank note or two for everybody. The plane was 1/4 empty. We flew on adjoining seats all the way to Minneapolis; transferring to Northwest, or United, or whatever it was, at JFK.
That was my favorite airplane ride of all time.
If you're really nervous, my best advice would be to go to the airport and flag down some flight attendants and ask them. They're the ones that know what goes on, who will probably be
Edit -- Oops, forgot to mention, this was way back in 1988. Times have changed. But if you and your dog are used to going places together, I'd say go for it, anyway.
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