Steph C said:
How do you get your dog not to panic in the plane? Is there dog sedatives available? Ours is small enough to be carry-on. We are debating whether to bring her. In Canada our house is partly carpeted and our dog is not house broken to that extent
While it's dependent on your dog's personality, you can influence the outcome *a lot* by preparing yourself - and your dog - for this. It should be doable even without sedatives for most dogs (if your dog has a very loud and/or nervous personality, talk to your vet as they do have sedatives available ... they use them less and less, though, to avoid breathing issues compounded by higher altitude)
To set yourself up for success, get yourself a good pet carrier.
We did a lot of research on this and ended up getting a
Jet Set carrier, which we absolutely adore for many reasons:
- It opens up on both ends - i.e., you can unzip it on either end or turn it into a tunnel. This is especially helpful as you train the dog to go into it (walking in to a tunnel while he sees your encouraging smile on the other end is very different from walking into a black confined space). It also proves very helpful whenever you need to access him for security or customs checks along the way.
- You can attach the straps in various ways and use it as a shoulder bag, tote bag, or backpack. You can also use it as a car restraint device with a seat belt and keep one of the ends open (while not as comfy as his
usual car seat, it would still keeps him safe in case of an accident and we can use luggage or jackets to prop him up and give him window access in the car)
- They use mesh on the sides so you can keep it relatively cool ... but you can 'lower the blinds' and cover the sides if you want added discretion as you go around the terminal.
- Best of all, it looks just like a duffel bag so it won't attract attention. The more people that come up and say 'oh how cuuuuuuute,' the more stressed your dog (and you) are likely to become.
- The hard bottom but soft sides make it easy to just prop on top of a rolling carry-on (carrying the duffel gets heavy across a terminal!)
- It has a clip that you can clip to a harness so that he stays inside even with the doors open and a washable "carpet" that makes it easy to keep clean (they do get hot and sweaty in the bag)
You can get it at a discount from MSRP so check around (FWIW, we ended up using Amazon at the time)
Once you have whatever bag you pick, invest time in training your dog to tolerate the bag (love will come after the first trip).
It really is essential to get your dog used to it. Ours loves his bag now, since it always means fun times!
When we got our bag, we got our dachshund used to the bag over several days, increasing the amount of time he spent in it gradually. The first time it was a quick walk through the tunnel. After a few times, we zipped him up. As we increased the time he was in the carrier, we toted him around the house as we cleaned or did laundry (you want to incorporate unexpected movements since you don't want to startle him when they happen when you're in an airport). We also sometimes just left him zipped up by our feet so he got used to the fact that that's were he'd be for several hours. We read our dog carefully so that we didn't push him too far - you want it to always be a tolerable experience - so build up over time and be effusive in praising him when he comes out.
You'll want him used to the bag and want to be able to get him in and out easily and quickly (for security, for customs at landing, etc).
Success is very possible and feels great! We took our dog on a six hour plane ride the first time around (due to a family emergency we had to reschedule our holiday plans and had just over a week to prepare for it). With the prep work we did in that time, we got him onto the plane and to the other end six hours later without a peep (I will say, he was very used to traveling in a car before that but is also used to having full freedom around the house). He slept the whole way! I was thrilled when some of the folks that sat around me on the plane expressed their surprise that I had a dog with me when I pulled him out at customs' request. My husband and I each traveled with him on one leg of a journey separately - he also had no trouble at all and said he's never had such a good experience walking through TSA ... he he attracted all the female TSA agents and was surrounded by 'awwwwww....he's soooooo cuuuuuuuuute' as he carried him through the metal detector.
Our dog absolutely loves his carrier now and begs to go in it as he knows that fun is coming! It's really cute to see him get his head wrapped up in the straps if the carrier is zipped up trying to get into it by himself (I laughed so hard when I was cleaning out the closet a few months later and looked over to see him wrapped up in the straps sitting on top of the bag convinced the next adventure was coming with a smug look of I made it into the bag myself!)
Regarding housebreaking him ... you can do it. Don't let that keep you apart! Get a small doggy fence if you want to initially to restrain him to part of the house and use doggy pads for emergencies if he's used to going outside. If you have a fence, you could also get a doggy door.
